President Ma Ying-jeou met with World Vision International President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Jenkins at the Presidential Office on the morning of May 21. The president expressed his admiration of Mr. Jenkins for his longstanding contributions in the area of public welfare, adding that he hopes the two sides will be able to strengthen their cooperation in the future, thereby assisting even more people in need.
The president commented that World Vision is one of the world's most prominent charitable institutions. The organization has a distinguished track record in programs sponsoring underprivileged children around the world and providing relief in the wake of disaster and calamity, he said. President Ma noted that Mr. Jenkins is a Canadian national and previously served as the president of Air Canada. He has been involved with World Vision for over 10 years and ultimately became this organization's president. President Ma remarked that Mr. Jenkins first studied law and then business management. A graduate of Harvard Business School, Mr. Jenkins was extremely successful in business before he turned his focus to charitable activities.
The president stated that World Vision in Taiwan has long promoted a program via which people can sponsor children from underprivileged backgrounds. This program has been a huge success. To date, Taiwanese have sponsored 170,000 children. If one adds to the total of those sponsored by the Taiwan Fund for Children and Families, in aggregate over 230,000 children here and overseas have received financial support from donors here. This is quite a high ratio, he said, adding that he is pleased to see the enthusiasm of the people of Taiwan in this respect. This highlights the compassion of the Taiwan people and their determination to continue to provide assistance to a greater number of children in need, he said.
President Ma recalled that World Vision was on the front line in the rescue effort here in August last year when parts of southern and eastern Taiwan were devastated by flooding and landslides. World Vision was particularly aggressive in erecting temporary residences and was the earliest to complete shelters to house displaced persons, he said. The president noted that World Vision continues to carry out such work. He pointed out that over 220,000 people were killed or injured in the earthquake that jolted Haiti in January of this year that registered over seven on the Richter scale. The ROC government immediately sent rescue and medical teams to Haiti, and also provided over US$16 million in assistance, he said. The president said that World Vision generously pledged to assist between 8,000 and 10,000 orphans or children from underprivileged households. This helped to make Taiwan's aid work in Haiti even more effective. President Ma expressed his deepest appreciation to World Vision on behalf of the government and people of the ROC for its assistance in this respect.
President Ma told Mr. Jenkins that he has personally supported the work carried out by World Vision. He said that in 1997 he began participating in the program to provide assistance to children in need. To date, he has sponsored 10 children, with three of them overseas and seven in Taiwan. The president said that for him, World Vision activities not only establish a relationship between the public and private sectors, but also enable him to be a member of the organization and participate in its initiatives. He commented that one of the children he sponsored in Swaziland will soon enter university. The president said that he told the girl last year that as long as she was able to enter university and carry out her academic pursuits, he is willing to foot the expenses.
The president stressed that he hopes more people are able to receive education in countries that lack resources. This will help to improve the environment in those places and enable Taiwan, which itself received assistance from other nations in the past, to pay back the international community for its earlier support. President Ma expressed his hopes for even greater cooperation between Taiwan and World Vision, especially in the Haiti assistance projects. He said that a United Nations conference will be held in the Dominican Republic on June 2 to discuss relief and assistance plans for Haiti. Taiwan will dispatch officials to attend the event, and he said he has heard that World Vision will also send representatives. The president pointed out that providing aid to impoverished children in Haiti is an urgent necessity. He said the earthquake resulted in hundreds of thousands of orphans in that nation and that efforts to attend to their welfare are extremely important. President Ma said he is confident that World Vision will make a contribution in this initiative.
President Ma specially noted that besides providing financial assistance to impoverished children, the ROC plans to erect 1,200 homes in Haiti, along with public health and vocational training centers. He expressed his belief that in the course of assisting in the reconstruction of Haiti that there will be many opportunities for interaction and cooperation between Taiwan and World Vision.
Mr. Jenkins, along with Watt Santatiwat, World Vision Regional Director for East Asia, and Senior Advisor David Tam, were accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Deputy Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang and Executive Director of World Vision Taiwan Hank Du to meet President Ma. Also in attendance was National Security Council Advisor Tung Kuo-yu.