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Visit by the LifeLine International Executive Director to LifeLine Taiwan

Thank you to Sue Thonell
Thankyou to Sue Thonell

6th – 15th June 2004

Hosted by:

Schedule:

Sun. 6 th . June:

Mon. 7 th . June:

Tues. 8 th . June:

Wed. 9 th . June:

Thurs.10 th . June:

Friday 11 th . June:

Sat. 12 th . June:

Sun. 13 th . June:

Mon. 14 th . June:

Tues. 15 th . June:

Visit to the Mayoral Office in Kaohsiung!
Gala Evening at the 11th. Asia Pacific Telephone Counsellor Conference

Aims and Achievements of the Visit:

Thank you to Mr. HUANG, Jessica and everyone in LifeLine Taiwan for preparing and accommodating my visit so well.

A special thank you for organising visits to the National Museum, Presidential Gardens, Yuang Ming Park, Hsinhai-Kuangfu Building, Danshu Water Front, the new subway, Yingge Ceramics Museum, the Kylin Peak Spa, the Taroke National Park, night markets, temples, swimming facilities, highway road stops and many many more. Your generosity of time, effort and gifts is quite overwhelming. This was my opportunity to really experience ‘life in Taiwan ' first hand.

* The document used as the basic presentation to the LifeLine Centres

LifeLine International visit to LifeLine Taiwan Centres

Taoyuan County (7 northern centres)
TaiChung City (7 central centres)
Kaohsiung City (6 southern centres)
Hualien County (3 eastern centres)

Gala Evening at the 11th. Asia Pacific Telephone Counsellor Conference
Visit to the Mayoral Office in Kaohsiung!

Let's begin by asking the question: Who is LifeLine International ?

LifeLine International consists of an International Board of 8 people who represent the larger member countries of the organisation: Australia , Canada , Korea , New Zealand , Southern Africa, Taiwan and the USA as well as the International Treasurer. The Board governs the work of the organisation. The LifeLine International Office manages the work, it is based in South Africa and I am employed as CEO of the office and at the moment I am the only one in the office. Representatives to the International Board are nominated by the National Board of their country. Mrs. Lin Chen, Hsiu-Mei was elected to the board to represent LifeLine Taiwan in 2002 but unfortunately she has had to resign due to her accident and Mr. Huang, Hsin-Ping is your acting representative.

Rev. Dr. Sir Alan Walker, who died Jan. 2003 at the age of 91 years, started LifeLine 40 years ago in Sydney , Australia . He was a Methodist Minister and his vision for LifeLine was to spread Christianity throughout the world to people in crisis who could experience the compassion of Jesus through the work of volunteers offering a 24hr. a day, 365 day a year telephone counselling service. Volunteers from the community being trained, selected and managed throughout their term of service with the organisation. A service for the community, by the community. Sir Alan was a great social reformer and for me this is what I remember him best for. He stood up for the poor and those who are hurting and he wanted social justice and equality for all. This is why we honour him on the LifeLine International web site with the words:

LifeLine provides a mantle of compassion, linking people with people and country with country.

From the early beginnings in Australia , LifeLine in 1999 had 13 member countries and today, 5 years later we have 19 countries:

Australia, Botswana, Canada, China, Fiji, Ghana, Japan, Korea, Liberia, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, South Africa, Taiwan, Tonga and the United States of America. There is apparently also a centre in the Philippines . This is more than 220 centres around the world and more than 30 000 active volunteers.

While telephone counselling is very much our core business, it is important to recognise that this is a reactive service where we offer:

A First - Aid Station for People in Emotional and / or Spiritual Crisis.

We also need to understand that the telephone is not that easily available to many people in the world. In Africa so many people do not have easy access to a telephone, they do not even have a proper home. So how can they phone us? Specific services have been developed to meet the needs of people in these communities. There are more face–to–face services where counsellors are trained to serve the specific community where they live.

LifeLine around the world is involved in Aged Care Services, Disability Services; Family and Mediation Services; Financial Counselling; Hiv / AIDS Counselling; Information; Education & Support Groups; Migrant Support Services; Rural Services; Suicide Prevention Support; Trauma Debriefing & Support; Welfare Programmes and Youth Services.

Our world today is facing major challenges where no country and no organisation can live in isolation. What affects one affects us all, there are no ‘safe places'. Borders are coming down and instead of political boundaries we are creating intellectual boundaries. So many of us take the Internet for granted. If we want information we can easily find it by using a computer. Most of the world's people do not have access to the Internet so the divide between people who have access to information and those who do not is getting wider. There is more than enough food being produced in the world and yet millions of people are starving. Life today is stressful and LifeLine has a major role to play.

We are carefully watching the development of new ways to communicate like Counselling on the Internet. In 1 st . world countries our youth spend more time on the Internet than at school so if we want to work with them and be available we must look at ways of supplying counselling for them on the Internet. This however has major implications as there are legal issues, there are referral issues, there are language issues and there are cultural issues. The world is becoming smaller as we travel so easily, share so much on the Internet and know more about each other. We are however still very divided in so many ways.

