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Once-in-a-lifetime journey
Shin Wai Ching Martin
If I were to describe the entire Nepal service learning trip experience, I would say it is a once-in-a-lifetime journey, an eye-opening experience towards understanding the world and myself, and that the trip definitely taught me a few life-long lessons along the way.
Let’s just go over some of the facts about the trip and then move on to the lessons learned. It was held between 1-9/4 2018, right after the Easter celebrations, which I consider joining the trip to be one of my best decisions in making use of my holiday time during these 4 years of university life. I think we are pretty well-prepared about the living situations in Nepal with the pre-trip workshops, for example the electricity/water/internet condition, common practices etc., that’s why the reality was not too far off from my expectations, thus had a great time throughout the journey. We arrived at Kathmandu in a 6 hours’ flight followed by roughly a 10-hour drive from the capital to Ghermu, Annapurna Conservation Area on bumpy roads and a 45 minutes’ hike to the village, where we stayed at the locals’ houses, which gave us a more authentic cultural-exchange experience. The food & weather were really nice, thus even after an entire day of labor work, we didn’t sweat much / didn’t stink even without bathing, which absolutely made the stay much more pleasant. The area was really refreshing (compared to the capital), where we would be woken up by the rooster crowing in the rocky mountains, in an area so peaceful that it somehow made the trip seems like a small retreat.
Working with Light On, the NGO partner, they introduced to us the three principles early on for the trip, which are reflection, live in the moment and teamwork, where we try to live by every day. These principles guide us towards having a more comprehensive service learning experience, that we’re not only here to give materials for a few days, but there could be meaningful transformations and takeaways to each one of us as we learn to serve.
One thing that I realized when we first enter the village was the welcoming smiles and genuine happiness of the kids and the locals. Their openness and friendliness towards strangers was something that I didn’t expect. Electricity shortage didn’t bother them, having no data coverage didn’t bother them, living in a remote inconvenient region didn’t bother them. It's without doubt that their lives come with challenges and struggles but I do wonder what makes them to be that satisfied? I guess it's only us the city people that are so used to materialistic desires, having too many plans and chasing one goal after another, that we forgot how to put up a simple smile on our faces. These endless desires made us lose sight of what we already have and how privileged we are. One of the takeaways that I learned there at that moment was that joy could be found in anywhere, if you look closely, if you learn to appreciate even the simplest things. Everything is a matter of perspective, it is how our mind shape the reality that we live in. We can choose to be happy if we always come with an open-mind, even in tough situations, to try to find the good out of the bad things. This is certainly easier said than done, but if we don’t make a change to reframe our perspectives we will be forever living in that same toxic, stressful, factory-like atmosphere and feedback loop that Hong Kong society is famous for.
The second ‘lesson’ that I learned after this immersive experience is that meditation and examination of conscience is essential part of our day and that I should make time for it and form a routine. As a catholic, I’ve heard of and have been practicing these reflective moments from time to time. But after going through the trip where we had to do these sessions at the end of every day’s work, it made me further realized the importance of talking to your inner self. To know yourself better, appreciate your strengths, acknowledge your weaknesses and try to improve every single day. Time really flies over without us even realizing it, while everyone is busy getting better grades, getting a better job and hopefully settle in with your own flat, working for a brighter future, none of that actually matters if we are not living our lives to the fullest and not living in the moment. I am very grateful to have met Pink and Yusa, both of them are wise and courageous ladies. These reflective moments the led during the trip made everybody to concentrate on what is important at that moment and treasure the time we had having each other by our side. These unique moments of us sharing our vulnerabilities, was in a way like a healing focus group and at the same time truly allow us to bond over each other. Knowing each human experience & encounter is unique and irreplaceable, that one should never judge someone else just by what they’ve done externally is another ‘lesson’ that I would constantly remind myself. You never know what the other person have been through, and the accumulation of experience that lead up to him/her making a certain decision, thus it is more important that we take the time to understand (and maybe empathize) with the person instead of judging by appearance.
The third ‘lesson’ that I am really thankful of is the chance to meet so many amazing people that otherwise I would have no chance of encountering (this includes the students, staffs & NGO partners). It is certainly great that we went to Nepal together doing service and all that, but what amazes me the most is the bonding, the team that we formed from merely strangers to close mates in these few days. Everybody has a unique character and extraordinary perspective to offer to the table. Some are funnier while some are more ‘nutrient-rich’ (not pointing at anyone). But one ‘elements’ that stands out, that we all shared is how caring we all are and we all can be to each other. If all of us could take one extra step even back in our normal lives, how amazing the world can be. Having strong bonds among us indeed created this synergy & complementary effect that no single person could be capable of. Some might be stronger at carrying stones while some might be better at organizing and teaching kids. When we all work as a team, we know we got each other’s back. I wish I would have more time to get to know more about each one of us and I really hope that this friendship can last despite changes and challenges we will face throughout different phases of our lives.
Time flies but memories lasts. It is definitely not easy to maintain the ‘Nepal mode’ we all got into from the trip, not easy to remind myself all the lessons that I learned amidst this factory-like environment that we live in. Hope that this ‘unhealthy’ atmosphere in our society is not going to kill the dream and passion that we hold today and always be ‘Hakuna matata’, don’t worry and be happy, enjoy the process as much as the outcome. |
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