Doors to Diplomacy Participants

Jiayi elementary school (2008 CyberFair Project ID 5392)
Taiwan, Ping-Tung
Official Status: Incomplete: under Development
Teacher:
Category: 2. Community Groups and Special Populations

We estimate 10 student(s) from 11 to 12 will work on this entry.

Description of Our Community: The Expressway 185 that links five tribal townships in north and central Pingtung County. The express way brings convenience as well as numerous vehicles passing by. It has been 30 and some years since our grandparents moved to Majia Township in the central part of Yanshan Highway. The township looks no more different than any other townships, except for a tribal styled name plate at the town entrance, some totems in the town center, and a bunch of friendly dark-skinned people. Some people might wonder whether there is an association between the name of the township “Paiwan Village” and “Paiwan Tribe”. The township has entered its third generation, and the town is losing its mother language, traditional skills, and the mythical tales and legends. The remote original tribal town has become an honorable memory of our ancestors. The slate houses, slate stairs, pottery pots, the beautiful tribal costumes, the natural forests, and wild animals have all become mere memories. We still have the boldness, generosity and innocence in our blood; however, the ancestors’ wisdom, the history and the culture are yet to be restored. It is with hope that through the project, we would be able to sew a seed in our children’s heart, and one day the seed will grow and bring us back to the honorable past of the tribe.

Project Description: Paiwan Village is in our school district. It approximately 5km to the school, and is on everyone’s way to the school. The village is no different from an ordinary aboriginal tribe, with one town center that has a steel roof, and Fawan Elementary School. There are currently 60 students from the tribe studying in the school. I often hear many students say that their grandparents go back to Old Paiwan to work on the field and look after the old houses in the holiday, but only few of the students actually visit the old tribal site with the grandparents. And very few of them know the location and the history of Old Paiwan. In a teachers’ trip to the historical site of Paiwan, the teachers found the place picturesque and full of history, and it is a shame that students don’t know about it. It would be the teachers’ fault to not teach the students about the historical meaning and the glorious past of the elders. Therefore, we selected students who are connected to or have expressed the desire of learning about Paiwan Tribe, and some willing teachers to form a project team. We aim to explore the history of Paiwan tribe starting from Paiwan Village, and follow the elders’ footsteps to re-visit Old Paiwan.

No Project Narrative Yet Submitted