World Youth SDG International Internship

After lengthy preparation, when taking on this task, I felt a mix of emotions. First, through ASAC's communication, I learned about the situation of the Bajau people, and during SB60, hearing about what happened to them that day, I deeply contemplated how, if the Bajau people are so closely related to Taiwan's indigenous peoples - as close as blood relatives - how could we not be moved by their situation.

In the past, I've done many services for people, but never imagined that one day my service recipients would be people without identity, land, or their own property, who must survive between various pressures. This situation often keeps me awake at night, even as I lie in my own space.

First, this service project was discovered by chance by my teacher Dr. Lin, who continues to be influenced by it, compelling him to turn towards them on his path of sustainability issues and face this problem. Through Dr. Lin's various descriptions, I discovered that the deepest issue isn't comparing the advantages of our living environment, but rather that the Bajau people are so disconnected from the world - without identity, without their own territory, pressured by various governments, forced by economic conditions to dive for what was originally just their food to exchange for money, then buy survival supplies that might last only a day or two, supporting 4 to 10 elderly and children in spaces less than two square meters, some even living only on flat-bottomed boats.

And our arrangement this time seems to be just a few short hours, bringing supplies that aren't enough to sustain them for even a few weeks. Before seeing them, how can I reconcile that in my past service of hundreds of cases, each case was more affluent than the Bajau people.

But this opportunity to approach them is so distant. This destination starts in Semporna, and in that country, among the islands, everyone except the country's residents is called an outsider. Historically speaking, this has been their place of survival for a long time - they don't claim land ownership because they are sea nomads. Therefore, under these complex circumstances, any action we take is a test of that country, or rather a challenge to its borders.

From MDG to today's SDG framework, human participation in the environment has gradually been seen as necessary action. These actions need to cover education and ecological preservation. After all, both the Bajau people and island nations rely on the ocean for survival resources. Therefore, deeper participation is necessary to clearly understand any local situations. Hence, we plan to invest in teaching volunteers how to survive underwater, to understand whether in this airless environment, the marine ecology balance has been affected by ocean destruction or unnecessary items like garbage.

Of course, I've heard many stories - sea turtles caught in fishing nets, sea turtles eating straws, sea turtles swallowing plastic bags because the algae growing on them make them look like jellyfish, etc. Additionally, coral reefs are natural sanctuaries for fish schools - whether these coral reefs still exist or have been destroyed. Before arriving, these are all speculations or hearsay, as we can't live in imagination. Therefore, this investment in having all volunteers conduct underwater surveys, with so many eyes seeing and images recording, should be verifiable!

This action includes underwater surveys, and in this planning, there are many firsts. Therefore, many assistance teams #ASAC #AIICO #52hz jointly, with the help of many #UN sub-organizations, initiated this opportunity for action, with volunteers from Taiwan, Malaysia, and China participating together. This launched the world's first action conducted by such a composed team.