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Author: Xie Deqin
2020-06-10 09:00
Last update date: 2020-06-10 09:00Every university Sem break (note: the holiday between two semesters) is the peak period for college students to buy cheap air tickets to travel, if they have visited popular tourist areas such as Japan and South Korea, and have experienced various exotic cultures, Where else can they spend their precious Sem break? In order to make students have an unforgettable Sem break, the City University of Hong Kong (hereinafter referred to as CityU) organized the Outreach Service Experience Program (SOEP), which aims to enable CityU students to broaden their horizons by participating in overseas volunteer services and to understand the social needs of different countries And reflect on one’s attitude towards life on the go. In January of this year, the first leg of the program led 20 students to visit the mountains of Nepal. How do they feel about this journey?
Kate, a third-year Bachelor of Arts (linguistics and language application) student at CityU, like other college students, wanted to take advantage of Sem break to travel and see the world’s largest. Later, she received promotional information from the Student Development Office of the City University. She felt that she had a rare opportunity to try new things. The destination of this service group is located in Lamjung district in the mountains of Nepal. This place is quite new to Kate. "I thought the area should be dusty and the sanitation was rather bad, but it turned out to be my stereotype. Compared with the densely populated capital Kathmandu, the mountain village we set foot in is a very comfortable and beautiful place in the protected area. ."
Kate participated in the outreach volunteer service group with a mentality of challenging himself.
Another member, Dorothy, is in the second year of Bachelor of Social Sciences (Psychology). In 2019, she followed the service team of another City University to visit the mountainous area of Ramqiong County, and has been very concerned about the local villagers. So I chose to set foot on this land again this year. "The snowy mountains and rivers I have seen are still magnificent. This is absolutely beautiful scenery. Unlike the past, the children grew taller, the village schools expanded, and we all grew up." Dorothy admitted This time, when she returned to Nepal, she was more willing to release her true emotions, no longer suppressing or hiding her emotions because of the eyes of others.
Dorothy is more willing to express his feelings on this journey and communicate sincerely with the villagers.
Ramjong County has been severely damaged by the earthquake in 2015. The 20 members of the service team need to spend a week in the absence of Wi-Fi, shower facilities and stable power supply, and assist in the reconstruction of local campus facilities. But compared to the inconvenience in life, language barriers bring more challenges to Kate. "When we were doing hand-made workshops, at first we used large-class teaching methods. The local women were unable to understand each instruction clearly because of their language barriers. They couldn't keep up with the demonstration content. We immediately switched to the group teaching mode when we saw it, with appropriate The body language successfully completed the workshop." Kate learned from the preparation workshop the importance of careful observation and rapid response, and learned that the ways of communication can be very diverse, and there is no need to set limits for himself because of language barriers.
Zhou Jian was deeply touched by the enthusiasm of local students in the process of free teaching, determined to become a chemistry teacher after graduation.
Zhou Jian, who is in the fourth grade of Bachelor of Science (Chemistry), found enthusiasm for teaching after this journey and determined to become a chemistry teacher. "This is the second time I have participated in a volunteer service in Nepal. When I participated for the first time, I only needed to help prepare for the teaching activities. I was not the main person in charge and the pressure was relatively low. This year, I was fortunate to be the main person in charge of one of the classrooms , I need to focus and carefully design the teaching content. In the process, I gradually found my goal."
The short one-week service is enough for students and local residents to establish a deep relationship.
The one-week service group passed by in a hurry. The three people unforgettablely and the local villagers unknowingly established deep feelings, and also used this to reflect on the connection and communication between people. On the eve of the departure, Dorothy hand-written a letter to the village chief who regarded her as a "biological daughter" to express his gratitude. The village head and his wife were deeply moved. The village head wife put Dorothy in her arms and said goodbye reluctantly; Kate received a popcorn made by her homestay mother at the end of the journey to share with other members. The sweet taste lasted for a long time in Kate's heart.
Q. Can the three have plans to return to Nepal again? The three also nodded and said yes. Zhou Jian responded: "What is meaningful must be persevered and cannot be stopped." Dorothy also said that although she has visited this place twice, "but there are many corners in this place that I have not explored. Here, I will continue to travel through other mountains in Nepal, and I will definitely revisit the old land."
For a detailed introduction of this service group, please click the following article:
City University students go to Nepal to participate in overseas service learning with a different community service experience ﹝上﹞
If you are interested in knowing more of the feelings of other students after the journey or watching the highlights of this journey, please scan the following QR Code:
Member's Journey:
https://www.facebook.com/cityucep/posts/220271719362978
Highlights of the journey:
https://www.facebook.com/cityusltp/videos/665505217547533/
City University Nepal Volunteer Feed
