拜訪植物人的家
　　十二月八日(九十三年)下午在見到曹慶先生前，我們先在「創世基金會」辦公室看了簡報影片並實際走訪過植物人的病房。比起二十年前的情況，現在的植物人已經幸福多了。大約八十九坪大小的房中，二十多個床鋪整齊清潔的並排於牆邊。放眼望去，老老少少的患者都有，他們一動都不動的躺著，唯一的聲響就只有抽痰機的運轉以及護士在幫病人翻身、拍背的聲音…
　　這是我們第一次接觸植物人，感覺出乎意料的沉靜。生活在富裕中的我們，很難感受到那種接近死亡的無奈。每一個病床前都掛著一個牌子，寫著患者的姓名、贊助者、致病原因（包括車禍、跌落、撞擊…）等資料。牆上則貼著警示標語：「一時大意，終身遺憾。」來提醒一般的訪客，因為在創世安養的植物人中，因騎乘機車意外而造成的比例竟高達百分之六十，文字與實景強烈的對照呼應，看了真是令人心驚而心生警惕。

　● 高曹慶先生與採訪小組郭巧楓、李信宜及徐政祺在畫作前合影。

訪問曹董事長
　　我們在一開始進到曹先生的辦公室的時候就深深的感受了他的認真向學。他除了是創世基金會的創辦人，也同時是董事長，而他私人的辦公間沒有黑色氣派的皮椅，倒更像是讀書人的書房。他的書桌上滿滿地都是書，他說：「我每天都一定要看書，什麼書都看。」辦公室旁就是他的畫室，牆上畫架上滿滿都是他用棉花棒所繪的山水畫作。使用棉花棒作畫是他在照顧病人時所得到的靈感，而他的畫作除了自娛之外，也常作為義賣品，是他另一種形式的奉獻。

在心中埋下那顆種子
　　我們首先就問到曹先生生命中最重要的事情，慈和親切的他馬上斬釘截鐵的說：「追求和平。」兒時經歷的中日、國共戰爭讓他有戰爭恐懼感。就像許多三十八年來台的移民、老兵一樣，曹先生也有一段精彩的戰亂流離故事。
　　曹先生的故鄉在長江流域的一個小鎮，從兒童時期，他就喜歡幫助別人。只要看到家門外蹲著要飯的乞丐，總是慷慨地舀一大瓢飯淋上豬油，端出去送人。
　　不久後中國爆發戰爭，人民受盡了戰爭的殘酷蹂躪，映入眼簾的都是一幕幕悲慘的景象，當時他就發誓：「堅持不從軍，要做社會福利，服務大眾」。
　　高中時，烽火仍然四處延燒，曹先生尾隨國民黨軍四處躲避戰火，先到了香港，後又到了海南島。流亡時的飄零及思鄉情愁都抵不過他心中對戰爭的憤恨。當時，國軍在海南島受共軍威脅吃緊，準備撤退至台灣。他躲開軍員的盤查，趁機在停泊的船上找到一個不易見的好地方─煙囪，就窩那兒度過漫長五天多的航行。那時，曹先生餓到意識模糊，卻依稀記得，有個中年人，抓了把生花生米放在他手上，他連謝字也沒力說出，只顧著把花生米吞下。後來回想，那男子對他而言只是一個陌生人，卻能把比黃金還珍貴的食物給他，救了他的性命，這個經驗更堅定了他為社會大眾服務奉獻的決心。

種子萌芽
　　曹慶先生以流亡學生身分在台灣的大學畢業後，「在高中裡誤人子弟」曹先生詼諧地如此說。離開教書工作後，台糖公司正在招募人才，而且高呼「高考及格免筆試」；曹先生早於十九歲就通過高考，於是信心滿滿地去參加口試。
　　當時口試主考官把曹慶喚到跟前，劈頭就問：「你確定要來台糖工作？」
　　年輕氣盛的曹慶義正嚴辭地回答：「我從不拿自己開玩笑！」語畢，他卻有些後悔，彷彿已經聽見「請等候通知！」幾個字了。
　　結果，就像小說情節一般，他竟然被錄取了！我想是曹為學認真的態度，使他充滿了自信，就連那位主考官當下也被震懾住了吧。
　　念念不忘服務大眾的曹先生，從在台糖上班的第一天就開始規畫他的「退休生涯」，就在他認真服務屆滿二十五年的最後一天下班時，悄悄的把辦公桌清理妥當，留下辭呈，孑然離去。

