The CyberFair team’s question for their teacher Jessie Chou: What is the International CyberFair?

    Answer: The Cyberfair is an educational project that encourages students to learn more about the local community. Students use their research findings to create a website. The student website is entered into an international competition, held by the Global School Net Foundation in the United States. The aim of this project is to encourage schools to work collaboratively within their local communities, using modern technology to obtain and share results online. It helps to create a partnership of communities, who use the Internet to work towards shared goals.

    The Taiwan Schools Cyberfair is entering its fourteenth year. In its twelfth year, 2011, 875 teams participated in this contest. There were nearly eight thousand teachers and students participating that year. Working together they explored Taiwan, recorded their discoveries, and shared them online. It was in 2011, that Wanhe Elementary School first participated. Their work that year was to record and tell the stories of phyisically challenged people. Meeting Happy Angels received an honorable mention. The following year, 2012, the Wanhe team did a study of the Jianlin Foundation and their work to protect white dolphins and the eco-system in Taiwan. This project, Don’t Let The White Dolphins not be just Hearsay or a Legend, received an honorable mention in Taiwan and a gold award in the International competition. In 2013, their The Inspirational Beats of Changhua Prison by Wanhe Elementary earned a gold award both domestically and internationally. This year, Principal Iris Hse again leads her team in exploring our community to find a local treasure to share with others.

 

Here comes Luke Lin

Who is Luke Lin? Who is this person who travels to schools throughout Changhua setting up sessions for students to talk to native English speakers on Skype? Who is this person who left a comfortable career and a stable teaching position to offer free English classes at a local monastery for more than a decade?

Over the years, many of Luke’s former students have become volunteers for Luke’s organization, My Culture Connect. Even after a decade, Luke finds support from the parents of these children. In recent years, Luke’s enthusiasm has led to an increase in international volunteers. My Culture Connect has grown to have an international flavor as the many Skype sessions attest to. It is not uncommon for Taiwanese students to study English using lessons developed by native English teachers in cooperation with their Taiwanese counterparts. “Some seeds that I sowed a long time ago just began to bud and grow,” Luke says. Who is this man? This compassionate individual.
 

 

Leading a Compassionate Life

 

A tall thin man appears and is introduced to us by our principal. It is Luke, a man well known in Changhua, whose organization, My Culture Connect, is so often heard on the news or read about in the newspapers. We are now privileged to ask Luke about his activities and philosophy of life.
    Luke tells us that since childhood he has been very inquisitive, always seeking new knowledge and experiences. His enthusiasm for learning English was such that he would place English vocabulary words in the basket of his bicycle so as to have them near at hand to study. As an adult, he would place cards on his car’s dashboard seeking to make the best use of his driving time. He sought the audience and friendship of foreigners to improve his spoken English. Luke woke each morning with an enthusiasm for the day ahead, looking forward to his studies. English language and philosophy were his first loves. “I really hope to breathe in the knowledge in books I’m reading,” he is quoted as having said.
    Bridging the gap between book learning and practice can be difficult. Luke is one of the fortunate individuals who has a knack for putting ideas into action. Once, he wore long hair simply because of a book he was reading. He experimented with varying lifestyles, which often led to confusion and dismay in his family. When he quit his secure teaching job, at an elementary school, to follow his intellectual dreams, people did not understand. He had left a job many consider a secure lifetime occupation. Deciding to become a full time volunteer raised many eyebrows. What is he thinking? A dramatic change in Luke’s philosophy of life occurred when he was 33. This is when he began to tread the life path of the volunteer, which led to his founding of the volunteer non-profit organization, My Culture Connect.
 

 

By talking to Luke and his friends, the Wanhe Cyberfair team has obtained a basic understanding of this man. We wondered what Luke’s foreign friends thought of him so we interviewed Jerry Becwar. Mr. Becwar is from the United States. He said he first met Luke when his nephew was one of his students about twelve years ago. Mr. Becwar’s wife is from Beidou. When Jerry would take a one-month winter vacation each year in Beidou, he would help with the English classes Luke taught at the monastery. Jerry told us that Luke is a most generous man. Whenever you asked him for help, he said “yes.” Luke never asked for anything in return and always did his best to help you. Jerry noted that Luke was so enthusiastic about learning English that he kept a notebook and jotted down whatever slang expressions Jerry might use. Jerry opines that with his multiple notebooks and love of learning, Luke is the best student he has ever had the privilege to help. These sentences from the Analects of Confucius will help you understand Luke, Isn’t it a pleasure to study and practice what you’ve learned? Isn’t it a joy when a friend visits you from a distant place? If it doesn’t bother you when people don’t recognize your talents, isn’t it a quality of a man of noble character?
 

 

Meeting Luke

 

    Returning to Jhutang Township, Changhua in his early 30’s, Luke held a part-time job teaching at the National Yulin University of Technology and was pursuing his dream of becoming a college professor. Upon recognizing the disadvantaged status of local students, who lacked adequate English learning resources, he wanted to help. With the assistance of the local Buddhist monastery, Ming Harng Temple, he began offering free English classes on Sundays. Earning the trust of student parents, he was able to organize English contests and other educational events for the students. He was able to begin publishing free English newsletters for students with the help of some volunteer teachers. His selfless acts were widely respected and recognized and people stepped up to help him found My Culture Connect. My Culture Connect was formed with the goal of developing and providing wide and free access to educational materials for the schools of Changhua County.
    The year, 2010, proved a turning point for My Culture Connect. As a result of helping the international organization, Up with People, when they visited Taiwan, My Culture Connect became a platform for cultural exchanges between Taiwan and other nations.  The international support helped My Culture Connect develop and promote their Skype Session Project among other exchanges. Selfless acts of this nature prove very valuable in breaking down boundaries, be they local, national, or international. Good ideas, placed on the table and acted up, allow you to touch the hearts of people around the world.
 
   
 

One Man’s Dream: Luke Lin