I stumbled upon this article I had written for a friend in 2004, after my YEP trip to Yunnan. It was really one of the most fantastic times that I had. ;) Will be submitting this article on the company intranet too! Think it will tie nicely with the Philippines project.
I don't remember much of myself in the past, maybe it is because I ruminate too much on my failures and shortcomings. But reading this, a flood of lovely memories came up again. And yup, we can never change the core of our beings. I didn't realise that all along I had these feelings already for the poor & for a simple life. Perhaps they were never properly brought out of defined. :) So glad to rediscover myself over and over again.
Happy reading!
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I went on a Youth Expedition Program to Yunnan, Mizhi Village from the 1st December to 18th December 2004. I was really blessed by the experience in the village. We received more than whatever we gave. We went to the village with two aims, to refurbish the youth centre, and secondly, to set up the infrastructure for their youth club.
I took part in this program because I wanted to experience life in a rural village, which was different from searching on the internet. I also have a special passion for China. My family went to China on holiday several times, but each time, it was with a tour group. That kind of touch and go experience merely gave me a vague idea of China.
There were several first things that we experienced in the village. When we reached the place, crowds of students in the basketball courts stopped to look at us. Due to the long journey, many of us had to visit the toilet. The toilet consists of about 10 holes and there were no cubicles. There was no flushing system and the excretions remained below the hole. Every morning, the students took turns to use a water hose to wash away the excretions at the bottom into a drainage system. I almost felt like vomiting the first time I went into the place. From then on, we brought in air fresheners and tissue whenever we visited the toilet.
We slept in 2 empty classrooms, and there were bed stands in the classrooms. We placed our sleeping bags on it. There were also some comforters we shared and 2 movable heaters. We were still pampered! As the classrooms were located about 5 minutes away from the toilet, each day we had to wear our thick jackets and sweaters before going downstairs to wash up. The heater for the water in the toilet used a solar system. During the winter, the sun hardly came out, but when it did, the sun was scorching hot and drying, and the water was warm. We boiled water which we mixed with the cold water to bathe and to wash up. The water that flowed from the taps was freezing cold. At times we rinsed our mouths with cold water and after washing, our hand were numbed.
No expedition will be complete without an interaction with the people. We interacted with a wide range of people from the children in primary school, to the youths from secondary school those in their 20s. On one occasion, as I was playing board games with 3 girls, they told me in a class of 59, only the top 10 out of 59 could go to high school. The rest were to go back to farm to help their parents. Upon checking this out with other officials, I realised that the quota was lower in the villages because they did not have enough money to send their children to school. Also, there were few high schools in the vicinity to speak of. We went to a primary school and saw many little kids. They had really rosy cheeks. One girl in particular caught my attention. She wore a short sleeved t-shirt and looked really cold. Her skin looked really dry.
I was touched by how warm the people were. Whenever we passed by a house, people would welcome us into their homes. When I visited one of the students’ homes, the grandmother took a handful of sweets and pushed them into my hands. As for the students, they were so appreciative and warm. One student made two lilies for me using origami, and another student gave me a rabbit soft toy that she had kept with her since young.
One of the memories always etched in my mind is this scene. We held a cultural day where we cooked Singaporean food for the students. We had satay, chicken curry, agar agar, chin teng, vegetables and bak kut teh. The food was polished up within minutes of it being displayed. The queue for satay was very long, and one of the students I interacted with had been queuing for about 20 minutes. When it came to her turn, she looked to me, and wanted to pass her satay to me. She remarked, “Sister, I give you my satay, cos you have not had food yet.” I was very touched by her gesture. I cannot imagine a Singaporean Youth doing that.
We had a wonderful time singing and performing for the students. We sang “guan huai fang shi”, “jia” and feliz navidad. It was great. The students also taught us to dance their cultural dances.
One of the nights, we stayed up to look at meteor showers. There were shooting stars, we saw several of them, and I think I saw 13 of them. The stars reminded me of the Abrahamic covenant (Psalms 8:3). Who made the stars but God!!
God loves His people very much. He created each one of us unique and special. The trip created in me a desire to go on a mission trip. To share with people about God’s love.
Many a times, we have fixed notions or prejudices against people, and we assume that people of a certain culture behave in a certain way. These prejudices can be far from the truth. The only way to find out is to go there and experience life. Make no mistake about it, the people in Mizhi are not to be sympathised with. They are rich in their soul and rich in culture, and there are things that they know, that we Singaporeans do not. They are independent, and they learn to treasure and appreciate the fine things of life. They are sufficient and happy. There is also something that links us together. Despite our difference in culture and upbringing, humans when faced with adversity react in the same way. Every one of us are created with dreams and a longing for something greater, until with a God- given purpose in life.
I will miss Mizhi dearly. I seem to want to stay there forever to watch the shooting stars, to walk the streets, to shop in the mama shop, to sing in the youth centre, to dance in the basket ball court, to curl in my sleeping bag, to sing in a group and huddle, to huddle in front of the heater, and to use the stinky toilet. The roads, filled with pigs running, little dogs that bark but don't bite.
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