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Anthony |
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Bobby |
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Dorothy |
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Ellen |
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Grace |
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Heidi |
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Jacky |
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Manna |
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Sally |
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Tony |
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Only By Letting Go Can We Embrace the World
Anthony Pang
I believe Nepal is relatively unfamiliar to many Hong Kong people. Generally speaking, the impression of Nepal is only backwardness and poverty, and there is not much interest in it. Because of this journey, I came to know Nepal by myself and thus changed some of my opinions about it.
During the 9-day schedule, we participated in activities such as teaching and farming to experience the lives of local people. Teaching is one of the activities that impressed me the most. Local children spend hours walking back to school every day, and many children just wear a pair of slippers. Their materials are also relatively poor. We can see that there are a lot of shabby books in the classroom, and the school bags are donated to them by some charitable organizations. In other more remote schools, supplies are even scarcer. They don't even have lights in their classrooms, and they can only rely on natural lighting. In the process of our teaching, the children are very enthusiastic, and they are all happy because they can learn new knowledge. They will not give up studying because of difficulties but will be more grateful and enjoy the time in class with us. These images are in great contrast with the situation in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, I have always participated in volunteer services for children. When I lead children in activities, they generally think that knowledge-based games are boring and resist participating in activities. They are not as eager for knowledge as Nepalese children. Perhaps, children in Nepal hope to change their destiny through knowledge; and Hong Kong’s social mobility is low, and children who grow up in the lower class are generally more pessimistic.
Even if the material life is not rich, Nepalese generally enjoy their simple life. They are also very enthusiastic and often have smiles on their faces. This is also very different from the situation in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, a place where money is in charge, and making profits is the goal, happiness seems to be a very uncommon thing. Hong Kong people often don't smile. Even we are materially rich, we don't always feel satisfied, it is just like a bottomless pit, we keep chasing a better and better life.
This trip made me reflect on living in the present, rather than being influenced by the thoughts in my head. Urban people are just indulging in their own illusory fantasy or being constrained by daily pressure, often we will ignore our own bodies. When the body tries to speak to us, we may not be aware of it. In fact, only when we let go of the shackles of our thoughts, can we notice every day-to-day detail and feel the changes in our body. To live in the present, we must let go of what we have grasped in the past.
Only by letting go can we embrace the world.
(Thanks volunteer Ellen Chan for translating Anthony’s testimonial from Chinese to English) |
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