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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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Is Service Trip Only for the Service of Others?
Ellen Cheung, Staff
It was my 2nd time leading City U students to go to Lamjung for a 9-day services trip. I remembered that last time, I was so occupied during the trip that I could not distinguish which villages I had been to and what were their names. Personally, I am not good at saying goodbye and thus, I tried to avoid being boned with the locals.
The day before this year's trip, I told myself to treasure this 2nd chance and not to miss practicing “living in the moment”. I was so happy to see that all students also put their efforts to enjoy the whole trip as well as facing every challenge actively.
After we arrived Khani Gaun village, I saw many familiar faces, one particularly welcomed me and said, “Namaste. I remember you.” The locals were so excited to see me again and they kept telling me that they recognized me. Some little girls asked for my name, in return I also tried my best to remember their names. Day by day, I and all the students started to merge into their daily life: We said "Hi" to the locals every day, we learnt some Nepalese little by little, we ate the same food and we breathed the same fresh air together.
All students were quite adaptive to the local environment than I expected. When the temperature was lower than expected, they would keep moving their body to keep themselves warm. When the locals predicted that a rainy day was coming and we would have to reschedule the "Walkathon" earlier to 7 am, they were all very cooperative and the whole team of 20 set off on time.
We walked 3 hours uphill to another village, Sanjapu, and we did our service there. This is how adherence and perseverance developed among them.
On this trip, the weather was not as ideal as expected and it caused power failure occasionally. However, it did not stop the students from finishing their tasks and enjoying the trip. I admire their optimism and adaptability a lot. Although the implementation of their workshops was not as smooth and the outcome was not as perfect as they expected, the students were still enjoying the interactions with the locals. Since they were being so sincere, the locals also returned them with smiling faces.
Is the purpose of a service trip serving others? I think this “Light On Your Path Journey “will definitively enlighten you through a different experience. Throughout the whole trip, Light On kept reminding us to reflect on ourselves and to induce changes, aiming to bring a deep reflection of participants in their whole lifestyle, as such bring changes to their home city, instead of just doing the service itself.
I am now practicing “plastic-free” and go more to nature. I believe that after you read the testimonials from our students, you will realize that they are also changing bit by bit.
Although I could not see any shooting stars this trip, I saw the snow mountain, heard the flowing of river daily and saw the starry nights. What an experience! Dear Nepal, thank you for allowing me to stay in the village again to feel the beauty of nature and to rediscover myself.
(Thanks volunteer Ellen Chan for translating Ellen Cheung’s testimonial from Chinese to English) |
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