Giving a Blessing
good afternoon
in 2008 while working as an expat
in shanghai i had the opportunity to go
on a trip
to qinghai china and it was there i saw
these kids
for the first time
[Music]
the school is on the mountain side of
qinghai
china and on an altitude of 3 700
meters above sea level it’s extremely
cold in the morning
six o’clock all the kids were already
out
on the dusty playground each one finding
their
little own corners with one hand holding
a stick
the other holding a book nailing down
using that stick to practice riding on
the floor
as i was standing there watching tears
just come down my face
i’ve never seen kids living in such
deprived conditions
my own educational background has been
quite different
i grew up in the states i went to the
states when i was 13.
i attended a boarding school very
similar to this one at phillips exeter
i went on to ucla after graduation
worked for a couple years and went on to
university of southern california to get
my mba
growing up all my friends my circle of
friends
were just like me we had similar
backgrounds
similar growth path so to me
i was simple and naive enough thinking
education was a given thing to everyone
the trip had a very big impact on me
when i returned i talked to all my
friends about it
i said we have to do something about
this we should help them
but we didn’t have a lot of money
we couldn’t go out and build schools we
couldn’t go out and buy equipments for
them
but that didn’t really discourage us we
thought we would start with a very
simple step
each one of us will go out
and raise funds collectively
we’ll use that fund to buy stationery
for the kids we thought stationery was
the most practical tool
all the kids would have to use during
their study
the first year we started with a single
pen we sent it out to night schools up
on the mountain side of china
years after that we added on we added on
erasers
pencil cases color pencils
notebook and eventually we have a
stationary kit
in the fall every year before the school
start
we all gather sort package
and then send these stationery kits out
to rural areas
in taiwan nepal budan
and china the stationery is also a
symbol of encouragement
for these kids we want them to know
that somewhere in the world there’s a
group of people that care
about them that want them to continue
their study
and succeed we kept doing this
year after year after year
and as more friends notice they join us
while i was doing this project i was
actually working full time
at fastenal a nasdaq traded company
as the vice president of asia pacific
in shanghai
in the eyes of many i was seen as a
business
a successful business leader
i had a nice job and a good career
that most people would admire
but the truth is i was working extremely
long hours
i’ll be working with my team in the
morning
and at night i’ll be having conference
calls with our headquarters in the
states
and in between all that i’ll be
traveling all over asia
for vendor meetings conferences
and after so many years day and night
day and night it was taking a very big
toll on my body
and my body fight back
about five years ago i had a near-death
experience when i fainted
unconsciously during a business trip
i remember waking up looking at the
white ceiling
and completely don’t know where i was
for a few seconds i thought i was in
next life
it was truly a frightening experience
lying in the hospital bed for a couple
days
i was reminded how precious and short
our life really is
the thought of those kids on the
mountainside kept coming back to me
what happened if i’m not here
and next year we wouldn’t be able to
send these stationery out to them
but they will be expecting
the thought of that really hurt
i’ve always enjoyed the privilege
of a smooth and comfort ride when it
comes to my
job and career i worked as a
consultant for accenture consulting firm
and 3 and director for 3m company for
many years
before taking on the executive world at
festival
things seemed very easy to me and
natural
until i got sick the sickness really
shook me
out of that comfort zone and forced me
to look at my future much more closely
how do i want to spend the rest of my
life
shortly after that i moved back to
taiwan
first to take care of my health it took
me
a year to reheal and it was during that
very difficult time
i made the decision instead of going
back to the corporate world
i would establish a non-profit
organization
called the near children foundation
designated to find the educational
resources
for the kids in the rural areas around
the world
in 2016 we’ve officially
registered the mayor with the taiwan
government
this shift of career change was not
so easy it’s such a big change
i’ve had family friends people
question me all the time about it
how can you do this how can you give up
a career that you’ve filled up for
yourself for more than 15 years
and start from ground zero again
i think with good intention people
worried
very much about me but i also think
it is because in our society today we
tend to value
glamorous job big title and fame
more important than impact to lives
so to give up a nice job
for a non-profit organization venture
seemed like a very insecure and
unattractive thing
to do but to me i know this change
implies enormous opportunities
an opportunity that is beyond my
generation
being sick i realize my time is limited
time is very short and i need to use
effectively to give does not necessarily
mean
money and material it also implies
