USR International Medical Volunteer Training Luncheon Meeting on March 23, 2019

March 23, 2019 could be unforgettable day for Nimma Joy, our newest member from Nigeria who joined our International Volunteer Team. Our International Volunteer Team, which was started in 2013 with 10 students from Indonesia and Vietnam as its members, has been growing bigger every year. We started as a USR translators and interpreters in 2017 for Indonesian, Filipino, and Vietnamese patients and increased the number of classes by conducting service learning classes. Moreover, this year we will head for Cambodia to serve Takao Village Children.

On Saturday, March 23, 2019, we held a welcoming and appreciation ceremony in Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages. Everyone’s face is permeated with happiness smile. Mr Hong Min-bin and Supervisor Zhan Ya-hui from Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital (KVGH) came to share their professional knowledge and experiences. We were doing brainstorming, training, and evaluating related to our volunteering services in hospital.

Mr. Hong shared the basic knowledge that students of the volunteer group should understand before offering the service in the hospital. All the sharing subtopics include what the services contents, where the location of the service, why critical for the service, when do our services begin and end, and how to do this volunteer service. Regina, one of the supervisors, was helping Mr. Hong with translating what he explained to the student volunteers.

The activity was continued by Supervisor Zhan, who is also from Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, and she emphasized that our service scope should be wider than before. Besides being translator for Indonesian/Vietnamese patients, inputting data of lending wheelchair services, Supervisor Zhan also hopes that we should be familiar with the locations inside the hospital so that we can assist people who need free movement to certain place in it. Then she showed us a map of the hospital.

In the end of her sharing, she asked for the group of volunteering students whether they had any difficulties while doing their volunteer job. One of the student, Karin, said that one of the difficulties was when people asking question in Taiwanese toward the student. Supervisor Zhan answered Karin that if it is happened, then all we need to do is apologize and call the other volunteer aunts/uncles for help. Before ending her sharing, Supervisor Zhan reminded all of the students who always smile and show generosity towards the patients and the visitors.

After that, they were giving out awards to some of the students who contributed many hours volunteering in Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital. And special awards to Frans, our team leader, has been working hard to manage the group. We also took group photos as commemoration of this welcoming ceremony.

After taking group photos, we were praying and having lunch together to improve our bonding and our relationship. It was a blessed and a good day for us as one big family.