2008 Send Love to Thailand
Send Love to Thailand – Spread Love of Taiwan
Date: January 18-26, 2008         Nine members from Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation, led by Chou Chin-Hua (Founder of Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation), hoped to disseminate Taiwan's experience in public interest groups to Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. Therefore, they especially organized the "Love from Taiwan · Love for the World — Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation Send Love to Thailand Charity Event" from January 18 to 26.
        The visiting mission of Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation arrived in Thailand by air on the afternoon of January 18. In the evening, Wu Yan-Yan (Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand) held a dinner to entertain the visiting mission, and invited Huang Hsin-hsiung (Chairman of Taiwanese Association in Thailand) and Cheng Po-chin (President of Thai-Taiwan Business Association) and other overseas Chinese leaders to attend the dinner.
        The visiting mission visited the Chulalongkorn University Hospital in Bangkok on January 21. The University held a welcome tea party, and gave multimedia presentation for the mission. Subsequently, the mission headed for the center for children with cancer. Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation brought gifts to the children with cancer, and two younger brothers of Chou Ta-Kuan, namely Chou Shang-Guan and Chou Tien-Guan, also played music for the children with cancer, hoping to warm these children with cancer with music.
        On January 22, led by Chou Chin-Hua, Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation awarded the 11th Fervent Global Love of Lives Award to Dr. Rosukon Poompanvong, in the Health Farm in Rayong, in order to affirm his spirit of "fighting against cancer with love, never giving up, beating death and defending health" over the twenty years.
The awards ceremony was attended by large number of guests in Thailand. Lots of major electronic and print media, and the Universal Daily News and Central News Agency sent reporters for interview. When Wu Yuan-Yan arrived at the venue, the organizer arranged the local traditional Fawn Leb dance team to guide him. Prior to the start of the awards ceremony, dozens of local monks chanted and prayed. Wu Yuan-Yan, on behalf of the ROC government and people, expressed the greatest respect for the humanitarian acts for loving and caring life of Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation and Dr. Poompanvong. Also, when introducing the acts of Dr. Poompanvong to the guests present, Wu Yuan-Yan emphasized that love was boundless, believing that Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation and Health Far certainly had love, confidence and determination to give further devotion to the humanitarian services caring for life.         Dr. Poompanvong is the founder of the Health Farm. In the past, in the simple medical backpack teams in the Thai and Cambodian borders, she instructed the refugees to defend their health by adjusting food, air and mood, and was awarded by UNESCO and FAO.
        According to Chou Chin-Hua, the winners of Fervent Global Love of Lives Award were selected from those who made extraordinary deeds in four areas including effort, love, courage and achievement. Dr. Poompanvong sticks to the concept and actions of fighting against cancer with love, never giving up, beating death, defending health and spreading hope over twenty years, so she is widely respected. Therefore, although Dr. Poompanvong could not receive the award personally because of health problems, Chou Ta-Kuan Foundation was ready to present the award in Thailand, while hoping that Dr. Poompanvong could visit Taiwan after her health was improved.
        Wu Yuan-Yan also attended the ceremony. He noted that the Fervent Global Love of Lives Award was of great significance. Besides, Dr. Poompanvon fought against thalassemia and leukemia for many years, and gained a more profound understanding of illness and death, so he paid the greatest respect to her.
        Meanwhile, the Foundation also donated 5,350,000 books titled Chou Ta-Kuan's I Still Have One Leg sold in 17 countries. The publishing tax of the books in Thailand was donated to Health Farm and Tak Border Child Assistance Foundation, so that the publishing tax of this book in Thailand could be collected to help the children with cancer in Thailand and let the love of the cancer-fighting poet Chou Ta-Kuan spread to Thai children with cancer.

---