time and energy so to find the
educational resources for these kids
in the rural areas so that they can
continue
their study i believe is the most
important thing to do
for their future a future i may not be
able to see
immediate results but i know
with the passage of time it will bring
long-lasting
benefit for them
so once i make that decision i take the
leap of faith
and move on it has then opened up a new
world
way beyond my imagination nepal has been
rated one of world’s
poorest countries about 42 percent of
its population is living below
poverty line poverty illiteracy
and whitening of wealth gap has resulted
in many children
being denied of educational rights and
it’s one of the countries
where we support the schools on a long
term
basis here’s a picture of the kids going
to school there
it is very common for the kids on the
mountain side
to chase over buses like these
and jump on to the bus hang their hands
very tight on the handrail
with half of their body hanging out
they could be sitting on top of the
rooftop of the bus or vents
in order to get to school that’s because
on the mountain side there’s just not
enough public transportation to go
around
there could be one bus going up and down
per day
so if they were to miss that bus they
would have to run
or walk miles in order to get to school
there’s also a lack of electricity in
this country
at night kids often light up candles or
they use flashlights
in order to study but kids there
cherish most of what they have i
remember one time
after teaching i was going to give them
some bag of attendees
they quickly lined up into this one line
and without saying much i didn’t say
anything they would each
take one candy from my bag and no more
kids there really don’t have a lot but
they show great appreciation
for the little things that we give them
traveling around to these rural areas
i’ve also brought my volunteer teachers
to bhutan
to give art and english classes
there’s one time the volunteer and i
were going to give an art class
and we brought the lion colored pencil
we carry all the way from taiwan
we walk into the kindergarten class the
bb class they call it
the little one was already drawing
and the boy they had these on their
table were these
tiny used crayons
spread all over the desk
they look up very excited to see us
with their big smiles so we gave them
the color pencil as a gift first
so the boy in the middle started hugging
it very tightly to his chest
and this one boy started kissing the
colored pencil with his mouth
the girls in the back holding it up high
and then the two in the back start
dancing with them
they were so happy the classroom was
just
full of joy i was extremely touched
that day what seemed so ordinary for all
of us in taiwan
means a world to these kids
traveling around to these rural areas in
the past few years i’ve learned many of
the schools are looking for
qualified teachers given their
remoteness
of the locations it’s very difficult to
find
good teachers in these areas especially
in the rural areas of taiwan
nepal and budan so our foundation has
been trying to help
by recruiting and training young
volunteers
in their high school and colleges
providing them the tools they need to
develop courses
and lead kids classes in the summer
our young volunteer teachers would
actually first serve
at taiwan rural area schools
by giving some of the reading classes
leading
some activities play games with the kids
it is our hope that as they gain more
experience
and confidence and once the world opens
up again
they may be able to serve abroad
to nepal and bhutan not only to give
subjects teaching classes but also to
share
some of our taiwanese values and
cultures
to the kids there life is about
constant changes the ups and downs
whether we like it or not
the sickness and the shift of career
change
has brought a very uncertain and turmoil
time for me
but when i embrace the change change
becomes
enormous opportunities
these past few years working to get the
near children foundation grounded
has been the best thing that has
happened to me
from setting up our a programs
communicating with the schools
and also leading our volunteers to all
these
rural areas has not been easy
but it has taught me so much about
myself
and others my heart has always been
filled
with gratitude and it looks like
we are helping the kids but in fact
they’ve helped me they’ve helped me
open my horizons made connections
and friends from all cross of life
and more importantly they help me find a
deeper meaning
to my life to do something that’s not a
social norm
that may not bring a process fame
or even in the very short term see much
of a result
takes loads of courage
but if you know you’re doing this for
the right cause
then have faith have faith
and keep going keep giving 100
of your passion into something that you
truly care about
life will eventually lead the way
more people will come alongside
and support join you on this path
education is a very long process and
takes a long time to nurture
i may not see the result within 5 10
or even 15 years but i truly believe
giving is of itself a blessing whether
giving through our material help
or giving your time and energy
as volunteers it will all bring meaning
in the long term the little seeds we’re
planting in these children
eventually they will all grow up
and when they do they will in return
influence and impact the people around
them
and generations to come thank you
[Applause]
you