Area 7, District 3523
Service
Service first, fellowship after
Culture at the centre, inclusion as the goal
This club does more than serve those in need. It builds platforms for cross-cultural dialogue, helping new immigrants and their children move from being seen to taking part as full participants. Placing culture at the centre and inclusion as the goal responds to Taiwan's own social transition, and puts Rotary's ideal of Service Above Self into practice. Service work is no longer only about solving problems — it creates connection and repairs the fractures in a society.
How the work developed
8 stages since the club was chartered in 2019
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2019.06
Chartered
Planning began in late 2018; chartered by 31 founding members
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2021–22
Finding our focus
Over roughly six months of discussion, meetings and talks, members arrived at a shared focus on serving new immigrants and their children — learning from NGOs, researchers and immigrant families across Taiwan.
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2022
Partnering with Foodeast
From spring, the club began supporting the Foodeast team: Southeast Asian culture board-game workshops, a writing competition for children of immigrant families, a creative baking contest, and a Southeast Asian culture market. Members' hands-on involvement anchored the club's service programme and laid the groundwork for later work.
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2023
ASEAN empowerment programme
Launched on 27 March, this programme selected ten young people from immigrant families for six months of one-to-one mentoring, coursework, project work, company visits and internships, and business networking, closing with a culture market and a showcase of participants' work. Other clubs were invited to join, and the effort founded Taiwan's first incorporated association led by children of immigrant families, with a member of this club serving on its board.
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2023–24
Cross-cultural career workshops
From December, in partnership with another youth team, the club widened its reach to young people with family roots in Thailand, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia. Workshops paired career talks with deliberative discussion, helping participants recognise their own cultural strengths. Graduates went on to become cultural ambassadors at shared-table gatherings, cooking dishes from their families' home regions alongside club members.
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2024–25
Getting to know migrant workers in Taiwan
Working with a partner organisation, members volunteered at a travelling library at Taipei Main Station, coming to know the Indonesian migrant worker community there. Five monthly guided walks each took up a specific issue. The series opened beyond club members so that the wider public could encounter migrant workers' lives in an approachable way.
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2025–26
Into public space and daily life
Building on that foundation, the series continued and moved further into public space and everyday settings — guided walks, audio guides, cross-cultural talks, and encounters with migrant communities' religious life and food — so that members and residents alike could understand the plural make-up of Taiwanese society in an unforced way.
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2026–27
This year's focus
Continuing the theme of cultural inclusion for immigrants and migrant workers.
- Deepening existing work and sponsoring the Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants, as an approachable way into the growing plurality of Taiwanese society and toward cross-cultural respect.
- Members taking part directly in cultural walks, short talks, experiential events and literary documentation, to learn more of Southeast Asian cultures and migrant workers' stories.
- Partnering with Southeast Asian community groups and local cultural organisations, inviting the public in, and joining education, art and digital tools so that Rotary service carries both warmth and foresight.
District-wide service
The club takes part in service run across the district, including the Area 7 joint blood drive, the Rotary charity run, and free medical clinics organised by District 3523 — and encourages members to bring family and friends along.
Rotary's Areas of Focus
How our service work maps to Rotary's seven areas of focus — for reference
For reference
- Peacebuilding and conflict prevention
- Cross-cultural dialogue and the Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants
- Basic education and literacy
- Youth empowerment programme and career workshops
- Community economic development
- Mentoring, internships and the culture market
- Disease prevention and treatment
- Area 7 blood drive and district medical clinics