What an amazing day!
The last leg of our Jia-Xin’s generosity for Taiwan included a workshop for kids in ChingChuan. Another day of tie-dying and some belated Thank You trees were to be created. We also concurrently hosted our basketball session.
After youtubing for three days the first time for the December workshop in MuHsiang, this second time I was much better prepared for the setup and instructions so that things could so smoothly. Kids arrived a hour early so got to chat with us and get to know some new faces to ChingChuan before class started.
The day consisted of a tie-dye section and while we waited for the colors to set in, everyone was set on another project. Everyone was provided with a mini wooden tree and were given the tools from clay to sequins to outfit them. They needed first, however, to start off with an idea of who to give thanks to in their creation and also take their new Big Friends around ChingChuan to look for more props and additions to embellish their art. This gave people a chance to know the kids and their surroundings.
When they came back every group of 3 had a recycled cardboard box background to create the mini forest of thank you trees in.
We further integrated the spirit of giving by telling the kids the story of Jia-Xin and her dream to bring warmth those back in Taiwan. Chloe was in charge of re-telling this tale to each of the children. Rufen also went around and presented 4 different associations/NPOs in Taiwan so the kids could decide who they would donate 1000NT to.
Empowering people also means that they have the ability to give back and assist others. They decided to support Harmony Home, an organization that provides assistance to those affected by or living with AIDS/HIV.
Sophie was ready to create the delicious vegetarian chili and pair it with mashed potatoes. Jeff made a pumpkin and a mushroom soup for everyone to enjoy.
- Chili
Lunch was filling and we topped it off with creations of apple slices later in the day. Everyone was given 3 different sauces to work with that was melted down from blocks of dark chocolate, white chocolate, and my own vegan caramel coconut sauce. Toppings included coconut flakes, walnuts, marshmallows, cinnamon, and dried cranberries.
After our feast the t-shirts were un-tied and rinsed in water so they could be taken home. Everyone gathered up all their fantastic masterpieces of the day and along a few loaves of quality vegan breads donated by Fresh Bakery & Café, headed home!
- Bread thanks to Fresh Bakery & Cafe
A few of us spent the night and hung out with the kids. This time we had many new friends joined our trip up to ChingChuan and I certainly hope they will return in the future!
Kitchen Table: Sophie Hsu. 楊智傑
Lead Photographer: Starry Cheng 鄭又綺
Big Kids: RuFen Cheng, 周純卉, 陳曉琦, 吳孟娟, Joshua Lance, 王勛達
Benefactors: Jia-Xin Rosenberg, Yuting Hung, Tina Chen, Anonymous, Chieni McCullough, Wang Ibe, Carol Lin, Jo Ying Peng, Ricky Huang, Lou Stillman, Nama & Grampy, Sarah & Anna, The Anna’s Incense Family, Marc & Darlene, Sumo, Sharon and Bruce, Alicia, Sandy Zabludofsky, Kathy, Laura & Jeff Bryer, Samuel et al, 張倫維, 潘彥志, 葉耀宏
THANK YOU: Father Barry & the TauShan Youth Cultural Center, Hannah, Taoshan Elementary School, DongMei, Fresh Bakery & Café, Snow Tsao for the wooden trees
Lunch: Chili, mashed potato, pumpkin soup, mushroom soup, fresh fruit salad with coconut cream.
Afternoon snack: Apple slices with dipping sauces of dark chocolate, white chocolate, vegan caramel.
More details here:
Santa Jia-Xin: https://brightside.tw/?s=jia-xin
Event Call-Out: https://brightside.tw/2014/12/02/2015-110-聖誕jia-xin活動:繽紛紮染-santa-jia-xin-rainbow-tie-dyes/