This week the IFSW Secretary-General, Rory Truell, was invited by the Taiwan Association of Social Workers to provide a workshop and keynote address at their National Conference. During the visit he meet with social workers and members of the indigenous Atayal tribe who have formed a partnership. Here are his reflections from that visit:
The word love isn’t visible in social work’s list of values. Yet somehow, it’s there, intertwined as a positive energy with other words that set forth the profession’s transformative approach. I was reminded of this when visiting a tribal community high in lush mountains, about two hours drive from Taipei.
Some weeks ago, while planning my attendance at the annual conference of Taiwan Association of Social Workers (TASW), I asked TASW if they could introduce me to social work practice with an Indigenous tribe. These discussions led to an early morning van ride to Qingquan, a village perched by a river that cascades and bounces wildly through a rocky valley. The indigenous Atayal people, I was told, sought safety and refuge here from the successive oppressive regimes that have plagued Taiwan for centuries. Now, it is their home, and as they introduced our party to their customs, they pointed to the mountain peaks, saying it was through these spirits that they could communicate with their ancestors.
During Taiwan’s period of martial law, which lasted from 1949 to 1987, Indigenous tribes faced significant cultural suppression and political marginalisation, including forced assimilation into Han culture, the suppression of Indigenous languages and traditions, and the denial of their rights and self-determination. But this tragic past is changing, and indigenous peoples have successfully gained growing recognition from within the relatively new democracy. Poverty, inequality and intergenerational trauma, as legacies of the past, however, still dominate.
The Atayal people and social workers have formed a partnership to address these challenges. “Our approach is holistic”, Chung, Chialing, the Executive Director and Social Worker at the NGO Rerum Novarum Center, explained. “We work together to support people’s confidence, pride in their ethnic identity, skill development, business creation, belonging, loving relationships, and ability to securely develop their own futures.”
Through this work, multiple projects have been co-developed. They include daily after-school programmes that promote positive life skills and create loving environments for children who are separated from their parents and traditional homes because the city-based schools are far from the mountains. The tribe, back in the mountains, are able to financial contribute to these programmes, because the social workers have co-worked alongside the adult community, establishing businesses such as peach production and distribution and inbound tourism. Now fully run by the tribe, these businesses generate steady annual incomes as well as business confidence and advanced skills for the Atayal tribe.
It was easy to see the bonds between the social workers and the tribal people. Indeed, young people from the Atayal community are now trained as professional social workers and work alongside Chung, Chialing and others from Rerum Novarum Center.
A tribal leader spoke to our party about their customs, rituals, and rites of passage ceremonies. She told us of the interconnection of the cosmos, the mountains, the river, the animals, and themselves. We observed the acknowledgement of their traditional wisdom and the symbols representing the spirits of their ancestors in the local church. We soaked our feet in the warm volcanic waters and experienced our own relationship the natural environment.
I have spoken and written about love in social work before. Some years ago, young people who lived in state-care in Scotland told me how they experienced social workers. One of them remarked, ‘Oh, there are good ones and not-so-good ones. The good ones know how to show love as well as professionalism, but not all can do that.’ He then provided his own analysis on why: ‘You can’t expect social workers to show love when they work in loveless, clinical environments,’ he said. I was reminded of this again here in the mountains of Taiwan, far from the city streets of Glasgow. But this time, there was an abundance of love among the staff at the agency, between the staff and the people they work alongside, and it was openly expressed in both social work and traditional cultures. Indeed, whenever I witness outstanding social work, love as siblinghood is acknowledged alongside the professional skills of the social worker and the resources and skills of the people they work alongside. Love, it seems, acts as a key ingredient in social work, yet we don’t fully acknowledge or talk enough about it.
Thank you to the Taiwanese Association of Social Workers for facilitating this visit. Thank you to Chung, Chialing and the social workers from Rerum Novarum Center, who demonstrated world-class sustainable social work. Thank you to the Atayal people for being partners with our profession and sharing with us that we are all deeply rooted in the cosmos and the earth. All of you have given the international social work profession much to learn from.