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GOH honored at World of Children Awards

Ms. Hui-jung Chi (紀惠容), CEO of the Garden of Hope Foundation (勵馨基金會) has won a major international development award. Ms. Chi - the first person from Taiwan to receive the award – was announced the winner of this year’s highly coveted Kellogg’s Child Development Award at a gala ceremony in New York on November 10, 2005. This major award is considered the “Nobel Prize” for child development.

Ms. Chi is “over the moon” about the award, and praised the organizers – the World of Children – for their work to recognize child rights activists.

“This is wonderful for the Garden of Hope, and all the NGO’s in Taiwan. It’s also wonderful for all the people helping children in our region, and around the world,” Ms. Chi said.

The Kellogg’s Child Development Award is made each year to individuals at the forefront of child welfare internationally, and carries a cash prize of US$100,000. Ms. Chi plans to donate the money to the Garden of Hope to continue the Foundation’s work.

“This money will be a very welcome boost to programs at the GOH. We rely on donations to continue much of our work.”

The award organizers, the US-based group “World of Children”, intend the prize to recognize people who have made “a significant lifetime contribution to children’s futures by greatly improving their opportunities to learn and grow.” Ms. Chi was named first among three honorees, who in turn had been selected from some 200 entrants from around the world. The other honorees in the Kellogg's Child Development Award this year include Ms. Lucy Yinda from Kenya, and Ms. Olga Murray from the United States each of whom will receive US$10,000.

The World of Children also hosts the "Cardinal Health Children's Care Award" for advocates in the field of children's health. This year's winner was Dr. Irving Williams, with Mr. Chakunja Sibale, and Dr. Shankar Man Rai as honorees. There is also a Founder's Award, which was presented to Mr. Cristiano Fedrigo.

The Garden of Hope Foundation is honored to be named in such distinguished company!

Top photo: From left, Award winner Ms. Chi, Honoree Ms. Olga Murray, Honoree Ms. Lucy Yinda, and  Mr. Timothy Knowlton, Kellogg Company Vice President - Corporate Social Responsibility.

Photo above: Ms. Chi answers questions during the "Kids Town Hall" event as part of celebrations for the awards. The students had been studying the GOH and had a great many thoughtful and intelligent questions for Ms. Chi about the work of the Garden of Hope.

The Garden of Hope Foundation was established in 1988 to help disadvantaged girls, women and children island-wide. We look to a society free from sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and family violence.

From the World of Children website: “The World of Children Awards program was created to honor and recognize those selfless individuals who make a world of difference in the lives of children across the globe, regardless of political, religious and geographical boundaries. WOC seeks to give this minority a voice by making children’s issues central to the future of all societies around the world.” For more information see the WOC website: http://www.worldofchildren.org/TheAward.htm

Please note: The above link will transfer the viewer to an outside site. This link is provided for general information only, and Garden of Hope does not take any responsibility for the content of any outside site.

GOH conference puts spotlight on Human Trafficking in Taiwan

CEO of the Garden of Hope Foundation, Ms. Chi Hui-jung, joined calls for the government to work more closely with NGOs in Taiwan to develop a comprehensive approach to stop the practice of human trafficking to Taiwan, on the final day of a three-day international conference co-hosted by the Garden of Hope Foundation.

“We hope the government will establish a special taskforce for trafficking, and involve NGOs, experts and scholars to work on this issue. We need to have standard operation procedures and we need to sit down with the government and discuss this,” she said.

The call came at the end of three days of talks among some 300 officials, experts and scholars from around the world at the international conference “Strategies to Combat Human Trafficking from Southeast Asia to Taiwan.”

Counselor for Labor Affairs from the U.S. Embassy in Japan, Ms. Ann Kambara, said, she was impressed with the talks, and added that it was now time for Taiwan to find it’s own solutions to the problem.”

Ms. Chi added four key points to tackle the problem.

“We need a comprehensive law to take on the problem, as well as a budget, a taskforce, and more international dialogue to really deal with the problem as a whole.”

Earlier in the day, Ms. Chi emphasized the importance of education in the process.

“We need to help people to understand the difference between smuggling and trafficking. We have to differentiate between people who are trafficked and people who are smuggled voluntarily,” she said.

More than 300 people took part in the three days of talks, including a wide range of international experts and ranking government officials. The conference was co-organized by the Garden of Hope Foundation and the U.S.-based Vital Voices, in conjunction with the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the American Institute in Taiwan, along with help from the Asia Foundation in Taiwan, the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation, and ECPAT – Taiwan.

Photos: Top: Participants on Day One of the talks.

Above: Vice President Annette Lu, center in grey, meets international speakers at the opening of the conference. The vice president gave the keynote address in support of efforts to combat human trafficking.

Canadians in Taiwan reach out to the GOH

Recently, our friends at the Canadian Society in Taiwan made another generous donation to our Taidong Women's Workshop - the Garden of Hope's job training and social work program in southeastern Taiwan. The CST presented a check for NT$70,000 at its year-end annual general meeting in Taipei. Some 40 CST members were on hand for the presentation, which will fund a place for another woman in the year-long training program. Thank you from the Garden of Hope and the Taidong Women's Workshop!

To find out more about the Canadian Society in Taiwan, check their website: www.canadiansociety.org

Please note: The above link will transfer the viewer to an outside site. This link is provided for general information only, and Garden of Hope does not take any responsibility for the content of any outside site.

Sales benefit our work!

The Garden of Hope would like to thank AIT, the China Cultural Studies Group, as well as the TIWC and Ms. Consuelo Eyzaguirre, for their kind invitations to take part in several recent Christmas bazaars. All monies from sales at these events will go towards the Taidong Women's Workshop.