International Volunteer Team in Indonesia (IVTI) of National Chiayi University has completed its two-week service mission in the Nuruliman Sutra Reading House in Parung, Bogor district, West Java, Indonesia. They offered instruction services for more than 1,700 students in such respects as agricultural technology, food bakery, Chinese nursery rhymes, and drawing. By offering knowledge and techniques in agriculture, the volunteers disseminated the notion of humanity and helped improve Taiwan’s diplomatic relations.

　　This was the third time the IVTI team, led by Prof. Hou Jin-Ri and Prof. Feng Shu-Hwei, have delivered services at the Sutra Reading House. There were a total of 12 students joining the IIVT this year. Xie Xiang-Jun, Yu Chun-Hui and Hu Xin-Ru, all students of the Department of Agronomy, instructed the students on how to produce paddy rice, peanuts, corn, tea, coffee and tapioca. Lu Cai-Hua and Ceng Yu-Qi, both students of agronomy, as well as Jiang Xin-Yu, a student of the Department of BioAgricultural Science, taught them how to produce kidney beans, water spinach, tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, muskmelons, bananas and mangos. Li Cai-Fen and Xu Zhi-Cheng were assigned to offer instruction in food and bread making. Chen Xin-Jie, an English teaching graduate, and Zhang You-Xuan, a student of the Department of Guidance and Counseling, were in charge of teaching Chinese nursery rhymes. Xie Xiang-Jun, Jiang Xin-Yu and Zheng Ya-Wen, who had been delivering volunteer services in Indonesia, said joining the mission for a second time was very rewarding. Hands-on agricultural technique training was directed to students of the junior and senior high school programs at the sutra reading house. University students of the Sutra Reading House learned basics on food bakery, such as the baking of bread, cakes, pineapple cakes, and cookies. The volunteers also taught kindergarten or elementary-school orphans and financially-challenged kids on Chinese nursery rhymes and fine art paintings. They served and provided instructions to more than 1,700 students at the Nuruliman Sutra Reading House, so as to extend warmth and care to underprivileged people in Indonesia.

　　All the participating students were enlivened to acquire new concepts and knowledge. Mail, a second-year senior high school student, commented that the plug seeding the NCYU volunteers taught them was a really new method and much more convenient than the tradition practices. A third-year senior high school student, Faruq mentioned that he used to think there were only yellow corn grains until told by the volunteers. Now, he not only knew there were corn grains of different colors, but there was a species styled “colorful corn”, whose grains were varicolored. Compared with the male students of the Sutra Reading House, Lubi and Mali did equally well in managing each step of crop cultivation, after learning new agricultural professional skills in the morning. And both expressed their respect and thankfulness to the NCYU volunteers. LiKeman, who was in the food group, said he would like to open a bakery in his hometown to serve his community after learning how to make breads.

　　Habib Saggaf, senior monk in charge of the Sutra Reading House, expressed his appreciation to their efforts. When seeing the planting of long beans, Habib said that Indonesians had never used that way to grow long beans before, and the new ways of growing sweet corn, peanuts, water spinach, plug seeding of cabbage, cottage of sweet potatoes, tapioca will surely bring a bumper harvest for the school of 17,000 students.

　　According to Hou, he was gratified that many achievements have been obtained within only first three days since the launch of the mission. The long beans, sweet corn and plug seeding of cabbage sowed on the first day sprouted on the third day. The peanut and water spinach seeds sowed on the second day sprouted on the fourth day. The sweet potato and cassava seedlings have also grown by the technique of cottage. All the students were glad to see all their efforts pay off. The nursery rhyme instruction and fine art paintings also brought them amusement and fun. Feng, who was in charge of food bakery, commended that the students showed remarkable learning abilities and teamwork and spared no effort in learning food bakery. When Li Wen, a student at the Sutra Reading House, asked her how to make delicious bread, she responded the bread made of sincerity and love tasted the best.

　　To convey his gratitude to the NCYU volunteer team for serving the students for three years, Habib Saggaf held a farewell party on the last day of their service, which affected the faculty advisor and twelve volunteers deeply. In the one-hour party, the over 7,000 female students demonstrated learning outcomes by singing nursery rhymes, followed by an exhibition of a giant paper fan with their drawings. The party reached a climax with students in the agricultural technology group performing the harvest dance, and closed with the volunteers’ singing the song “Ping-Ju”. Hou gave all the rest seeds to the Sutra Reading House, and thanked them for providing the place. He also expressed his appreciation to Tzu Chi volunteers for their translation service, which helped extend the warmth and love of the NCYU volunteers to more people. As the farewell party came to an end, the students saw them off at the bus with the drama titled “Please Don’t Go, My Beloved Teachers”, accompanied by the performance by a drum band. Some had tears in their eyes and the others shed tears, their minds engraved with warm and sweet memories of their service at the Sutra Reading House.

　　With active support from NCYU President Lee Ming-Jen, the IVTI team has been devoted wholeheartedly to extending humanitarian care to the worldwide community by offering international volunteer services for three successive years.