You are All Indispensable

How National Parks and Senior Volunteers Work Together

Interviewee / Li-Ting Sun Interpreter, Kinmen National Park Interpretation and Education Section
                      Tsuei-Ling Hsu Interpreter, Kenting National Park Interpretation and Education Section
                      Yu-Ru Lin Interpreter, National Nature Park conservation and Interpretation
                      Chieh-Chih Kao Interpreter, Taijiang National Park Interpretation and Education Section

Article / Yueh-Han Yang

"If I live to 75, I want to live like them."

Such a sentiment coming from a volunteer minder who is closest to the volunteers of the National Park is extremely moving. These superb senior volunteers have greatly helped the national park in terms of giving their time and physical labor. They are not only the lubricant for the operation of the national park, but sometimes even take the part of the protagonist on center stage, and are the “front” of the national park in the eyes of visitors. In the following through the introductions of volunteer minders, we will see how the senior volunteers live out their splendid second half of life in the national park, as well as understand the wonderful relationship between the volunteers and the national parks that is as inseparable and supportive as a big family.

Kinmen National Park Interpretation

Li-T ing Sun/Kinmen National Park Interpretation and Education Section Interpreter

Ｑ How do volunteers help the operation of the national park? Among them, what are the stories of senior volunteers that are most memorable to you?

Volunteers are an indispensable help in assisting activities and the operation of the exhibition hall. Take Kinmen National Park as an example, the “Learn about Kinmen National Park for Elementary Students” program has been held for almost 19 years. Nearly 26 camps are held every year, and the volunteers can be seen from the planning, interpretation, to leading a group or educational activities. And the “Kinmen Tunnel Music Festival” which is in its 12th year, runs for 2 days every year with a total of six or seven performances. The preparatory work, guiding participants entering, and historical interpretation all rely on the help of a large number of volunteers.

Of course, the contractor responsible for organizing the event would also include interns or hourly workers, but compare to them, the volunteers’ enthusiasm and the spirit of wishing to convey the beauty of the national park make them more active and profound. It is no exaggeration to say that they are the “image of the national park” in the eyes of common visitors. You can also see volunteers showing their talents in other activities such as the “Three Generation Visiting the National Park” program, “Biking in Shangri-La” program, camping activities, and interpretation for school or institutional groups. Furthermore, what is special about Kinmen National Park is that there are more than 30 big and small exhibition halls scattered all over Kinmen. Besides the original service staff, volunteers also help to create a good visit experience for visitors.

For example, volunteers with military backgrounds would explain the tunnels and war histories vividly. Sometimes we will especially ask them about military rules and practices which help improve the accuracy of the information; volunteers who live around Xiao-Jing Contract Teahouse (Military Brothel Exhibition Hall) will share with visitors the stories of past interactions with people in the teahouse. In the “Three Generation Visiting the National Park” program, there are also volunteers in their 70s leading everyone to do exercises, which would motivate the elderly who come for the program. These are all precious assets that senior volunteers bring to the national park and visitors.

Ｑ In addition to assisting in the operation of national parks, in your observation, how do volunteer activities lead senior citizens to self-grow?

Since the recruitment of the ver y first group of volunteers in 1997, many volunteers have accompanied us to grow and move toward the senior stage. They are experienced, mature, and stable, and get along with each other harmoniously. Seeing that they are always happy to contribute to society, I am also often inspired by them, and hope that if I live to 75 years old, I will be living such a splendid life as well.

Many volunteers did not know how to guide or do interpretation in the beginning. Instead, they learn from doing and at the same time improve their skills through different channels. Some people choose to go to university for further study, following teachers to do research on Minnan culture and Hometown of overseas Chinese. Some participate in different types of volunteer activities and feedback from their experience to the national park. After becoming more proficient, many volunteers began to go into the tourism industry, leading interpretation tours, or devote themselves to community building. I also see homemakers step out and become volunteers. Their attitude of cherishing every opportunity to give not only made a positive impact on their family but also help them found their social value which stimulated their growth in body, mind, and soul.

More importantly, in the face of the expectations of different groups for the development of Kinmen, the volunteers have also become bridges and buffers between the national park and the people of Kinmen. In every hardship the national park took, because of them speaking out for the national park, it has awakened more people’s awareness of guarding the natural and human resources of Kinmen.

Kenting National Park Interpretation

Tsuei-Ling Hsu/ Kenting National Park Interpretation and Education Section Interpreter

Ｑ Many people think of volunteers as supporting roles in national parks. Besides this, do volunteers have the opportunity to “take the initiative”?

National Park’s volunteers actually have a high level of independence. Take Kenting National Park as an example, we hold “A Date with the National Park” activity every month, and many subjects are planned by the volunteers. For instance, they can decide the theme, route, format, etc. They can even take the initiative to propose the activities they want to organize. For example, in our 12 environmental education groups, the geological specialty group can plan geological tours, and our colleagues from the Interpretation Section can provide suggestions and assist in administrative procedures.

To the Interpretation Section which has broader and broader business scopes, volunteers who can act independently are important support of the national park. Among them, senior volunteers who are highly cooperative and have time and physical strength are indispensable partners. No matter if they are in their 50s, 60s, or 70s, regardless of which part of Taiwan they are from, they can all improve their basic skills under the leadership of their seniors, grow together, and discuss and solve problems together when they encounter problems.

