Caring for the grandmothers: Empowerment and making peace for the former Taiwanese "comfort women" in wellness workshops and Song of the reed

Abstract

Ever since 1992, when Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation (TWRF) was commissioned by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to identify the former victims of sexual slavery from the island, the staff and volunteers of the foundation have been instrumental in caring and providing wellness workshops for this group of elderly women who suffered tremendous physical and psychological traumas. To document the life narratives and celebrate the spirit of perseverance of former Taiwanese "comfort women," or amas in the Taiwanese dialect, TWRF also produced two documentary films, A secret buried for fifty years: Taiwanese comfort women [Yang, C. Y. (Director). (1998). A secret buried for fifty years: Taiwanese comfort women [A Ma De Mi Mi]. Taipei: Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation.] and Song of the reed [Wu, H. C. (Director). (2015). Song of the reed [Lu Wei Zhi Ge]. Taipei: Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation]. This paper examines the various efforts of TWRF to empower and care for the grandmothers and analyze Song of the reed, in which the final five group workshops and activities of 2011 and 2012 are recorded.