The “Youth and Elderly Co-Creation of Local Wisdom and Freedom" project led by STUST has been working non-stop in June with three communities in Tainan City, including Kunsen, Wenling and Jinhua, to introduce the traditional Dragon Boat Festival to the campus. It saw the creativity and vitality of young people staying with local elders and spending a traditional but innovative Dragon Boat Festival. The activities allowed young people and community elders to pass on the tradition and learn how to make rice dumplings, hand-made anti-mosquito wormwood ointment and sachets, and rice dumplings to care for those living alone. In addition, the project was combined with the CSR power of Fubon Life and the cross-disciplinary collaboration of the Department of Applied English, STUST. It brings interesting peripheral activities such as health promotion activities, board game puzzles and English interactive experiences to the elderly, making the elderly on site happy as if they had been attending a carnival.

【A group photo of the Long Yao Healthy Celebration Dragon Boat Festival Cross-regional Cultural Exhibition】

Distinguished guests were invited join the dance on the stage with STUST students and their elders, including Acting President De-guang Zhou of STUST, Chief Jia-fu Tsai of Central and Western District, Section Chief of Social Affairs Shu-hui Liu, Chief Chao-chin Zeng of Nanmei District, Tainan City Councilor Yi-zhen Chen, and City Councilor Zong-hao Tsai to. Three generations— the elderly, middle-aged, and young people— were dancing happily together and greatly touched by the hilarious atmosphere. STUST looks forward to providing opportunities for elders and young students to interact through the Dragon Boat Festival, creating a harmonious society where the elderly and young people are co-created and integrated.

【Students were learning to make rice dumplings together in Kunsen community.】

Each practice site of this Dragon Boat Festival had different ideas that were creative new. For example, Kunsen Community is proud of its elderly masters of rice dumpling. The elders guided the students to make rice dumplings together, hoping that this traditional craft could be passed on. In Jinhua Community, the lives of the elders mostly revolve around the careful management of local botanical gardens, so the project team used the plant mugwort to make hand-made anti-mosquito ointment and help the elders develop tips for anti-mosquito in subsequent summer life. In Wenling Community, the cross-regional creativity came from the collaboration between the Department of Applied English and the Department of Senior Welfare Services, STUST, which jointly planned to bring community-specific exhibitions and dental hygiene education promotions in English, prompting the elders to arouse more knowledge and curiosity to understand and learn and making students feel the experience in the process. The distance between young people and elderly people does not come from age difference, but from their willingness to understand and listen carefully to each other. Finally, the activity also displayed the spirit of charity. The community joins hands with teachers and students of STUST to care for the elders who live alone, offering small gifts and rice dumplings to them. Their simple love made the elders feel that they are not alone even though they live alone.

【Students were taking the elders of Jinhua community to make mugwort ointment.】

STUST and Wenling Community also brought the first creation and release of the theme song for their community, which was a cross-domain integration of the Youth and Elderly USR project team. Students from the Department of Popular Music Industry, STUST, worked closely with the community leader and volunteers to create a tailor-made song for the community, deeply integrating modern pop with community elements, making the music catchy, and premiering it at the celebrations for people to dance and enjoy together, deeply condensing the local identity of the community.

【Acting President De-guang Chou of STUST was presenting the gifts of care to the elders living alone in the community.】

De-guang Chou, Acting President of STUST, said that STUST has been committed to promoting the USR plan and actively participating in community characteristic management and development. This event is not only a celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival, but also a display of students’ learning achievements. It is also a testimony of the deep friendship between the communities and STUST. President Chou thanked the communities for giving STUST the opportunity to play a role in the community development, and he also wished the elders in the communities good health and happiness every day!

【Nanmei Community published their theme song while the participating guests were dancing together with the elders.】

The Dragon Boat Festival celebrations in the three communities ended successfully amidst the laughter of young people and elders. In addition to blessing the elders, the participating guests also witnessed how social responsibility were emphasized and practiced by industry, government, academia, and social organizations. STUST looks forward to long-term close cooperation among them in the future, together with an integration of community characteristics to create a wonderful, healthy future for an aging society.