Key Events in Luke’s Volunteerism
 

 

    Always highly organized, Luke’s move from his detailed to-do lists, on which he dutifully checked off items as completed, to a modern electronic calendar was easy. One cursory glance at one of Mr. Lin’s scheduling books illustrates the day of a highly disciplined individual.
      Key to his transformation was the decision to devote his life’s effort to being a volunteer in education. This occurred in 2001. The years prior to this were tread on a path of increasing efforts toward volunteerism. Highlights include:

    In 2002, Luke began volunteering at the local Buddhist monastery, Ming Harng Temple. This opened the door to offering his free English education classes at the monastery. The first two classes were Basic and Intermediate English. He began organizing educational events and English contests for the local community a year later.

    In 2004, Luke’s American friend, Jerry Becwar, began helping with English instruction. Mr. Becwar became an early and important volunteer for what would later be named, My Culture Connect. A year later, Jerry Becwar’s son, Steve Becwar, on coming to Taiwan became another new volunteer for My Culture Connect.

    By 2005, Luke had begun publishing free English newsletters for the students. This proved to be an important milestone as it was followed by numerous other free teaching materials, many being shared on the new website. In 2006, organization of several summer classes allowed students to be productive during their summer break.

    It should be mentioned that the addition of native English teachers opened the doors to building a foundation for development of international education. By 2008, working with parents and volunteer teachers the founding of the non-profit educational foundation opened more doors. When 2009 arrived, My Culture Connect was recognized as a Taiwanese non-profit. This was a very big step forward in realizing Luke’s dreams.

    The years 2009 and 2010 were very busy. Work was accomplished with Jhutang Junior High School, on teacher training workshops, and crafts classes were added to summer offerings. Also, occurring in the same time frame, was the involvement of Luke in organizing the visit of the international organization Up with People. There were concerts to be scheduled, community service events and host family coordination, and various cultural exchanges. There were seldom any free moments. Work was the order of the day. All of the hard work and effort were recognized, when the Ministry of Interior made an award to Luke for the organizing of summer educational events for students.

    In the middle of all this effort, a Skype Project was initiated and developed that allowed Changhua students to talk directly to international volunteers who were native English speakers. Soon, dozens of schools were involved or seeking to be added to the growing list. Later in 2011 a special event occurred. Luke, using the Skype teleconferencing capability, met with the school board (governing board) of a Wisconsin (U.S.A.) school district, De Soto. This was the beginning step in establishing sister-school relationships with three Changhua schools.
 

 

    In 2012, American volunteer Michael Dishnow, who had coordinated the school board meeting with De Soto, came to Changhua for 30 days with Jerry Becwar’s family. During Mr. Dishnow’s time in Changhua he visited 17 schools. Later the same year, Luke Lin was involved in coordinating a second visit by Up with People. The international education and global reach of My Culture Connect was being felt more and more.

    Numerous additions to the programming in 2013 produced the following: Work with International Wanhe Elementary School, CIEN News, which was broadcast on Changhua’s Media on Demand channeling, work with Changhua Prison on a short film highlighting an inmate’s rehabilitation, and the establishment of the English video-production project.

    The fall of 2013 heralded the return of American volunteer, Michael Dishnow, for another 30 days. Visits to 23 Taiwanese schools followed, including a trip to meet educational leaders and visit schools on the Penghu archipelago. By Mr. Dishnow’s arrival, My Culture Connect, was involved in establishing an English learning group at Changhua Prison, which Mr. Dishnow was invited to attend.

     A seed sprouted, one with great potential, in 2013, when coordination with Truman State University in Missouri, U.S.A. began on a pilot program. This pilot involved college students teaching, via modern technology, students at 8 elementary schools in Changhua.

     Renshi Academy Project, a proposed depository of teaching materials freely available to everyone, was initiated in 2014. Patterned after the Khan Academy it would allow a broader outreach to interested students, teachers and schools.

     The relationship with Truman State University grew in 2014 to include a learning opportunity for Changhua students in “how to start a business” and an expansion in the English learning efforts.

     My Culture Connect expanded services to college students when it began working with the Mingdao University’s television station. The year, 2014, appears well on track to be a good year.
   
  Luke Lin’s Notebooks Pages
  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
   
 

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One Man’s Dream: Luke Lin