The United Nations keep warning us that 1 st world countries that are basing the education of their children on Political and Financial Superiority are promoting an aggressive attitude that takes no consideration to others or the future. Within this system we keep the poor in poverty and the uninformed ignorant. This system is not sustainable in the long term and will lead to destruction and global revolutions. We need to be teaching our children the skills of Community and Working together to build countries that can sustain their people and contribute to a world of well being for all.

LifeLine International at its International Board Meeting in Nov. 2003 decided to adopt the vision:

Resilience and Health Through Strong Communities.

The purpose of LifeLine International was identified as:

In keeping with what I mentioned earlier that the UN are saying about developing communities that share and work together, LifeLine International and all our centres have a major role to play in the future by offering training to specific groups in the community such as children. We have a great deal of knowledge and expertise in ‘life skills'. This is the proactive part of our work and this is also the area that we can explore to raise funds for the service that we offer.

We can work with other Non Governmental Organisations, with Government Departments and Corporate Industries to offer training and in return we can be paid. One example of this is the Hiv / AIDS tollfree line that is run by LifeLine South Africa for the Department of Health in that country. In 1992 when the project was first started it received 25 000 calls and the Government paid US$ 8 000 a year. Today the lines receive 1.5. million calls a year and the budget is for US$ 2.5 million a year.

LifeLine International is not an organisation of professionals but an organisation that strives to conduct its business in a professional manner and adds value to the world of Mental Health and Wellness.

LifeLine International is a long-standing member of IASP (the International Association of Suicide Prevention.) We are seeking recognition with the World Health Organisation and we meet regularly with IFOTES (the International Federation Of Telephone Emergency Services) as well as the Samaritans.

Volunteers are our most valued assets and over the years many programmes have been developed to nurture and encourage our volunteers. Those who do the LifeLine training course do so for many reasons. Perhaps they want to change their ability to relate to their partner, their family, work mates or friends. Perhaps they want to be a better parent, to deal with stress effectively, to manage depression. Most are seeking to influence their behaviour and therefore their environment. It is important for our centres to recognise this need as it should influence the training and supervision that counsellors receive.

Effective helping is a way of life and it is suggested that counsellors should be selected on their way of being rather than their knowledge or skills. Central to and determining all else in effective counselling is the spiritual life of the counsellor. Spirituality can be experienced in a number of ways:-

It is a state of being – a state of peace – a state of love – of OK ness – a state of oneness with God.

I am often told that volunteering is dying because in the world today people are too busy working to make money to survive and that they cannot do something for nothing. Well perhaps LifeLine needs to teach people that this is not true by example. There are so many ways that we can volunteer on a daily basis:

When we listen to a friend who has a story to tell, something important that they want to share.

When we help a neighbour by looking after their child for a short time so they can do something else or because they are ill.

When we help an older person or handicapped person on to the bus.

All these and many more are acts of volunteering…so how can we say volunteering is dying. In life we will make time for those things that are important to us, or that add to our own sense of well being. So if there is something in it for me I will find time to volunteer.

LifeLine is driven by altruism. A vision of people (trained volunteers), assisting people, in their time of crisis and in their own communities.

Not only do we need to educate the public as to why and how they can contribute to the work of LifeLine and become counsellors but we also need to educate the public on when and how to use our services.

So often I hear counsellors tell me that they are disappointed because they do not receive many calls when they are on duty or that the only people who call them are ‘regulars' and they can not be helped. Do people in your community know what they can expect when they call you?

Suicide is a main problem in the world and it is on the increase especially amongst our young people. As counsellors you would like them to phone you because you believe that you are trained to help them. Why are they not phoning? Do they know about LifeLine and do they know what to expect? It is not just a case of advertising your service and your phone numbers but to be seen and heard in the community to actively educate people as to why they should phone.

Although suicide is on the increase in the LifeLine International Stats our suicide related calls account for less than 1% of all calls. Suicide is a symptom of a problem and it is therefore important that we recognise the need to educate people in ‘life skills' and to deal with the actual problem.

To address the issues of suicide we need to look at our communities and try to discover what are the real problems that are affecting people's lives. Why do people feel so helpless and insecure that they feel worthless and trapped and can not find a way out? If you can identify what the real problems are then you can begin to work with other organisations and even governments to address the problems.

My dream for LifeLine International is to have development officers and fundraisers in 3 regions. We are working towards this at present with research that is being carried out by a Development Officer in Samoa .

Our newest centres are in Liberia and Ghana in Africa and in Shanghai in China . There is great potential for growth in Africa and China .

This is a truly great organisation and one that is blessed to have so many caring and skilled people.

Thank you to each volunteer for your dedication and commitment. By being the best you can be for LifeLine you are contributing not only to your community but also to yourself.

2004.06.22
Sue Thönell
Exec. Director
LifeLine Internationa

Image Gallery

LifeLine Kaoshiung
 LifeLine Kaoshiung

LifeLiners on a visit to the Village of Lung Yuan
 LifeLiners on a visit to the Village of  Lung Yuan 

LifeLine Hsin Chu
The Asia Pacific Telephone Counselling Conference hosted by LifeLine Hsin Chu

LifeLine Hualien
LifeLine Hualien

The LifeLine Taiwan National Office
The LifeLine Taiwan National Office