My dear fellow pilgrims,

I wanted to share with you that I recently visited Taiwan (Republic of China) along with Liony Batista, a Country Manager for our Projects Department at Food For The Poor, at the invitation of Taiwan ICDF, the charitable arm of the Taiwanese Government. Liony has been an integral part of this relationship from the outset and we are interested in further developing our partnership.

We first landed in Taipei, the country capital — a crowded and bustling city. There are 23 million people in Taiwan and 10 million motorcycles. (I think I saw them all in Taipei.) When a traffic light turned green, an army of bikes would noisily zoom off like a small, motorized cavalry beginning their charge! At first, I thought that our visit would entail one business meeting after another, but our hosts were determined to have us depart their land with a totally meticulous education on their country and culture.

We were taken to Taipei 101 (the tallest building in the world) with what undoubtedly has to be the fastest elevator — 101 floors in less than 40 seconds! As soon as my internal organs resumed their correct position, I began admiring the impressive view from the top. We also went to many interesting museums, historic places, verdant parks, ancient and solemn temples and fantastic restaurants, where our hosts insisted that we try many of their incredible edibles. I was happy to do my part in fulfilling their desire. At times, the waitresses and managers would come and watch me eat, obviously awed that any one person could consume such quantities (particularly of the super spicy dishes) and live! My poor, forgotten diet…

I had no idea what I was about to eat

In Taipei we had a P.R. meeting with the Vice-Minister of Foreign Relations, the charming Mr. Hou. Mercifully, this gentleman was completely fluent in Spanish (as I am), so we were able to communicate without the aid of translators or my pathetic attempts at Mandarin. At all meetings, we exchanged gifts with everyone in attendance, an interesting tradition.

Next, we were off on the “speed rail” to the center of the country. We visited the Aqua-cultural Center of the Fishery Research Institute. Dr. Lee, the head of the center, took us on a guided tour of the many tanks where they were experimenting with tilapia and other types of fish. The Taiwanese, who have been enormously helpful to us in sharing their expertise on the farming of tilapia, are considered one of the two world authorities in that field. It was amazing to learn what they could do to control the gender of the fingerlings and the size/weight of the mature fish.

We were then taken to one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen — the Sun Moon Lake. This is the area that many of the original natives of Taiwan still call home. The lake was breathtakingly serene; one could stare at it for hours. Later, we took a midnight walk and saw thousands of fireflies showing off their luminescence in the hope of attracting a suitable mate. The wonders of God’s creative designs… I took an early morning walk in the area and the experience was indeed priceless. I saw the dew on the lotus flowers, the bamboo, the water lilies, fields of bok choy, a golden frog with red spots and the many tiny temples of the deity who favors farmers. I cannot neglect to mention a beautiful woman in her 80s whom I greeted in Mandarin and who then went on to have a 15-minute animated monolog with me in that language, punctuated by peels of laughter, as I helped her collect aluminum cans from the solitary country road. I returned feeling as if I had partaken in a mystical experience.

The vibrant city of Taichung, the second largest of that country, boasted many new buildings and immense department stores. Our amazing accommodations at the elegant Splendor Hotel were compliments of our hosts. The noisy, packed “night market” nearby never closes and sells everything from clothing to live snakes — an unforgettable experience.

Back in Taipei, we attended a very important meeting with the Deputy Secretary General of Taiwan ICDF, another Dr. Lee, and later with the Secretary General himself, Mr. Cheng Cheng-Chung. The meeting started with the usual formalities — exchange of gifts, niceties and video presentations. We then got down to serious talks:

Firstly, Taiwan ICDF will continue to share their expertise in tilapia farming with us in order to provide valuable protein for the poor in the countries we serve.

Secondly, they would like us to partner with them in a much needed project to host their mobile clinics in our countries where they work, in order to reach even the most obscure corners that is home to the destitute sick that cannot afford medical care or even the transportation costs to make that care possible.

Thirdly, and most importantly, Taiwan is part of the “one laptop per child” initiative and, at this meeting, they expressed willingness to partner with us in a very exciting program. They will supply Food For The Poor with laptops for children and adults as long as we provide them with the facilities where they can be put to use, such as schools and community centers. Additionally, they will provide us with the instructors who will train the appropriate local people in each of our participating countries to teach computer skills and also to teach others how to maintain and repair the equipment. Even better, these projects will be self-sustainable, as these places will become affordable “cyber cafes” at night so that the people of the community can keep in touch with their relatives abroad in a less expensive manner than what phone communications would permit. Truly a win-win for all!!!!

I miss Taiwan. There was a pervasive graciousness there — from our delightful guide to the dignitaries of government and ICDF, hotel clerks, and people on the street — a graciousness that made me long for the days when this type of behavior was the rule rather than the exception. I do miss Taiwan and hope to return one day.