Dreamnight at the Zoo: DDM and Taipei Zoo Contributed to An Unforgettable Evening for Underprivileged Families
In the evening of 22 June 2013, more than a hundred underprivileged children together with their families were received as special guests of Dreamnight at the Zoo; this event was hosted by the Taipei Zoo with the Dharma Drum Social Welfare and Charity Foundation (DDSWCF) as a co-organizer.
This trip was specifically organized for children with disabilities or chronic illnesses as many families with disadvantaged children bear heavy economic burden and thus are unable to afford such trips. The feature of this special visit includes animal observation in close proximity, feeding demonstration, multimedia games as well as a drama performance. In addition, these children attended a sharing session with the aim of motivating them to face and transcend hardship; university students, Fan-Gan Xu, who suffers acute kidney failure since his third year at high school, as well as Ting-Xuo Hu, who is afflicted with spinal muscle atrophy, kindly shared their experiences.
DDM Abbot President, Venerable Guo Dong, kindly attended to the entire event. He thoughtfully took up the role of guardian to escort children who visited without the supervision of family members.
Yu-Chen Kuo from the DDSWCF pointed out that the rich fauna and flora ecology at the zoo is the best educational material on environmental conservation and protection. It is hoped that this educational trip exposes underprivileged families to the multi facets of life, thus conjuring optimism and courage to face the uncertain future. Furthermore, society awareness of families with special needs could also be raised.