I am volunteering at Taiwan for six weeks at a fish farm. Before that, I thought it is just a normal fish farm and nothing special, but actually it is so much more beyond my imagination. Running a fish farm is never easy, not to mention running a restaurant at the same time. In my daily routine, I have to feed the fish, clean the pond, check the water temperature, prepare the fish for restaurant use, check the water source (which is from a nearby waterfall), clean the river bank and investigate the fish’s condition. The farm is at highland so the environment is actually very good, cool and relaxing. There is also a waterfall right in front of the farm, which make things even cooler. My host family was super friendly and cute, they make me feel safe and comfortable. During my off-days, they even bring us (another volunteer and myself) to visit around.
When cleaning the fish pond, we have to go into the fish pond, wearing the fishing trousers wader. One challenging part is that when the fish swims by your legs, it really tickles, and when the fish swims too fast and hit your legs, it is really painful. Besides, you have to be extra careful when moving in the fish pond to avoid misstepping on the fish. It is really challenging yet fun and fulfilling at the same time especially when you finished cleaning.
Three years ago, this was quite a big scale farm, but because of a huge typhoon, a big part of it was destroyed, including a cafe. Many big fish (sturgeon) died in that typhoon and the owner suffered quite a huge lost. Despite that, they never give up. They took a great deal of time and energy to restore and fix things back. Even until today, they are still fixing and the scale of the farm is still not as big as in the past. One thing I learned from them is their positivity and tenaciousness as they are still able to get up and start again after enduring aIl the losses. I really like their spirit.
Original story from : Lim Wan Sin (Student l University of Malaya)
In AIESEC, we believe in developing leadership through practical experiences in challenging environment, and we do this by delivering cross-cultural exchanges. We have created thousands of stories ever since we started in Malaysia 50 years ago. Here’s just one of them.
