A letter to my sponsored child in Congo

Dear Umba Kitumbile Genard,

I am so much glad to hear from you. My name is Lâu Sêng-hiân, written in Han characters as ○○○. The translator in World Vision has wrongly spelled my name as Liu Cheng Xian, which is the Madarin pronounciation of the said Han characters. However the Han characters traditionally used in East Asia is pronounced differently in each language. A same character would be pronounced respectively in Japanese, Korean, Hak-ka, Vietnamese, Madarin, and my mother tongue Hō-ló.

My family name is Lâu, and Sêng-hiân is my given name by which you can call me. Also I found your first name, Umba, is the same as your brother's, Umba Kiyana. Is Umba your family name? How do your family and friends call you? Do they call you Kitumbile or Genard? And how do you want me to call you?

I am Taiwanese. Ethnically I am a Hō-ló. Hō-ló is one of the many ethnical groups in Taiwan. Our main meal is rice and noodles, the same as Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean people in East Asia. I am a XX-year-old researcher working in a XXX XXX. I live in a rental suite in Taipei. Taipei is the biggest city in my country, Taiwan, a beautifal island in Pacific Ocean. People here are used to say there are 4 seasons, however temperature in Taiwan is stably warm and around 7 to 30 celsius degrees due to the subtropical climate.

I have just moved recently. Most of my photos were left in another place. That's why I can only send you a small photo this time, and I hope you don't mind.

It is my pleasure to know you. And I do hope one day we can meet personally.

With love,

○○○ Lâu Sêng-hiân

Dec. 15, 2006