Danielle Alio

Today we visited Maryknoll’s Sister Marvie at her Good Samaritan Shelter for homeless women in Taichung. She and the others who work with her travel around the city to find where the homeless women are staying in order to reach out a helping hand. The women can come to the shelter to sleep over night. The shelter provides food and assits in finding medical treatment. There are also employed social workers at the shelter. The shelter is very welcoming and has the feeling of a home. The shelter has been in existance now for eight years.

We learned the many reasons why a woman would be homeless and they are much like the reasons there are homeless in the USA. The women could be homeless because of alcoholism, mental illness, and lack of jobs and money. Many do not want the help of the shelter but Sister Marvie continues to check up on them and they start to trust her. Eventually, some of the women will enter the shelter. The shelter is an amazing place because it is dedicated to helping get the women’s lives back on track and even reuniting them with family if they are willing. Some of the women have been neglected by family in the past because they have a mental illness such as depression and the family does not understand why the woman acts in such a way leaving her homeless.

We were introduced to some of the women that the shelter has helped and they still come back to visit and help out. They are now either working or living with family members that they reunited with. You can see that the women are very grateful for the shelter and all that Sister Marvie has done.

 There is a similar shelter not too far away from the women but it is for homeless men. We went to visit that shelter as well while Sister was taking us around the city showing us where the homeless are found sleeping at night. One homeless man we met in a park is dying from cancer and does not want help. His wife has passed away and he lives on the streets. He told us he is just waiting for his time to pass on because they doctors said their is nothing they can do for him.

This visit and tour really struck me because homelessness is a problem everywhere. It is a rough situation and it’s a shame that human beings have to live like that because they are sick, suffering from addiction, or without money and family. It is a wonderful thing that these two shelters are in Taichung because it means that help is right around the corner for these people if they are willing to seek help.

While touring Taichung with Sister Marvie and some of the women who work at the shelter, we stopped for popcicles from a stand that is set up to raise money to help the homeless. It is another sign that people in the city care and are willing to help in any way they can.

While touring, Joseph and I had the opportunity to ride with Sister on the back of mopeds. I have never riden on a motorcycle before so it was a cool thing for me to do. I was nervous at first but got more comfortable as we went along. It was very cool to experience a very common form of transportation used in Asia. The women at the shelter also prepared us a wonderful buffet of Taiwanese food that was very delicious and very filling. I can not express how gratful I am to them for their kindness.

We are now back in Taipei and tomorow we are going to learn about the Vietnamese who live in Taiwan. To see pictures from our journey go to the Explore My Mission Blog.