Although Typhoon Morakot may have “disappeared from the news“, as Charles Hsu (12) observed, TAS has far from forgotten about this tragedy. On November 21st, 30 Upper School students travelled to Kaoshiung American School (KAS) to help out with the KAS Annual Funfair, whose proceeds will go to the Typhoon Morakot victims as a part of the school’s relief efforts.

“Some students will be helping out with booths, and others hosting some of the victims of the typhoon,” said Mr. John VandenBoom, US Associate Principal. Charles explained that there is a committee in charge of TAS’ involvement in the funfair.

The committee was formed in response to Typhoon Morakot and the need for school-wide relief efforts. According to Kayo Yanagisawa (12) the school picked 5 big organizations – StuGov, Orphanage Club, World Vision, National Honor Society and Emergency Relief Club, and the five presidents formed this committee. “We meet at a time when all of us happen to have lunch, which is A day Period 3, and with Mr. VandenBoom we meet in the US Office to talk about whatever project we’re taking on at the time,” explained Kayo.

Various relief-efforts throughout the school year have been the product of this committee’s organization, such as the Pencils to Bricks concert and the sanitizer distribution. “This time, we decided that instead of raising money and just giving it to big organizations such as the Red Cross, we wanted to have a direct impact on the Typhoon Morakot victims,” said Mr. VandenBoom, “and we can do that through KAS.” This idea of having a ‘direct impact’ was supported by Mandy Chow (10), who said that students living in Taipei do not usually have the opportunity to help out directly, so  this KAS trip allows students to actually meet the refugees.

The committee has been in touch with the principal at KAS to find more ways to get involved through KAS’s connections; as such, when KAS notified TAS of the funfair and asked if TAS wanted to help out, the committee decided that TAS could take 30 students down south to do something for the typhoon victim according to Charles.

“I think people outside the OC should also go to KAS to help out,” said Michael Hayashi (11). And they did; the committee decided to open registration for this trip to students beyond their 5 respective clubs, according to Kayo. These 30 selected students, as well as chaperones, left TAS early on Saturday morning and were at Kaoshiung throughout the day.

For Mr. VandenBoom and the committee, the goal of this funfair was to raise some more money for the victims, but also to allow students to meet the children and victims of this typhoon.

For the students actually going on the trip, personal goals were set. For instance, Mandy Chow (10) said, “By joining this KAS trip, I feel that I can actually contribute my time and effort into the [relief efforts]…I hope that when I head down to KAS, after a day of hard work I can say to myself that I did a good job.” Mandy also mentioned that she hopes to bring joy into the lives of the refugee children.

Clark Chen (11), one of the funfair participants said, “It was a lot of fun. We were in charge of 2 booths. When we got there, the TAS students turned it up a notch from being tired to engaging with the kids and smiling.”

The formation of the committee is a representation that the relief efforts of our school are long term, instead of just a one-shot deal. This is evident in the regular meetings conducted by the committee. Mr. VandenBoom said, “We knew that the items that we just sent down at the start of the year would be initial help, but that more assistance was needed.”

Kayo echoes this sentiment as she said that while the devastating impacts of Typhoon Morakot may not be as publicized anymore, the problem still exists and there are people that still need help; the committee is also thinking into the future with perhaps another event around Chinese New Year.

Witnessing the efforts of many students in offering their help for the typhoon relief efforts, Mr. VandenBoom expressed, “I’m overwhelmed by how much service students do – the typhoon relief effort is only one aspect of it all, for instance many students who will be going to Kaoshiung are also in other clubs, so they’re doing this on top of everything else, which really demonstrates the commitment of our students.”

As a reflection, Clark said that he took away from this event a sense of gratitude, as he noted that TAS students are sheltered and students “should be grateful they are where they are”.

President of ERC, Jonathan Chen (12) sums it all up by saying, “I feel it’s just something we should do; and the KAS trip is just another instance where students can show that they care.”