TFRD Welcomes 5 Volunteers from the Netherlands

When Suzy, Fieke, Elisa, Ise, and Puck found out from the English website of TFRD, the Taiwan Foundation of Rare Disorders, about services provided by the Foundation to RD patients in Taiwan, the five Dutch high schoolers decided that they must do something. An e-mail to the Foundation was what started their 9,536 km journey to Taiwan as TFRD’s international volunteers.

As preludes to their four-day overseas volunteering service, a series of fundraisers such as Bakesale, Sponsored Walk, and Benefit Lunch were held to make it possible for the girls to present a check worth NT$100,000 to the Foundation, a donation well received and much appreciated. Kicking off their journey of service and learning, they arrived April 17th 2025 at the Taipei headquarters of TFRD where a presentation on rare diseases in the Netherlands was given, training sessions got underway, and sleeves rolled up. In no time, colorful picture books for awareness campaign were packed into dozens of boxes ready to be sent to schools around Taiwan.

The Dutch volunteers spent the next three days and two nights at the TFRD Rare Disease Welfare Center located at Guanxi, Hsinchu county, about 80 km southwest of the capital city of Taipei. The Center is home to RD patients for training and educational programs and entertainment as well; dancing, singing, sensory integration exercise, and many other talent and interest development classes. The 17-year olds assisted in the preparation of course materials, tidying up of the greenhouse, and keeping RD patients accompanied in all the activities including putting on bamboo hats to work on farmland.

Members of TFRD Translation Club gave a detailed English tour of the Rare Disease Welfare Center for the international friends so that they were able to better understand what it is like to live the lives of RD patients. After the educational interaction, the two groups sat together for an afternoon session of DIY coffee roasting under the guidance of the coffee master Ms. Hsin-Yi Lin with the help of her son, an RD patient himself. With their warm and cheerful personalities, the Dutch girls brought friendly and harmonious atmosphere wherever they went and the Center was filled with laughter.

Throughout the four-day activities, the Dutch volunteers showed warmth, caring, and insight far beyond their age. Through their practical praise-worthy actions, they provided significant and meaningful care and services while addressing issues of great concern on international scale. Ms. Serena Wu, founder of the TFRD, personally met and presented certificates of appreciation to the five young girls. Her words of encouragement to the five volunteers served also as a message to friends all over the world from the Taiwan Foundation of Rare Disorders.

Translator: Selene Haung (MS), Ellen Kuo (OI)
Reviewer: Kent Wang