The “Volunteering Taiwan” (台灣志願服務國際交流協會) has been coordinating the "Journey of Dream" (築夢計畫) volunteer service since 2012. This initiative gathers students or young adults over the age of 15 to establish international volunteer groups that will work with local communities abroad. The plan will be put into action in Taiwan in 2023 as a result of the pandemic, and Kaohsiung Liugui, the birthplace of the camellia, has been chosen as the service object. The event organized for foreign volunteers to travel to isolated mountainous regions to experience, learn about tea plucking and related culture, and help the growth of local community enterprises at the same time.
2023 Journey of Dream(築夢計畫志工).Photo provided by i Volunteer Facebook
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The secretary-general of “Volunteering Taiwan” stated during the interview that Kaohsiung Liugui has become a new tourist destination in recent years. International visitors can also travel to villages. The volunteer organization has been successful in translating Liugui Tea Ceremony Culture into a video in ten different languages, and the next major objective is to help local youth become more multilingual.
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Young people are taken to isolated villages as part of the “Journey of Dream” so that young volunteers will have local expertise and more locals will be aware of the camellia community industry. Additionally, volunteer work 2.0 is more concerned with the alliance of equality and collaboration. replacing the usual roles of "serving" and "served" between volunteers and the community so that both groups may collaborate, contribute, and then build upon one another's skills.
