Manila, Sept. 4 (CNA) A delegation of "Youth Ambassadors" organized by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to the Philippines and Indonesia participated in the handing out of rice donated by Taiwanese civic groups in Manila to local disadvantaged families Monday.
Under the MOFA's 2017 International Youth Ambassadors Exchange Program, the delegation, which arrived in the Philippines Saturday, visited Tondo, a district of Manila, with representatives from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines, the Taipei Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, and the local branch of Taiwan's Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation.
Together, the groups helped hand out 1,000 kilograms of rice to 50 low-income households, courtesy of the Taipei Chamber of Commerce.
The youth ambassadors sign up to MOFA's annual program showcasing Taiwan's desire to help those in need and in the process not only demonstrate the nation's soft power but also play a greater role in the world, group leader and deputy counselor Chen Chi-chia from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs said of the program.
The group, led by Chen and made up of 15 university students and 10 staff members, arrived in Manila on Saturday for a five-day stay that ends on Wednesday.
While in the Philippines, the youth ambassadors have visited cultural landmarks, government offices and witnessed first hand how humanitarian groups like Tzu Chi help the disadvantaged in the country.
Liu Hsuan-huei of National Cheng Kung University said that the experience of visiting poor areas of Indonesia and the Philippines has motivated her "to want to contribute to society and bring about change."