What is kind of special is that taking into account the long-distance Kenting National Park is from other places, and the terrain and environment of the scenic spots are challenging, we require volunteers over 75 to retire. However, many retired volunteers often actively express their willingness to assist in activities. Such as last year’s Kenting Eagle Season, an 80-year-old retired volunteer wanted to come and help with the event, and to allow him to come smoothly without a hitch, we asked another volunteer living in the same area to help to pick him up. The mutual enthusiasm made a wonderful event.

Ｑ The first step in joining a volunteer is to submit the application form. In your experience of preliminary screening, is there anything you want to remind the applicants?

After we receive the application form, we will conduct a simple written screening. Due to the popular demand and the limited number of volunteer openings, we will first use “enthusiasm” shown in the application form as one of the criteria for screening. Some people only describe their motivations and experiences in a few sentences, while others carefully list all the activities and clubs they have participated in, and even include photos. From our point of view, a written statement is the first step for us to know the applicant. If one is stingy to express it, this may make us feel that this opportunity to become a volunteer is not important to him and the possibility that he may be eliminated is greatly increased.

In addition, because the volunteer training is a continuous process that lasts for multiple days plus there are required hours for practical training, we hope that applicants can evaluate their own situation before applying. Also, because the national park will assess its own volunteer needs and does not recruit volunteers on a regular base, if you are very interested in becoming a national park volunteer but have not seen any recruitment information, it is recommended that you can volunteer for other organizations or groups first, accumulate experience in interpretation and guiding a group to prepare for joining the national park volunteer family.

In the process of reading the application forms, I also found that many applicants all mentioned that they have been moved by the lively interpretation of Kenting’s interpreters and developed a longing for the national park, so they hope to join the team of volunteers. I think these experiences are the most inspiring encouragement for our volunteers and will give them the motivation to continue to create more positive cycles between volunteers and visitors.

National Nature Park Interpretation

Yu-Ru Lin /National Nature Park conservation and Interpretation Section Interpreter

Ｑ What role does a volunteer minder play? How do your research and academic background help as a volunteer minder?

Volunte er minder i s an impor tant communication medium between the national park and the volunteer. They not only pass on the needs of the national park to the volunteers but also give back to the national park the suggestions or thoughts of the volunteers. Especially when volunteers are often the first line of contact with the visitors and can quickly gather the reactions and behaviors of the visitors to the national park as a reference. Of course, they will also encounter problems on the front line. At this time, brainstorming among the volunteers and the support from the volunteer minder are very important.

For example, when volunteers see local people feeding the macaques but are retorted and questioned when they speak out to stop it, what should they do? Because the subject of my past research was the interaction between humans and Taiwanese macaques, in addition to discussing among themselves, the volunteers would also ask me to share my experiences and opinions. Later, we discovered that in the face of local residents or visitors who are feeding the macaques, instead of directly prohibiting the other party and cause displeasing, it is better to use the hypothetical questioning method to ask them to think about the possible problems that would cause to give the animals food and guide the other party to voluntarily stop feeding.

On the other hand, volunteers are also teachers to the volunteer minder and the national park. For example, Shoushan has always been a recreational place for many Kaohsiung locals, and there were many problems of illegal occupation of land and private equipment set up. On this occasion, local volunteers who grew up here became a bridge when communicating with the locals. At the same time, they also help with matters such as tea service and mountain patrol, so that the national park can coexist harmoniously with the residents and visitors. Now we are really like a family, always thinking about how to make the national park better together.

Taijiang National Park Interpretation

Chieh- Chih Kao /Taijiang National Park Interpretation and Education Section Interprete

Ｑ What kind of event is the “League of Volunteer Convention”? How can this help the national park volunteers?

Before talking about the “League of Volunteer Convention”, I want to first introduce the national park’s Volunteer Association. This spontaneous organization exists in various national parks. The organizational structure may be different, but the goal is to give the various volunteer teams such as interpretation, environmental education, construction groups in each national park the opportunity to communicate laterally. And the “League of Volunteer Convention” extends the scope of the lateral communication to all the national parks and metropolitan parks.

The “League of Volunteer Convention” is organized by different National Park Headquarters every year. Volunteers from various national parks are led to learn about the local natural and cultural resources through activities. At the same time, they can also personally experience the ingenuity of the course and become the nourishment for future activity planning. For example, in the event hosted by Taijiang National Park in 2018, we arranged environmental education courses to learn about lagoons and sandbanks, and also went to fishing villages to see how local industries co-exist and prosper with the national park .

To become a national park volunteer, besides the need to go through a long period of training and internship, there are also requirements for meeting basic hours every year. However, because of the solid training and requirements, it provides excellent opportunities for self-growth. Coupled with the nationwide exchange activities, they can learn from the experience of partners from all over the nation and forge ahead with each other. I think national park volunteers are definitely a very attractive and worthy option for seniors who want to have a new start in the second half of their lives and contribute to society.

About the Author︱Yueh-Han Yang

A writer who loves museums, Yang was an editor of an architectural magazine and has been carrying out publication planning/editing, copywriting works in recent years. Her dream is to have a farm of her own, so she can cultivate on paper as well as on land.