決定服務植物人
　　「我該做些什麼？有什麼是別人不做的？」在預備退休的日子裡，曹先生不斷思索著。
　　他已年過半百，最大的障礙的就是「猶豫」。隨即抓來紙筆，列下一份清單：
　　啟聰 政府做 民間也做
　　啟明 政府做 民間也做
　　就這樣，一項一項的列出，最後卻停在「植物人」：政府不做，民間也沒人願意做。這時，身為基督徒的他向上帝祈求：「這是我無法勝任的，還是給我其他的工作吧！」上帝不發一語。經過幾次這樣的祈禱，曹先生心中終於接受：「照顧植物人」就是他未來的任務，再艱鉅也要承擔下來。
　　他向上帝妥協後，決定先從研究植物人下手。植物人莫過於兩條路：「生」或「死」。也就是「安養」或者「安樂死」。安樂死是最迅速簡單的方法，只需要一張棉被，往病人的頭上一蓋，病人也不會掙扎，就窒息死去了。雖然聽起來很殘忍，但從另一方面看，這也是讓病人及家屬得到解脫的方法，畢竟卡在生死之間的灰色地帶，植物人和家屬總是日復一日的承受著無窮盡的悲苦磨難。
　　當下著手開始研究，曹先生對自己應許，每天得讀完八萬字才能夠休息。為了促使「植物人安樂死」合法化，他讀法律類的書籍，了解法規的制訂；讀心理學的書，試圖貼近植物人家屬可能面臨的精神壓力。當然，也讀醫學類的書，仔細研究與植物人有關的資料。雖然後來安樂死的鼓吹並沒有成功，但是，這段苦讀的日子必定深刻影響，並且奠定了曹先生日後創建創世基金會的基礎。

問卷調查
　　曹先生經過許多年的努力，還是無法讓安樂死合法化，因此決定作一份問卷調查，探究人們對於「安樂死」的看法。出乎意料之外，問卷調查的結果是：幾乎所有的人都不贊成安樂死。曹先生仍不死心，拜請民調界的權威－政大的柴松齡教授設計一份更完備的民意調查問卷，但是結果卻和原先調查的一樣，贊成安樂死的人少之又少，在統計上根本等於零。
　　曹先生反覆思索，終於歸納出大家不贊成安樂死的五大理由：法律不允許、醫生不肯、親屬不忍心、宗教不許可以及社會氛圍不認同。至此，曹先生雖仍想繼續鼓吹安樂死並設法改變社會認知，但也終於不得不放棄這個想法了。

死路碰壁，轉戰生路
　　既然「安樂死」這條路走不通，曹先生於是轉向「生路」－植物人安養。於是他四處尋求可求助的對象。但是，找政府機關，卻被當成政府與地方的皮球；寫信給大財團、親自拜訪也處處受阻。這時眼前卻出現了一絲光明…
　　他受人引薦，去拜訪地位崇高又有影響力的大，那大人物夏天身穿藏青色的長袍，散發出令人懾服的威嚴。他倆見面後，那位大師仔細打量曹先生，問的問題彷彿要透視曹先生一般，令人幾乎無法喘息。滿心期待的曹先生，卻聽見大師的答覆：「年輕人！我從不做沒把握的事。」他又被拒絕了，難道這又是條死胡同？走出了豪華的辦公大樓，他發狂似的吼叫，想要上達天聽，向上帝哭訴這些種種…

「台灣七百個同情點」
　　曹先生這時真正了解到現實的殘酷。就在陷入絕望時，他想起讀過的「富和尚與窮和尚」的故事，決定學習貧和尚，存著完成南海修業的毅力。雖然身上剩下的退休金所剩無幾，他還是重新振奮精神，四處奔走去尋找願意幫忙的人。他走上街頭向路人詢問他們願不願意留下姓名地址，幫助植物人。雖然曹先生常被拒絕或被當成瘋子不予理會，但也獲得了總共七百多人的認同與支持，也就建立起了曹先生口中的「台灣七百個同情點」。在曹先生決定開始籌備植物人安養的工作後，他親筆寫信給這七百多位贊助人說道：「當初您說您願意幫助植物人，現在時機到了…」
　　民國七十五年十一月，曹慶先生找到一家小小的公寓，雇了一個會計，就開始照顧創世的第一個病人。篳路藍縷，經費和人力一直是最大的困難，但是郵差先生總會奇蹟般的在最急需的時候送來一筆筆民眾的捐款，幫助創世度過一次次的難關並服務更多的植物人。

