Recently, I was chatting with colleagues about volunteer teaching, and I remembered my participation in such a program during university. I shared that experience with them, along with the beautiful memories brought to me by those innocent children. One little girl gave me a notebook when I was leaving, recording what she wanted to say to us, and every sentence was touching.
I took some time to organize some photos I took back then, reminiscing about this wonderful memory.
Let’s rewind to 2017, when I had the privilege of joining the "Micro Love Volunteer Teaching Team" to conduct volunteer teaching in Golden Bay Village, Dayuan Town, Jingzhou, Hubei. The volunteer teaching lasted for over a month, during which I learned and played with dozens of children, experiencing both hardships and joys. Below are some photos I took during this volunteer teaching experience.
After arriving in Jingzhou, Secretary Hu arranged a bus to pick us up. After a bumpy few hours, we finally reached Golden Bay Village.
Our teaching place was an almost unused village committee building, with a hall in the middle used for classes, and we specially transported some desks and chairs for the children. There were rooms on both sides of the hall, serving as our office and rest area.
Since that place had not been used for a long time, many areas were covered in dust, and our first task upon arrival was a thorough cleaning.
There are centipedes in the area, which look a lot like millipedes, quite disgusting, and they are everywhere, very scary.
After several hours of cleaning, we could finally rest, and it was late at night. There weren't many beds, so we let the four girls sleep in them while the boys slept on the floor.
The next day, we began enrollment. Enrollment meant visiting nearby villages to see if there were children of appropriate age, while also seeking the opinions of their families on whether they would be willing to send them to class.
To our surprise, the villagers were very friendly and cooperative because the volunteer teaching team had been coming for five consecutive years, and everyone trusted the volunteers. So when they saw us coming for enrollment, they warmly welcomed us and eagerly signed up.
At first, we were worried that it would be difficult to manage children who were not of school age, but their obedience dispelled our concerns. Thus, our list included children as young as three or four years old, as well as older children in middle school.
After two days of visiting and enrolling, we had enough students, so we began preparing for the subsequent courses. In addition to regular classes, we also offered courses in science, painting, art appreciation, calligraphy, literature, and creativity.
In the first class, everyone was still quite reserved but very active.
The children were all very cute and kind, but they were also quite mischievous. One little girl left a deep impression on me; she was usually very rebellious and always caused trouble to attract the teachers' attention. Almost everyone had talked to her. One noon, as we were preparing to rest, she rode her bike over to tell us she was leaving because her parents were in Guangzhou and were coming to take her to play. When she mentioned leaving, she couldn't help but cry, tears streaming down her face.
Usually, we were quite strict with her, but she could truly feel our care. Before leaving, she specifically came to say goodbye to us. We were also very reluctant to part, and seeing her cry so hard made everyone’s nose feel sour.
Our course setup was very rich, including both theoretical and practical classes. Considering that children naturally like to be hands-on and dislike sitting still, we mostly explained the theory to the children first and then spent the rest of the time doing hands-on activities together.
During the hands-on practice, we found that the children's imagination was very rich. For example, in one food class, we originally planned to make dumplings with the dough, but in the end, the children created all sorts of strange little things, including a cute Zhu Bajie and exquisite petals.
Regarding food and drink, we bought vegetables and cooked ourselves, taking turns to cook. Buying vegetables required getting up very early; we had to wake up at six o'clock and ride an electric bike borrowed from an aunt to the town a few kilometers away to buy vegetables for the next few days.
Since I didn't know how to cook, the food I made was often leftover. I remember one time I made soup and thought it was too bland, so I added several packets of instant noodle seasoning, and in the end, no one could drink it. As a result, I was restricted from cooking and only helped with chopping vegetables and doing miscellaneous tasks. Another reason was that I needed to take photos and process them, so I didn't have much free time, and everyone let me off a bit.
At the beginning, I was still
A naive and crying child
Ten years later, I finally understood
As long as you give your all, there is no such thing as failureIn the blink of an eye, everything has changed
A new starting point, a new world is right in front of me
I have been hurt and shed tears
What does it matter to go crazy for dreams this time?Run, proud youth
In the young heart lies a firm belief
Burn, proud blood
I want to sing the victory song once againThe world is so big, I always want to fly
Even if covered in scars, I have no regrets
No one cheers, yet I still look forward
The rainbow after the rain is so wonderfulIn the blink of an eye, everything has changed
A new starting point, a new world is right in front of me
I have been hurt and shed tears
What does it matter to go crazy for dreams this time?— "Proud Youth"
Parents often brought us vegetables they grew and occasionally sent us some fruits. Even though we repeatedly refused, they always left them at the door during lunch breaks and left.
So in the afternoon, we would wash the fruits and distribute them to the children.
After school, everyone went home. Most of the children had bicycles, while those without felt a bit lonely. We would accompany them home and chat with them along the way. At this time, they had no burdens and would say anything, allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of their inner thoughts.
Here, every flower and grass is their friend; they introduce you to this road and that river, and take you to pick lotus pods.
In the middle of the volunteer teaching, we took advantage of the weekend to visit most of the children's families, discussing the children's class performance and getting to know these kids from another perspective.
In the later stages of the volunteer teaching, we held a sports meeting and a cultural performance, which were the times everyone laughed the most.
In the last few days before the end, we took advantage of the weekend to go to Jingzhou City for food and fun, and a junior also came over.
It was a beautiful and precious experience, and the longer it goes, the more profound the memories feel.