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Akanksha |
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Evelyn |
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Pinkie |
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Rebecca |
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Tina |
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A soul-calming trip
Evelyn
The 7-day volunteering trip in Nepal has finished, but I still can’t calm myself down.
Our flight arrived at Hong Kong at 6 in the morning. Just as I came out from the plane cabin to the terminal, a strange feeling set in. Hong Kong was modern and Chinese New Year mood was in the air. The huge contrast between Hong Kong and Nepal had simply blown my mind. The level of development of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, is like 30 years behind Hong Kong. There, most people walk instead of using vehicles, most of which are Suzukis. Everywhere are motorbikes, cramped streets, shabby and short houses, and people wearing slippers with bare feet.
Some people were burning trash for warmth, while it started raining and the rain extinguished the smoke; Music from the wedding band collided with the dreary mood of the rainy day. The overhead electrical wires along the streets were crisscrossed, just like my feelings and thoughts the journey had brought me.
As our tour bus brought us back to Kathmandu Airport, Jimmy repeated the same words he said on the bus the first day we arrived here, ‘Don’t take shower in the hostel because the water pressure is unstable. We are gathering at 5 tomorrow in the morning.’ What he said reminded us of the end of our journey.
The intellectual feast of ferocious collisions between humanity and reality, the spiritual trial, had almost come to an end. Everyone had a different feeling, pondering about new ideas the journey brought them. While some of us were forced to return to the relatively individual reality in which we struggle, others were looking forward to it and yet others were longing for it. Without expectation, I started missing that land, empathizing with the people, and I was aching to return.
I’m glad that I had the opportunity to participate in this journey and I have learned a lot. I’ve seen benevolence and love in my peer participants. Their limitless patience and striving effort have deeply touched me. Chatting after meals, we realized that we spend too much time in the virtual world, such as online chats and social media. We often slide through IG and restrict ourselves in our friend circle, squandering our time to browse other people’s lives, neglecting our hobbies and dreams. Our will is weakened and we lose control of our own self. We no longer believe we have the power to change the status quo. We stay in our comfort zone, dreaming, yet without realizing anything.
Meanwhile, although the Nepalese people live in less wealthy conditions, they do not embody lust for materials or struggle in life. Nepal is called the Land of Blossoms, and it is true! During the coldest season of winter, when the mountain areas in northern Nepal were supposed to be covered with snow, flowers bloomed luxuriantly where we served. Despite not having many material resources, the villagers gave us their sincerest blessing – a flower necklace. And that perhaps represented their most genuine wish. We had received many flower necklaces. I was reluctant to throw them away and kept them well. The sincere smiles and non-competitive mindset of the villagers inspired me to think what I truly want in my life. If you want to immerse yourself in a certain activity or succeed in something, you have to spend a lot of time and effort. So why don’t you do something you really want to gain success in? Why don’t you do what you truly love with your youthful soul? These questions are what leader Pink has guided me to think about. As a person working in the financial sector, she chose to leave her promising career, to release her fists and embrace the world, and to spend time and effort for her passion. Her words have deeply inspired me.
This trip has offered me an opportunity to truly calm my soul. It has made me realize my confusions and deficiencies. In the future, I will live my life with authenticity according to all my understanding.
(Thanks Hing Sing Yuen, our volunteer, who translated Evelyn’s testimonial from Chinese to English.) |
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