Kids' Bookhouse 25+ Annual English Landing Page

Jumps to: [About Us] [Poster Translations]

Get to Know Kids' Bookhouse

👧 "Who are you guys?"
🏠 "We're Kids' Bookhouse. We've been here in Zhiben, Taitung, serving local communities for 26 years."

👧 "So... what do you actually do?"
🏠 "We share meals, live life, and face life's challenges together, with 200 kids, 50 adults, and 30 elders."

👧 "What kind of kids do you accompany?"
🏠 "Most of them come from vulnerable families. Some are raised by single parents, some by grandparents. Some have had to earn money or take care of their siblings since they were little."

👧 "How do you stay with them?"
🏠 "We help with homework, cook together, talk about feelings.
We climb mountains, plant fields, build houses, and throw music festivals.
Because life itself is the best classroom."

👧 "Why do you do all this?"
🏠 "Because we can't bear to see kids stuck in a vicious cycle, misunderstood by the adults around them."

👧 "Is this kind of support really enough?"
🏠 "For the past 26 years, we've provided after-school care and companionship, but it's not quite complete. That's why we are planning to build a school, where kids can feel safe and seen, even during the daytime."

👧 "Do you really think things can change?"
🌱 "We were once kids growing up in broken places. Now, we want to create a space filled with hope and light, so other kids can grow their own hope too."

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Translations for each pictures

Some voices never fade. They would echo in the wind, and in kids's laughter.
Thank you. For making us believe that love endures.

1. Drying yard of ChenPa's home
   Origination of Bookhouse, Fearless Love.

   Our story began with ChenPa playing his guitar and telling stories. Over the past 26 years, we have accompanied more than 3,000 families. The drying yard is where our faith was born, Fearless Love.

Do you remember who stood beside you, when the first time you dared to press the pedals?
Thank you. For showing me that falling is not so frightening.

2. Cycling challenges
   Sport education, practice with confidence.

   We held land challenges totaling 2 million kilometers, including more than 30 cycling events and 10 mountaineering events. Each time, the kids practice perseverance and teamwork. While enjoying Taiwan's beauty and learning humility, every kilometer under careful risk management helps kids redefine themselves: "I am worthy."

When you raise your drumsticks, who cheers louder than you?
I feel sorry. Sometimes I forget that I was never meant to be alone.

3. The drum band of MeiHe
   Music education, growing together.

   Evolving from buckets to big drums and progressing from scattered to in sync, the drum band, made up of kids, has performed in more than 60 events. Bookhouse's music education program has produced 3 albums and staged 3 large-scale ticketed concerts to date. We also established a brand dedicated to music empowerment, called "TryMusic."

When was the last time your hands touched the soil?
Thank you. For reminding me that we are all kids of the earth.

4. ChinLin Bookhouse
   A house to settle in, a field to harvest.

   We planted more than 50 kinds of vegetables and fruits and built 2 steel-framed adobe houses. Not only did we provide natural, home-grown food, but we also encouraged parents and other community adults to start learning house repair, farming, and caring for their families.

If you knew the waves were coming, would you still set sail?
Please forgive me. I have my fears too. But I'm more afraid that fear is all you have left.

5. Ocean challenge program
   An ocean perspective, flow with love.

   We have completed kayaking around Taiwan 3 times, totaling over 5,000 kilometers. We take more than 120 kids to explore the ocean by kayak and sailboat. Most of them feel that they can face themselves with greater courage. A journey of true companionship gives kids a fresh perspective on themselves.

How would you spread the love after growing up?
I love you. You make me realize that tenderness lives on in the gaze and the aura.

6. Black Kids Café
   Socialization companionship, regional revitalization.

   Black Kids Café has empowered over 50 local youth to enter the workforce or start their own businesses, including opportunities in product development and design, coffee and food service, and event management. The "Black Kids" initiative advocates that the darkness in one's heart or the challenges of one's family background should not be seen as a shadow. Instead, we turn toward the light, everyone deserves to be treated with care and respect.

If there's a place that always awaits you, would you still be afraid of being alone?
I love you. Once I see you, I know that I'm home.

7. New Kasavakan Bookhouse
   Rebirth of our starter house, Kids' School

   Our starter house, once precarious, has now been transformed into an educational and cultural hub connected to the community. "Kids' School" combines the spirit of Bookhouse with Jena Plan Education. We plan to welcome 30 kids each year who are overlooked by the formal system, providing them with proper education even during the daytime.

What if, one day, I am not able to remember you?
Please forgive me. You will always live in my heart.

8. Ruma* for elderly
   Accompanying elders and sharing our lives, co-living with the community.

   For nurture and fulfilment, Bookhouse serves over 1.5 million meals to the community. The elders have a weekly gathering, where they share learning, raise chickens, and care for one another. We also assist them with medical visits and accompany them on small trips. Through this intergenerational connection, loneliness is acknowledged, and older adults can live their later years with vitality and radiance.

   *Ruma is a word from the Puyuma language, meaning "home" or "family house". We hope it can be a shelter home where people can rest, recover, and find comfort when they are hurt or unwell.

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