To promote the development of rural communities, there are eight students from the MA program of Adult and Continuing Education, Elder Education, Teaching English as a Foreign Language and Department of Foreign Language and Literature at National Chung Cheng University (CCU) forming a team called “Liao-Lao Chiu” and entering the Tengliaozai community in Shinong village located in the Zhongpu township in Chiayi County. The team of CCU promotes the local industry, historical and cultural landscape of Tengliaozai community by getting a deeper taste of rural life, through green care courses, cultural and historical preservation in rural areas, and the youth workshops. While indulging in enhancing the development of community, they also care about the local elders and call on the local youth to care for their hometown. Thus, they win the Environmental Sustainability Award and the Intelligence Creation Award in the 12th College Students Rural Up Competition.

The name of the team,“Liao-Lao Chiu”, is literally translated from Taiwanese, which stands for the team’s wholehearted devotion to the community, improves themselves with the community, and becomes a part of the community. Plus, it also makes all the elders and publics in the community engraved with memories and interesting life by healing activities. Under the guidance of Yu-Ching Chen, a professor of the Department of Adult Education, the team members of “Liao-Lao Chiu” ranges from freshmen to business operators, housewives, community planners, middle school teachers, etc., and they were born in different generations, with different backgrounds and life experiences. However, with the interest in community, education, elders, and the countryside, they come to CCU and join hands together to step into the community. 

CCU mentions that Yu-Ching Chen, a professor of the Department of Adult Education has led students to visit Tengliaozai community in Chiayi County for many years. With the first-hand experience and the concept of co-existence and co-creation of elders-youth generation, they involve in and care about people’s life in Chiayi. 

This year, the CCU team initiate the project with the concept of making community forever young. During their two-month residency in the village, they not only deal with elders’ depression by designing the green care courses, such as making their own succulent potted plant, decoupage bags, and tiling, but also visit the elders living alone, and accompany them by bringing those courses to them, for the purpose of improving their participation in the community. The CCU team even organized four rural experience camps, inviting 97 people who are interested and willing to know the countryside and the teenagers of Tengliaozai living far from home participate the camps, making the tranquil community full of joy.

In addition, in order to raise the concern of those living far away from the elders in Tengliaozai community, the CCU team designed the community e-newsletter. While reporting the highlights of community activities, they also interview the elders of life-long learning program to understand their living conditions and connect their family members in different places together. Bo-Ru Zeng, the leader of CCU team mentions that the most impressive event is that a grandma who stays at home due to an accidental injury is encouraged to serve as a lecturer for the workshop of making traditional bamboo shoot. The CCU team states, “We also design a logo for grandma’s bamboo shoot dish, and we are glad to see grandma’s smiling face!” 

CCU points out that “College Students Rural Up Competition” held by Soil and Water Conservation Bureau of the Council of Agriculture in Executive Yuan, encourages students to take advantage of their own creativity or expertise to promote rural regeneration in the community and create a sustainable countryside. The CCU team not only wins the group award “Environmental Sustainability Award”, but also wins the individual award “Intelligence Creation Award”. In the next two years, it will preserve the spirit of “Liao-Lao Chiu” through rural development project in colleges.

Bo-Ru Zeng mentions that the team will first focus on integrating resources from all walks of life to cultivate talents in rural communities, such as project management of rural communities’ development for college students, elderly health care and community development capabilities of talents in the community. The CCU team even plans to develop food and agriculture education and green care courses by its expertise in adult education. Plus, they also create better community trips and parent-child activities integrated with community vegetable gardens, which can earn income for community development and make rural areas can operate independently. The implementation can join hands with the elders together and start a new chapter on this land.