Concern for the environment and encouragement from his mother inspired brother initiate Yang Yin-guang to devote his free time after school to doing volunteer work and leading a work team in the Formosa Youngsters Millennium Project. Over the past year, brother Yang has gained much practical experience through his efforts, for which he received the Formosa Youngsters Millennium Project Platinum Award (Community Category), and an award as one of Formosa’s Ten Most Outstanding Young Volunteers.

Through a coincidence brother Yang learned about the Formosa Youngsters Millennium Project from his teacher, fellow initiate Zeng Qing-shuo. The Project was begun by Formosa’s Ministry of Education in response to the World Youngsters Millennium Project initiated by UNICEF and the University of British Columbia. The project emerged from UNICEF’s vision of the global village and focus on future development in the new millennium. Since today’s youths will shoulder the responsibility of ensuring social progress in decades to come, they should be encouraged to use concrete action to address the vital problems facing the Earth. Thus, UNICEF invited groups of youngsters aged eleven to eighteen from around the world to participate in this competition. Each group chose to target a certain issue affecting the living environment and conceive a community service project to address the problem. The organizers hoped that the activity would broaden the young peoples’ worldviews, help them to expand their influence, and encourage them to engage in community outreach, thus practically addressing the goals of UNICEF’s Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Encouraged by his mother, who is also a fellow initiate, young brother Yang decided to take part in the competition and thus embarked on a multifaceted learning experience. He formed and headed a group called the Green Vanguards with former schoolmates and playmates. And over the past year, Green Vanguards members have explored local environmental issues and conceived an action plan, which they have followed with ongoing reviews and improvements.

Brother Yang usually helps dispose of the garbage for his family and noticed that the garbage trucks serving his community were always filled beyond capacity and there were many recyclable materials in the trash. This phenomenon not only ran counter to environmental protection, but also had an adverse impact on local hygiene. After discussions with their teacher advisor, the team members decided to set personal examples before working to improve and create a superb environment of beauty and comfort. They remembered Master’s words: “When we change ourselves, it will influence others. It will spontaneously influence them and then they themselves will influence others. It naturally has to change.” (Excerpt from Pearls of Wisdom, News magazine no. 97) So in addition to carrying out its community improvement action plan, the team set challenging monthly goals to enhance self-management, develop their abilities and cultivate good living habits.

In reviewing the results of this project, brother Yang said, “I have rectified many of my shortcomings and made great progress. I have learned how to bake cakes, plant flowers, grow vegetables, plough the fields, slice bamboo, trim vegetables and dig up ginger (pulling is not allowed in harvesting), as well as many other skills. I have also done things that benefit people but which I normally wouldn’t dare to do. In addition, I have learned the importance of persistence and cultivated good living habits. All these experiences have become my most valuable wealth.” Furthermore, to carry out environmental protection in daily life, the team’s advisor explained the negative influence of a meat diet on the body and environment, and everyone agreed to eat vegetarian meals at meetings. Several team members who were not vegetarian also tried to extend the practice into their daily lives.

Having set their goal, the Green Vanguards sought advice and assistance from community environmental volunteers, neighborhood leaders, township mayors, trash collection teams and the local Environmental Protection Bureau. They then held a community gathering to promote environmental protection and advise local residents about ways to reduce trash and inform them of the importance of environmental awareness. Although brother Yang is only a junior high school student, he worked in a very orderly manner. Under his leadership, the team actively promoted garbage categorization, material retrieval and kitchen waste recycling projects in the community, and applied for a NT$20,000 (approx US$600) subsidy from the Environmental Protection Bureau to set up recyclables retrieval sites in their area. They also conducted other meaningful activities, such as monthly clean-ups of the community and other environmental improvement projects, community environmental volunteer service work, the start-up of a monthly community magazine, and social dinners, in order to establish a consensus among the people on the value of environmentalism. With support from the local trash collection team, the township office and local residents, the Green Vanguards converted a litter-strewn wasteland at a major intersection into a beautiful community garden.

Apart from working on environmental protection, brother Yang observed that many children could not attend school because of war, poverty or the unemployment of their parents. So he decided to raise an educational fund for students in need. He and his team members made vegetarian cakes and fruit jelly for door-to-door charity sales, and also held a flea market in the community. Through these efforts, they raised more than NT$40,000 (approx US$1,200) to help put children back in school through a group called the World Vision of Taiwan. This fund-raising activity also taught the young people to uphold the spirit of “persistence and hard work without ever giving up!”

Most incredibly, young brother Yang could feel God’s grace permeating all of his group’s efforts. For example, when a community coordination gathering was convened for the first time, the then unknown juvenile received the support and participation of many local senior citizens! And when the meeting to promote environmental protection was being organized, many local inhabitants provided precise, timely assistance as if sent by Heaven! Also, each time a major event was conducted by brother Yang’s group, local residents worried about cancellations due to rain; however the team members always embraced a positive attitude. So it turned out that either the weather was fine, or the rain came only after an activity had ended. Throughout the year, all the needed support seemed to be prearranged as though it had appeared “miraculously.” Thus the team members deeply felt Master’s ongoing blessing and infinite grace!

The Green Vanguards team has recorded its activities on a Web page. The members’ excellent performance and satisfying results distinguished them from other teams participating in the Formosa Youngsters Millennium Project, and so they received the above-mentioned Platinum Award in the Project’s Community Category. Also, two of the team members received the Jury Prize for National Young Volunteers, while brother Yang was selected as one of the Ten Most Outstanding Young Volunteers.

Upon receiving the latter award, brother Yang expressed the following feelings: “Our true rewards are the skills and spirit that we have acquired through the process that will benefit us for life, and which will become our personal treasure. I feel this is what’s meant by the saying ‘The more we work, the more we learn.’ However, our efforts alone were not enough. Cooperation from local residents, assistance from adult volunteers and neighborhood leaders, and encouragement and support from our schoolmates and teachers all contributed to our achievements. I am especially thankful to brother Zeng Qing-shuo, who first informed me about the activity. I must also thank all the people who helped and supported us. Without them, our team would not have come into being, and we wouldn’t have received this award. Most important of all, we have made new friends among our peers, and have worked, learned and played together. We truly feel wonderful! We hope all young people will join us in such practical learning that is so full of life!” Young brother Yang also said that he would continue to make use of his free time after school to get involved in volunteer work and promote environmental protection concepts and projects in schools and communities.