Sponsor meals and education for Taiwanese children

Nearing year end, we ran a series of workshops that focused on being thankful and giving back to others, so we empowered communities through art and also taught animal welfare. Through painting featuring various types of species of animals and their current status, we will then sell the artwork and donate funds back to animal rescues. The "Advocacy Through Art" series welcomes us to learn about a new world and empowers by kids (us) channeling their artistic talents to make a positive impact on the world.

We created the curriculum so that everyone knows that they are also capable of helping others. Art in any medium can be utilized for much more than self expression and self help - but also to make the world into a better place. Nothing is more empowering than being able to rise others up. This year our series used upcycled frames and went the traditional route of observing and painting various animals. We started in Miaoli (youth with disabilities) introducing hamsters leading into Wanhua highlighting attention needed for senior dogs, understanding and not fearing snakes, then had seniors get cuddly with adorable rabbits. We will wrap up the series later in March introducing cats to our indigenous youth in ChingChuan. Thank you for your support in helping kids make a difference in the world!

Please check our presentation attached for more details on work we have done in this period; from the Advocacy through Art workshops (4 and counting); year end gingerbread classes, afterschool education and meals, and plant-based essentials to 25 indigenous families in Taiwan.

Links:

• Main website, check back for animal welfare paintings
• Boxing Champion Session Video
• Follow us on IG and check our our stories!

• 2024 NovMar Meals & Workshops Taiwanese Youth (PDF)
  

It’s been a packed half year, starting off with our second annual surf camp with our youth from Taoyuan and WanHua meeting up in Yilan. In addition to our usual workshops,, celebrating our 10th year BUILD A HOME Anniversary at Taoyuan MuHsiang Children’s Home, we have also been working hard since the beginning of the year on a project to launch the afterschool care program in Taitung.

Since July in five different locations since July, we have provided approximately 14 workshops and 229 plant-based meals to youths. We are currently working hard on our year end fundraising for necessities and food staples which you can find under our other GlobalGiving Projects.

Our main update this time will be in regards to our Taitung, with contracts signed in October, we started the afterschool program three days a week,  This provides two tutors to be there on hand Mondays and Wednesdays to assist the indigenous Amis kids with homework and a teacher that goes over cultural and indigenous Amis langauge lessosn on Fridays. In addition to this, we also hired locales to cook for them and also manage the space and the administrative work. One of our kids that has been in Bright Side creative education workshops since we first arrived in 2015 now also is one of our Bright Side Projects paid apprentices, overseeing the scheduling of chores for the kids on a weekly basis; she will also be part of our planning team for the annual Santa Jia Xin winter workshops, taking place in early January.

Thank you all for your support in 2024 and we look forward to 2025 to continue our meal programs and provide nutrition to even more kids and families around Taiwan! Take a look at our PDF for more images and descriptions of the creative education workshops and the meals provided to the youths. 

Links:

• Bright Side Website
• Follow us on IG and check our our stories!
• Facebook Page

• 2024 Jul - Nov Meals & Workshops Youth Report (PDF)