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Home>Service> Awardees of Fervent Global Love of Lives Award> 13th Fervent Global Love of Lives Award 2010> Godmother of Studio Classroom ─Dr. Doris Brougham from the US
Love is a lifelong mission
      Dr. Doris Brougham –the founder of “Overseas Radio and Television Inc”—grew up in a Christian family in Seattle , US . At the age twelve, she responded to the call of God and decided to preach the Christian gospel to the world of Asia . At the age of twenty-one, she came to China to preach and fled due to the instability caused by the civil war between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist Party. In spite of the unstable living condition, she helped victims of natural disaster any time she could. At twenty-five, she came to Taiwan and stayed there near a half-century. Three-fourth of her life was devoted to Taiwan . She not only transmitted gospel but also brought the concepts of English education to Taiwan . Besides common people, she was also concerned with the life of poor children, aborigines and prisoners. She deserved the title “Godmother of Studio Classroom.”
 
 
The promise made at twelve; stepping on the land of China at twenty-one
      Dr. Doris Brougham was born in Seattle , 1926. Like other foreign missioners, she grew up in a typical Christian family, with the love of her parents and God. At one time, she joined the Bible camp during her summer vacation, the preacher talked about the difficulties earlier missioners faced in China and asked, “Who would like to go to China to do missionary work?” Doris raised her hand high above her head and said, “I will go to China and devote myself to help them.” At that time, “ Doris ” was just a little girl with golden hair and blue eyes in the eyes of adults. They laughed at her response and no one took her vow seriously. However, to Doris , that was a promise she would keep up to all her life.
      Music was the favorite subject throughout her childhood. Under the guidance of teacher and her practice, she could play trumpet, saxophone, and even French hone. At the age of fifteen, she was offered full scholarship from Eastman School of Music, and it almost shook the promise she made in childhood. Interests and commitment was wrestling against each other in her mind, and she said silently in her mind,” God, I don't know what to do, please say something to me.” She pleaded God to show her the right path. “ Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thy inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession,” a sentence from the Bible suddenly and clearly emerged from her mind. From then on, no matter what she did, she would weigh her move carefully in order not to contradict her plan to go to China . Nevertheless, regardless of how busy she was, she never gave up her trumpet. She still practiced playing it on time with a musical group and actively devoted herself to the work of music missionary, in churches, prisons, and even on streets.
      Doris graduated from the Simpson Bible Institute in Seattle at the age of twenty. She then took Far Eastern courses and Chinese in University of Washington in order to familiarize herself with the missionary work. In 1948, the 21-year-old American girl boarded the ship going to China . Six weeks from then, she arrived in Shanghai . Other church members gave her a Chinese name—Peng Meng-Hui. She began to wear cheongsam and to use chopsticks. Upon her arrival at China , the church wanted missioners to know more and better about Chinese and their cultural traditions, so they were not allowed to do missionary work at the beginning. Therefore, most missioners did not travel around before they were acquainted with the Chinese culture. However, because of her talents in playing the trumpet, whenever the church held activities that required a brass band, she could go with them. As a matter of course, she understood Chinese culture better than other missioners of her generation. Engulfed by the civil war between KMT and the Communist Party, she was experienced three years of displacement, moving subsequently from Shanghai to Chongquing, Lanzhou and Hong Kong . In the mean time, she had to help the war victims. Her father died at that time, and the US government also wanted to draw back American missioners. But her mother told her, “Don't come back. Do what you plan to do in Formosa . I will come to visit you.” As a result, she made the decision with tears in her eyes. However, her mother never made it to Taiwan —after Dr. Doris Brougham arrived in Taiwan , her mother died in the following year.
 
 
Coming to Taiwan alone; pioneering in Hualien
      She arrived in Taiwan in 1951. She chose the so-called “deserted land” - Hualien and walked into the homeland of aborigines. At a young age of twenty, she rented an old Japanese-style house, and taught music at Yu-Shan Theological College and Seminary, who was responsible for training teachers of Sunday School. Besides teaching courses at theology school, she also established a small church, and a Sunday School with nine children. She trumpeted and led aboriginal children to dance and sing. She also edited hymns into a songbook. Influenced by her, children learned Christianity from her Sunday School, while she learned some basic aboriginal languages.
      At that time, lung disease and leprosy were still infectious diseases in Taiwan . What was worse, mountainous areas lacked water, and thus tableware and other daily commodities could not be washed. The sanitary condition in Taiwan was poor then. But she still insisted on visiting the elderly, the sick and disabled aborigines in the mountains. She did not want aborigines to think that they were discriminated or rejected, but she never got infected with any disease. Because of her selfless giving and genuine devotion, she won the acceptance and trust from aborigines. They gave her an aborigine's name, Ribix, a lily that blossoms in the valley.
      She practiced what she preached and did her missionary work in the aboriginal tribes located in the mountainous area in Hualien. She creatively combined communication programs to preach Christianity. In 60s, the most popular entertainment in Taiwan was broadcasting, so she saved money and constructed a recording studio in her house, producing the first gospel broadcasting program in Taiwan .
      Since she was occupied more and more with church, broadcasting, and schools, her recording studio could not stand this intensive use. Partially because of the expansion of broadcasting work, and partially because of her ambition to amplify the program content, the inconvenience of asking friends to commute between Taiwan and Hualien caused her to move westward.
 
