The dedications of a foreigner, the amazing work of this teacher, from the Newspapers, translated…
Andrew James Gerrard who’d graduated from the Sydney University’s Graduate Department in Education last year entered into the program, “Outstanding Youths from Other Countries, to Help Out” program, he’d fallen in love with the ancient city of Tainan. At the beginning of the year, he’d finished his graduate courses, and decided, to revisit Tainan again, and interned at the Shulin Elementary School in Chidu, to teach conversational English, opening a window of opportunity for the children who’d never seen a foreigner, living in the distant regions.
a photograph of the man, interacting with the kids, courtesy of the UDN papers…
The DREAM Hi program sponsored by the Department of Education last Friday started at the Arts Center in Huashan, and, Andrew, arrived at the “International Future area” of the exhibition, shared his story of how he managed, to leave some love in the distant regions of Taiwan.
In the summer of 2015, the Southern Taiwan Technical University pushed forth the program “Outstanding Foreigners to Taiwan”, and hosted the “Getting to Know Tainan” summer camps, and Andrew had come because he’d wanted to get to know Tainan, in the three-week’s programs, he’d gotten the opportunities to trek all over Tainan, visited an assortment of sites, and gotten to enjoy all the local foods, and, made a bunch of new friends too. The multifaceted nature of Chinese culture totally intrigued him, and, he just couldn’t, sever the ties he felt so connected to, the kindness of the local people.
After the short summer camps were over, Andrew returned back to Sydney, without knowing, that his short trip to Taiwan was about, to change the course of his own life. Last year in September, he’d come alone, other than catching up with his friends from the summer camps, he’d gone to visit Chiayi, Kaohsiung, as well as the other cities here. And, before he’d left Taiwan, he’d made a promise, to see everybody again next year.
This January, after Andrew finished his graduate courses, majoring in education, he had many offers in job in Sydney, but instead, he’d packed his bags, and revisited Taiwan again, and, gotten involved with the “Outstanding Youth English Teachers from Australia program-the School-Hosted Internship”, and interned, for a short time at the Shulin Elementary School in Chidu District of Tainan, teaching English conversation to the students.
another photo of the goings on in a distant area elementary school, from the web…
Although Shulin Elementary School was only half-an-hour’s drive from the city, but there were only, a total of FIFTY-EIGHT students in the entire school, it is, a distant elementary school, located, close to the city, there had never been a teacher from the outside who’d visited, and some of the children had never seen, a foreigner.
The very first day that Andrews arrived, the school specially set up the welcoming programs, in after watching the unicycle squad perform, Andrew was asked, to introduce his own hometown and himself to the kids. Having paid attention to the details, Andrews prepared a slideshow, and, introduced everybody to the life in Australia, and, the beautiful and enriching photographs had the children in awe for a very long time. And, this in-depth internship is no longer about the learning of language anymore, Andrews had used his own two feet, and brought the world, before the children.
Andrews is now working as an intern instructor at Ximen Elementary School in Anping, Tainan right now. The months that follows, he is to go to several other schools, to complete his internship, and, the stories of him and the children in the distant regions are still ongoing. The Department of Education expects that there would be, many, many more like Andrews who can come to Taiwan, to add to the zest in the education front here.
And so, this foreign man, saw a need, and just, started, offering his services to the world, and, that, is the amazing love of teaching, of making a difference, of teaching, instructing, introducing the outside world, to these children who have, little to no outside resources, because of the regions of Taiwan they’re living in.