Bringing volunteer spirits to Changchun
By Wang Zhen
2015-01-21
"I learned ‘Hola’ this morning", Li Jun, an 11-year-old primary school student, said excitedly. "To my surprise, there are two colors on a Mexican coin."
Li is not in the exotic country but along with his fellow classmates attended a cultural class by Michel, a Mexican volunteer when five other overseas volunteers gave free lessons at Pingquan road primary school, Changchun, capital city of Jilin province, on January 19.
Kind-hearted motivation
Michel and his five companions are all colleague students who come from Mexico, Portugal, Egypt, Slovakia, Indonesia and Taiwan. When expressing their motivations for volunteering work, they say almost the same, "I just like it."
"I enjoy helping others," Omar said, one of the volunteers from Egypt.
A Portugal volunteer Anna expressed her idea, "I want to open those kids’ eyes, so that they can see the world a bit differently."
Apart from their kind-hearted motivation, the six volunteers are supported by Netherlands AIESEC, an international NGO providing opportunities for young people for having a global cross-cultural experience. And it has expanded to 113 countries and regions with its China office opening in 2002.
Extensive English lessons
The six volunteers who can speak fluent English have brought a five-day extensive English lesson to the bunch of kids including oral English, foreign cultures and class plays.
Their English classes have aroused these school kids’ interests and curiosities for exotic experiences.
"I want to have an adventure in Mexico," Lijun said. "Teacher Michel’s lesson sounds interesting to me."
Omar said he would wear his Egyptian costume in a cultural class, and adding that "I’ll play Egyptian dancing and traditions video clips to my students."
Despite the fact that the architecture major is in his early twenties, Omar has set his foot on many parts of the world.
He spent a few days in Bejing to learn about Chinese traditional buildings and was deeply expressed by their structures and techniques before his arrival in China’s northeast city Changchun.
"I visited the Forbidden city and the Temple of Heaven," the young colleague student said. "Those architectures are amazing."
Home-staying at Changchun locals
AIESEC’s Jilin University branch has helped those volunteers find free accommodation. Jilin office’s Wei Hanqian notes that they help them find home-stay families in Changchun.
"Most of home stays are either receive high-income or having high school student at home, so they can talk their guests in English," said Wei.
Hosting families also provide welcoming atmospheres, as Anna said: "I felt my home-stay parents are very warm-hearted."
"They even cooked many Portuguese dishes, like pan-fried fish and roasted potatoes. They are amazing", she added.
These volunteers will have more cultural experiences in Changchun apart from teaching at schools in the following six weeks.
