Taiwan Church News
3395 Edition
20 – 26 March, 2017
Church Ministry
Rukai Presbytery Launches An Exemplary Farm To Help The Tribal Economics
Reported by Lin Wang-ting
In order to help Rukai aboriginal tribes, like Hao-cha, Ali, Jilu, and etc., to build up self-confidence, improve their house economics and rehabilitation to the flats in Pingtung plains after the devastating Morakot Typhoon in 1999, the industry department of Rukai Presbytery established in 2016 an unit of agricultural manufacture and sale promotion, cooperated with Yung Da Institute of Technology & Commerce, mainly managing different business like fruit and vegetable market fair, coffee house, barbecue & camping area, green house farming, raising fish, and etc.
To encourage more Rukai aborigines to resume their previous agriculture practice on the mountains, Elder Lee Kuan-yu of Lin-loh Presbyterian Church offered a rent-free farm land about 1940 square meter for Rukai Presbytery to set up an exemplary farm.
On March 14, an opening ceremony of the exemplary farm was held on the very site of the farm land and many special guests, including former Academia Sinica research fellow(Fong Teng-yong), agricultural expert(Hou Bing-fu), elders(Lee Kuan-yu and Lee Kuan-ren), officials(Hong Tsung-fa and Tu Ming-san) and pastor(Rev Lu Tien-wu) in Rukai Presbytery were all invited to witness this historical event.
(credit: Rukai Presbytery Facebook )
On March 29, a press conference was also held at the coffee house in Yung Da Institute of Technology & Commerce to introduce this project to the public.
Posted by 台灣基督長老教會魯凱中會 on Tuesday, 28 March 2017
(credit: Rukai Presbytery Facebook )
As some Rukai elders once tried to plant crops on the one-acre-common-land at the rehabilitated site of Li-Na-Li, but accidentally stopped due to shortage of water, Rev Chen Song-der called in press conference it is absolutely necessary for the Rukai aborigines to find a way out of this conundrum and connect their tribal culture into modern agriculture practice.
Translated by Peter Wolfe