創世的今天
　　曹先生帶我們到他的辦公桌旁，指著他的牆上掛一疊寫滿字的紙，說：「這些都是提醒自己的小字條。」曹先生從中翻出一張泛黃的紙張，上頭強而有力地寫著他的座右銘「蜀之鄙，有二僧，其一貧，其一富…」這是當初在最為沮喪之時，讓他鼓起勇氣繼續為物植物人奮鬥的一句話。接著他又抽出另一張紙給我們看，說道：「這是我今年的十項目標。要建立23個植物人安養院、在369個鄉鎮區成立服務獨居老的愛心天使站…」這就是他帶領創世努力的方向。
　　如今創世基金會在全省共有十二個分院，並有兩個姊妹基金會—「華山」和「人安」，分別服務失智老人和街友。曹先生還在繼續推展擴大他服務的範圍，希望更多人能主動關心，給予植物人生存的尊嚴，而不是只有九平方米大的病床而已。
　　「我希望藉助平民百姓一點一點累積的小力量來幫助社會的弱勢團體，也不能讓慈善機構流於官僚化，因為一旦如此，便不能貼近真正需要幫助的人。」
　　最後，我們請教曹先生：「高中生該如何服務大眾，幫助社會上的弱勢團體？」曹先生說的不是什麼艱深的大道理，卻讓我們看到他在樸實中的偉大之處﹝因為不是出自於老師之口呀！﹞：「努力讀書！年輕人應先把學業顧好，行有餘力再去想如何幫助別人。每一個人都是一把寶劍，你們現在正是造劍期，先把劍造好、磨利，再來談幫助人。」
　　當然除了讀書，更重要的是擁有一顆關懷社會的同理與同情心。這種普世關懷的價值是很難從書本中體會到的，我們必須多關心周遭的人事物並且多深入探討社會現象。認識「創世」之前，植物人只是報章雜誌偶爾會報導的小幅社會新聞；但在認識曹慶先生之後，我們就再也無法不注意到，那黯然存在於社會一隅，賣著口香糖的殘障朋友和獨居老人了。

大家一起捐發票
　　採訪行程告一段落，馬主任立即身體力行，詢問曹先生關於設置發票的捐贈箱的事宜。您有沒有注意到，如今在本校圖書館的服務台前的小櫃子上多了一個小箱子呢？箱子上面寫著：「順手捐發票，救救三種人－植物人、失智老人及街友」我們也相信：「大家隨手的一張愛心發票，會為社會多增添一分溫暖。」將來更有能力的時候，我們也可以樂捐款項或擔任志工來參與和回饋社會、照顧貧弱。採訪曹先生，讓我們看到象牙塔外的另一個世界，也深深的感受到一份莊嚴的使命…

【註】「兩個和尚」原文出自清彭端淑「為學一首示子」（國中二年級課本採用）：『蜀之鄙，有二僧：其一貧，其一富。貧者語於富者曰：『吾欲之南海，何如？』富者曰：『子何恃而往？』曰：『吾一瓶一金本足矣。』富者曰：『吾數年來欲買舟而下，猶未能也。子何恃而往？』越明年，貧者自南海還，以告富者。富者有慚色；西蜀之去南海，不知幾千里也？僧之富者不能至，貧者至焉。人之立志，顧不如蜀鄙之僧哉？

　　On December 8th, the school newsletter crew went to interview Mr. Tsau Ching in Taipei city. The crew included Ms. Jane Hsu, Director of school Library, Mr. Tsu-Ray Ma, Isbel Lee (H2-1), Jen-Chee Hsu (H2-2), and Tiffany Kuo (10B). As we entered his office filled with books, he welcomed us with a warming smile. He showed us his creative Chinese paintings he painted with cotton balls, and mottos hanging on his wall. He made us feel warmly accepted with courageous and ambitious anecdotes of his life and his passion in everything he does. I hope that you can feel some of the warmth he gave to us, by reading this interview.

