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Gaby Djohan |
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Jasper Chiu |
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Joyce Tang |
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Katherine Yung |
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Ryan Tang |
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A starting point for a new journey
Katherine Yung
I experienced the once-in-a-lifetime service-learning trip in Nepal.
Thinking from the local perspective, especially the children, when they saw us come here to support them, stay with them, and share lives with them, instead of giving out money or materials to them, they can feel us and feel something inspiring and cheerful from the bottom of their heart. The contribution we made was mutually beneficial. On the one hand, through teaching to empower local kids with knowledge and bring them the picture of the world outside the village, they can hardly gain access to. On the other, we experienced something meaningful, which encouraged us to be thankful for our lives, to appreciate others and to concern more about the disadvantaged.
Another unforgettable part of this journey was the interaction with the local villagers. In the section of shadowing of our homestay, we got a chance to take a glimpse at the real living environment of the local family. The interior house design is quite primitive with very little furniture, and people lived a simple life which they heavily relied on agriculture. We were lucky as we were in their one of the important festivals in Nepal --- the Yam Festival. We could have a chance to take a look at how local people prepared and celebrated, and even learned something about from their customs when chatting with our homestay even though there was a certain level of a communication barrier between us since local women had little understanding of English, smile on their faces showing their happiness and hospitality to us.
The living style I experienced in the trip invoked lots of reflection by myself. We cannot take a shower in the village, and we were served with vegetarian meals in order to save water and live in a non-violent and low carbon footprint way, which was an enlightening and meaningful experience. To be environmental-friendly, we are also required to leave no trace, which means we need to carry our trash back to Hong Kong instead of leaving it in Nepal. At first, since it was too inconvenient to collect all the trash except paper-made products, I considered cheated for once. However, when I arrived Kathmandu and witnessed the severity of the trash problem in Nepal, I never gave a second thought to collect my trash during the trip. The scenery alongside the street is staggering, and the hygiene and environment there is deplorable. I thought that now that I am here, I could at least try my best to uphold the goals of this journey, for this country, and also for our own future --- a world with cleaner air, water and land. I was paying little attention to trash issue and trash classification in society, and after the trip, I realized how much trash I generated. A positive change for me is that now I become more civic-minded. Concerned about the plastic usage, I would take a careful consideration every time before using or purchasing plastic-made products.
To summary, Nepal service-learning trip had ended, but it was just a starting point to inspire to step on a new journey to get myself more involved in community issues which I find myself truly passionate about. |
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