 
Mobilizing the trend of media; valuing local creations

      Moving from the “ Collaborative Broadcasting Center ” in Taichung to the “Chinese Gospel Music Studio Classroom,” Doris Brougham was often bothered by the uncertain financial resources. Because of this, she had to recruit funds from the US and sold the heirloom her father left her—a saxophone her father earned from fixing cars. Upholding the value of selfless sacrifice, she told herself, “If I could not give up my personal belongings, how could I ask for others to help us?”
      In response to changing times and needs, strenuous Dr. Doris Brougham had different development frameworks in mind. In addition to broadcasting programs, the Chinese Gospel Music Studio Classroom also produced their own slide show, published sacred music discs, expanded their studio room, shot preaching films, and simultaneously cooperated with the TV media. Finally, she established Oversees Radio & Television Inc. Sticking to the belief of Christianity. She strategically combined media such as broadcasting, TV, drama, and music to disseminate the fresh and healthy information of religion while preserving the particularities of Taiwan .
      She provided multiple communication trends for Taiwan and valued the local creations of Taiwan . In 60s, poverty and conservatism prevailed in Taiwan . Shows played on TV were either Western TV series or Chinese drama. Young people sang western songs, “but this is Taiwan , Taiwanese youth should sing their own songs!” She had the insight to spur localized work. In 1963, after “Heavenly Melody” was founded, she encouraged their members to create Taiwanese songs. She wanted Taiwanese youth “to voice their own belief, and to sing their own songs.” In 2002, “Your Tender Love” won the Golden Melody Awards; in 2004, “Our Life is a Show” was nominated in 2004 Golden Melody Awards. These songs were written with musical components saturated with Taiwanese culture, showing Taiwanese people's distinctive freedom and courage and reminding people to play their own roles no matter what they do.
 
 
Pushing Taiwan towards the world; propelling English education
      In 60s, economy of Taiwan was prospering. Dr. Doris Brougham found that, in some international occasions, talented youth could not express their own points of view fluently because of their limited English ability, so she hoped to improve students' English listening ability through broadcasting teaching. The most important of all, students have to speak English with fluency. As a result, in 1962, “Studio Classroom” was formally introduced to Taiwan .
      Before she set the tone for Studio Classroom,” she consulted other English teaching programs and books. She found that teaching materials in Taiwan were rigid and punctilious, which were counterproductive to students' learning interests. So she thought, “We should blend vocabulary and grammar in one another, just like reading an article. Through the article, we could learn new vocabulary, sentences, grammar and concepts.” While planning the broadcasting teaching programs of “Studio Classroom”, she spent considerable time and energy on it. After a series of teaching, students not only fell in love with English, but also reconstructed their value system. And now, regardless of morning or evening, south or north, there are around a few million audiences listening to “Studio Classroom.”
 
 
Caring about disadvantaged group as an extension of philanthropic love

      Entering the 21 st century, English education in Taiwan was stretching downward. The first thing coming into her mind was the disadvantaged children in remote mountains. Since 1999, “Studio Classroom” started to hold “English summer camp for aborigine children.” It also reached mountainous areas such as Fushing Township , Taoyuan and Yuli, Haulian to conduct language teaching that merged life education and English education. Regular after-class activities were held, hoping that Studio Classroom's experience with aboriginal children could replenish their teaching resources and enable them to care about more aboriginal children.
      As Taiwan became more internationalized, Dr. Doris Brougham saw differential needs of diverse groups from her missioner's eyes. She said,” I know that Taiwan becomes better and better, but no matter how good it is, there are always people who are in need of help. Could we give some encouragement to children, so that they could study harder and not feel that they are left out by others?”Propelled by this motive, since 1994, “Dr. Doris Brougham Education Scholarship” was formally founded. Every year, 2 million NTD of scholarship was given to students who need it to continue studying.
      Dr. Doris Brougham even reached for the socially disadvantaged, such as prisoners, drug addicts and high-risk families. She sent “Studio Classroom” magazines to each prison, encouraging prisoners to enrich themselves. As a encouragement to detainees and prisoners, she also arranged Heavenly Melody to visit domestic and oversees drug treatment centers, prisons, and detention centers and to perform singing. In the process which she contacted with prisoners, she indirectly understood the pain victims'' families suffered, so she especially held “a treasuring night” for crime victims and their families. “What we can do is minimal, but they will know there are others accompanying them.” This was the attitude that she upheld for caring about the socially disadvantaged.
 
 

Keep on going, never giving up
      Aged over eighty, Dr. Doris Brougham is still full of energy, and maintains her curiosity about the world. She only sleeps four or five hours a day, and records English programs in Oversees Radio & Television and edits magazines. Excited about new things, she learned to dive at the age of 56, and to use a computer at the age of 60. Many revolutionary ideas about “Class Studio” were proposed by her. Her internet skills were as skillful as young people. About the future, she still insisted on cultivating the field of English education until her health condition could not afford her to do so, since that was the task given by God.
      She considered herself as a Taiwanese and valued her identity as a Taiwanese. She also wanted to tell Taiwanese that they should cherish their land, and they should have more ambition, more hope and more vision about the future. Taiwanese people should hand each other's hand firmly for inaugurating the better future—“Keep on going, and never giving up,” that is what she said to Taiwanese people.