WCTAG hilft e.V.

About us

The World Chen Taijiquan Association Germany (WCTAG) is Germany's largest Tai Chi Association. As part of our charitable work we have created WCTAG Helps and have been successfully supporting children's aid projects in Sri Lanka and Brazil since 2004. Our goal is to create small local projects that offer safe and sheltered environments for street children from extremely poor regions and to provide them with targeted education so they may sustainably improve their living conditions.

These children grow up in a dangerous world characterized by violence and drugs. Our project areas supply the children with food, clothing and medical care and our qualified team cares for them, gives them love and offers them psychological support.

We define education as:

- General education
- Teaching humanitarian values
- Developing self-esteem and self-confidence
- Promoting environmental awareness.

Both intellectual education and structured physical activity are essential pillars of our work. We find that combining classroom education with physical activity promotes overall harmony between body and mind. Educational literacy gives children solid tools for communication and exercising helps them compensate for their aggression, develop physically and earn recognition for the first time.

Both methods combine to create keys to peace, prosperity and the long-term transformation of any society. Only through these types of educational opportunities will people gain the perspective and the ability to lead an independent life.

WCTAG Helps among others is supported by the Friedrich-Wilhelm and Brigitte Werner Foundation and its associated company Bijou Brigitte AG.

Aid Projects

Brazil - The Island of Children

In Brazil, millions of forgotten street children still live at the margins of society. They are begging on the street, their clothes are torn and dirty. One cannot help but read neglect in their eyes. They do not have a chance to regularly attend school or to receive a daily hot meal. Already at a very young age the children are forced to take care of themselves. In their despair, they easily turn to drug circles, become criminals or sell their bodies.

In our street children's project, Island of the Children, located in the neighborhood of Salvador da Bahia, vulnerable children and adolescents learn, eat and relax in a protected environment. Our goal is to protect children from street life and its dangers and to give them opportunities for a better future.

Ninety-Three children and adolescents attend the center every day; they receive balanced meals and are lovingly cared for by educators and psychologists. In addition to targeted general education such as reading and writing and English, the children receive extra tutoring. They also participate in various sporting, artistic and cultural activities. Dancing and role-playing help children to develop their personality and develop self-confidence. Gradually they manage to cope with their traumatic experiences.

The Island of the Children urgently needs a new schoolroom and school furniture. There are a great many children in need and with a new classroom we can offer 24 more children safe haven and possibilities to improve their future. We have plans for an outdoor education classroom that will host even more targeted programs and future professional training.


Sri Lanka - Sponsorship and Buddhist convent school

When the Tsunami in 2004 ripped the world into great distress, the Sri Lankan people experienced a great tragedy. A multitude of families in Southern Sri Lanka not only lost family members but their entire existence. The Island infrastructure is still precarious and methods to generate income are tenuous at best. With our 50 sponsorships we help the children of the deserted village Salyapura who live in abject poverty. We provide the children and their families with water, food and clothing and ensure that the children can regularly attend school.

In a small Buddhist convent school another 50 orphans have found a new home with the help of WCTAG Helps. They receive quality education as much as they receive love, support and confidence in a protected and safe environment.

Please help us give these children a chance on their childhood and for a brighter future! Thank you!