Leanne McNulty is originally from Ireland and she is currently living in Taipei where she does volunteering work besides her job as an English teacher. Since she's been residing and travelling in Asia, she's been volunteering in various places and organizations in Australia and Cambodia. Last year she spent three months in Vietnam helping first at a shelter and also at an ecological and educative center. While preparing her trip, she realized the scarcity of information in English about volunteering in Vietnam and decided to start a blog to present the main issues she encountered: Volunteer in Asia.  In the following interview she raises the problem of orphanage tourism and suggests pragmatic ways to volunteer in South East Asia while avoiding the 'gap year' cliche.

Please, visit her blog for more detailed articles on trafficking, street kids and orphanage tourism.

In Taipei, Leanne McNulty has been involved with the Harmony Home Association, a non-profit organization that shelters and supports children and adults affected by HIV/AIDS and migrant workers. She tells us about her work there, the challenges and the way HIV is still stigmatized in Taiwan. 

For more info about the harmony Home Association, visit: http://www.harmonyhometaiwan.org/

Read Making your Time Count as a Volunteer by Leanne McNulty
http://www.erenlai.com/en/focus/2014/living-it-down-abroad-travel-as-vocation-not-vacation/item/5887-making-your-time-as-a-volunteer-count.html

French artist Yvan Mauger tells us of his experience designing a piece for the newly opened Daan Park MRT station in Taipei, also touching on why he enjoys painting his particular style of art and on the way the Taiwanese government has been promoting "public" art.

Maddy King, a Pacific Studies student from ANU learning Chinese in Taipei gives her opinion on a variety of topics related to her stay, such as what she has learned from it, how experiencing Taiwan has shaped her view of the Pacific, and what she misses most about home.

We met Kate (US) and Davos (Australia) who form the band Hi-Life Wedding. They now live, work and create their music in Taipei. The band’s main influences range from the pop-music of Hot Chip & The Beatles, the electronic production of German Paul Kalkbrenner and the literature of Franz Kafka. Hi-Life Wedding believes that music and all art is a form of expression that can help us create a life where we are more free of the constraints of our modernity.

 The old men at Huanmin Village have lived there all their life. Every day, they meet to chat about things, as old friends often do. Their peaceful existence, however, is being threatened by the plans to demolish the houses which hold so many memories for them.

M2 tells us of her role models and the artists that inspired her to star drawing manga. She also goes on to discuss a particular way of storyboarding a manga which is similar to that of movies.

Min-Xuan Lin discusses what constitutes her ideal kind of manga. She talks about the need for making manga as a light form of entertainment for stressed people who need to unwind.

Ah Tui compares the different approach towards manga of Asian and European manga artists in addition to exposing what he believes to be a big problem with Taiwanese artists: their lack of individual style.

Chiyou talks about his inspiration behind drawing, what manga means to him, and why other artists or the public don't always share his opinion on what constitutes "interesting" manga.

Chang Sheng talks to us about his first-love relationship with Japanese sci-fi manga, the age of his audience, and exactly what goes into the creation of good sci-fi.

Nicky Lee discusses the appeal of manga made for girls, explains how a youthful crush on Jon Bon Jovi served as inspiration for her earlier works, and how the emphasis should always be on the characters.