Introduction
　　Mr. Tsau Ching (曹慶先生) had great passions that became ambitions. He had a great passion in helping others, even if it meant hard work for himself. He retired at an early age and walked all over Taiwan for four years on foot to accomplish his dream, to build a care center for patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). In 1986, he started the Creation Social Welfare Foundation (創世基金會), helping many different kinds of needy people.
Obstacles and Struggles
　　Mr. Tsau was a just a child during the Chinese and Japanese War. He lived in China, near the battlegrounds of the war. "There weren't a lot of gun shootings, but there were always soldiers. When the Japanese soldiers were here, they burned and robbed our houses. The Chinese soldiers were not any better. They came and took whatever they want. There were often bombings in the area. My cousin, his pregnant wife, and many of my good friends died because of the bombing. Violence, killing, and death was everywhere." He was a teenager during the Communist War where soldiers killed even more vigorously and there were even deaths and violence.
　　Mr. Tsau grew up surrounded by violence, death, and hatred. At such a small age, he realized that this is not the world he wanted and promised himself that when he grew up, he would not take away lives, but give people lives.
　　During his childhood, there were already hints of his generous heart. "There were many beggars in China who knock on people's doors to ask for food. Usually, each house gives them one spoon of rice, but by the time they asked everyone in the street, they had enough food to fill their tummies. I am usually a very lazy person, but whenever a beggar knocked on our door, I would run to scoop a whole bowl of rice and give it to them. My parents would always tell me not to give them so much, but I always gave the beggars a bowlful of rice nevertheless."
　　Later, he took a job in Taiwan Sugar Corporation. But after a while, he wanted to retire and pursue his dream of helping other people. In order to retire, an employ has to be sixty-five years old or have twenty-five years of service. So he wrote a retirement letter and stowed it away, waiting for his 25 years of service to end. Each day, being the brilliant him, he would bring some of his personal belongings in his office back home. On the exact day of his twenty-five years of service, his drawer was empty except for the retirement letter. He called his colleagues, and asked him to take the retirement letter to his boss, and he retired.
　　After he retired, he knew that he wanted to help people that no body is helping already, but what type of people? Being the devoted Christian he is, he asked God and agreed with Him that he should take care of PVS sufferers. He then had to choose what he wanted to do with theses patients.

　　There were two choices for the patients－let them to live, or euthanasize them, that is to put them to sleep. He didn't have a lot of money at that time, so he settled on euthanasia, thinking that it can help more people, especially the families of the patients. However, euthanasia was not legal in Taiwan. He wanted pass a law that makes it legal. But it was not an easy task. "Influencing people to agree to euthanasia required public speaking skills and persuasive writing skills. But who can understand me with my Chinese accent? And I can't write anything persuasive!" Once he went to his daughter's school to talk about his foundation. After the speech, the students went up to his daughter and asked her, "What was your dad talking about? I hardly understood a word." But this dilemma didn't disappoint him at all! "I cannot improve the accent I was born with, but I can improve my writing!" He started reading eighty thousand words each day. If he didn't finish his eighty thousand words about euthanasia or PVS in general, he would not go to sleep.
　　After nine years of reading, he decided that his writing had met standards and was ready to publish. But before he published, he took a poll, asking if people supported euthanasia. Ninety five percent of people didn't support euthanasia, but supported letting the PVS live. He analyzed the situation and found five major reasons as to why people didn't support euthanasia. He tried to fight against each of these reasons but after a year or two, there was no success. He realized and accepted that he had to let go on euthanasia, and decided to take care of the comatose peoples.
　　He now needed money to finance his care center. He hand written two hundred letters to big organizations, asking for financial support, but none of the organizations gave any support. He was greatly disappointed. But he thought of the story of the two monks. Both of the monks wanted to go to India to obtain the Holy Scripture. The poor monk didn't have any transportation so he went by feet. The rich monk laughed at him, but didn't take any action because he was too lazy. A year later, the poor monk came back with the Holy Scripture and the rich monk had nothing. "I can be like the poor monk," Mr. Tsau thought.
　　He started on a four-year trip all around Taiwan. He went up to each house and asked if they were willing to support PVS sufferers. Many people called him a liar, a lunatic, and an idiot. Nevertheless, after four years of hard work, he acquired seven hundred names of people who are willing to help out.
　　He started his care center in 1986. When his first patient came, he had no money for proper bedding so he took two closets from the dumpster to make a bed (this bed is still kept in the center for display purposes). Soon, his retirement money ran out. He started to write letters to the seven hundred people, asking for financial support. Each day, he would wait in front of the mailbox, hoping to receive donations. Sometimes the stack of checks was thin and other times the stack was thick. "My mood rises and falls with the thickness of the stack of checks," he recalls. Eventually, enough money flowed in and is still flowing in today to support the foundation.
　　Today, he faces the problem of finding nurses. Many people who work with these patients do not feel a sense of accomplishment or progression. They do not feel encouraged. Even extra wages does not keep the nurses in this job.
　　Other than this problem, the foundation is well off. It is starting to extend their helpful hand to homeless and people of old age. Around two thousand volunteers all over Taiwan help out at Creation Social Welfare Foundation. Many citizens donate receipts and money to the foundation. Students are encouraged to donate their receipts (to the donation box in the library) and help out at the foundation.
Conclusion
　　Even though the interview took a lot of effort to understand because of Mr. Tsau's China accent, his generous heart that wants to do society good can easily be seen. Through the jokes he cracked during the interview, it is evident that he is an optimistic and easy-going person. His optimism helps him happily carries heavy burden of helping society on his shoulders. His never giving up heart is something worth looking up to and learning from.

▲TOP