Photos supplied by the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps
照片�台灣路竹會提供
The Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps just finished a medical mission to three countries in Central America in late August this year, and on October 9 it will leave on another health aid mission to the Philippines. This non-religious, non-profit organization traveled to more than 40 countries all over the world since its establishment 15 years ago, completed 220 voluntary healthcare missions at home and abroad, promoted people’s diplomacy on behalf of Taiwan and became the best example of health without borders.
今年8月底，才剛結束中美洲3國義診的「台灣路竹會」，10月9日，又將前往菲律賓進行醫療援助；這個非宗教、非營利的組織，成立15年來，足跡遍佈全球40幾個國家，完成海內外220次義診，為台灣做足國民外交，堪稱「醫療無國界」的最佳典範。
Because he felt that medical resources in remote mountain areas were insufficient, dentist Dr. Liu Chi-chun launched the TRMPC in 1995. He called in friends who shared the same ambition and purpose to travel to Chienshih in Hsinchu County to provide free consultations. Afterward, they decided to head for the mountains at a regular date each month. The more precipitous and the more difficult the road and the more insufficient the resources at a village, the more likely you were to see the presence of their service.
有感於偏遠山區醫療資源不足，牙醫師劉啟群在1995年發起成立路竹會，號召志同道合的朋友前往新竹縣尖石鄉義診；此後，他們就決定每個月固定上山，越是險峻難行、資源不足的部落，越能見到他們服務的身影。
When war broke out in Kosovo in 1999, the TRMPC traveled to refugee camps in Macedonia at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide free medical service, becoming the focus of international media reports. The trip also opened the way for the TRMPC’s overseas health care. “It was only when we went overseas that we realized that Third World countries lacked medical resources to an extent that is hard to imagine,” Liu Chi-chun said. “In backward areas, the difference between life and death is sometimes just one antibiotic.” From then on, the TRMPC extended its feelers further and further, from Asia’s Sikkim and Cambodia all the way to Africa, and Central and South America. The tracks of its voluntary medical services covered virtually all sites of poverty and disease in the whole world.
1999年科索沃戰爭爆發，路竹會在外交部請託下，前往設在馬其頓的難民營義診，成為國際媒體報導焦點，也開啟路竹會海外醫療之路。劉啟群說，「到了國外才發現，第三世界的國家，醫療資源匱乏到讓人難以想像的地步。」「在落後地區，生跟死的差別，有時只是一劑抗生素。」此後路竹會觸角愈伸愈遠，從亞洲的錫金、柬埔寨，一路延伸到非洲、中南美洲，義診足跡幾乎遍佈全世界貧病的角落。
When the 921 earthquake hit Nantou in 1999, the TRMPC mobilized more than 100 vehicles within the shortest possible time to move supplies and almost 140 doctors and nurses to start aid operations in the Puli disaster area. When a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck Indonesia in June 2000, Liu Chi-chun received a phone call from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the morning, and in the afternoon of the same day, more than ten medical staff boarded a flight on their way to the disaster area. The members of this “mobile hospital” which has such a strong mobilization capability unexpectedly never hold meetings and never meet each other.
1999年南投發生921大地震，路竹會在第一時間內，動員上百輛車隊，載著救援物資與將近140名醫護人員，挺進埔里災區展開救援。2000年6月印尼爆發7.9級大地震，劉啟群上午才接到外交部打來的電話，當天下午就有十餘名醫療人員搭機趕赴災區。而這個動員能力超強的「行動醫院」，成員竟然從不開會、從不相約。
Liu Chi-chun explains that the TRMPC’s biggest asset is the solidarity of its members. Each year in March, he will first draw up the itinerary for a full year and put it on the web site to let everyone register as they wish, with the participants paying their own travel expenses. At present, there are about 12 domestic medical trips and six overseas missions a year. As soon as an itinerary is announced, it gets fully booked immediately. From the group’s founding until now, more than 10,000 volunteers have joined, offering their services for nothing in return.
劉啟群解釋說，路竹會最大的資產，就是會員的向心力。每年3月，他會先排出一整年的行程，公布在網站上，讓大家自由報名，參與者必須自行負擔旅費。目前一年約有12次國內義診與6次海外義診，但往往行程一公布，人數就立刻爆滿。成立至今，已有上萬名志工熱情投入，不求回報。
Because of its excellent performance, the TRMPC was invited in 2003 to join CONGO (The Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations), becoming the first-ever Taiwanese non-profit organization to enter the United Nations. In 2006, the TRMPC won the 16th annual Medical Contribution Group Award, and in 2009, the National Non-Profit Award. In 2008, founder Liu Chi-chun also won the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission’s Huakuang Award, rewarding his contribution to improving Taiwan’s image.
由於路竹會的卓越表現，2003年獲邀加入CONGO（聯合國非政府組織的論壇），成為台灣第一個進入聯合國的非營利組織；2006年獲頒第16屆醫療奉獻團體獎；2009年獲得國家公益獎；創辦人劉啟群也在2008年獲得僑委會頒發華光獎章，表彰他提升台灣形象的貢獻。
The hats of TRMPC members feature an English phrase: “Time for Taiwan to feed back its love to the world.” In the past, Taiwan received assistance from numerous missionaries and humanitarian organizations, now the anonymous heroes in the TRMPC are taking Taiwan’s name to spread the love thousands of miles away, giving back to the world.
路竹會成員的帽子上，印著一句英文：Time for Taiwan to feed back its love to the world。台灣過去曾經接受許多歐美傳教士及慈善團體的協助，現在路竹會這群無名英雄，正帶著台灣的名字千里傳愛，回饋全世界。
