Funny how we’re all members of the same human race, but dealt such different cards at birth.
Although the name of this trip –OCIP Jinan– seems to suggest that we’re there for community work, it has been much more than that for me. For one, I’m grateful for this chance to get closer to the culture and people of a nation at ground level, something a family holiday would be unable to offer. I daresay I have received much more than I have given, in intangible little ways like the broadening of mindset.
There have been many once-in-a-lifetime experiences like constructing a basketball court, (gosh how many citykids can claim they have mixed cement with a shovel before?), teaching English to an overwhemingly enthusiastic class of 70 students and visiting the unassuming home of the village chief. Along the way, we all gained in knowledge beyond what academic books can offer, and probably grew a little wiser somehow, in someway, though we may not be conscious of it.
I went into this trip with preconceived notions of many things, embarassingly. I always thought the mannerisms of the Chinese as brash, uncouth and hostile. Incessant honking by drivers on the roads only compounded that mental label I had. It is only upon getting to know the people at ground level that I realised it is merely a way of life they’re been brought up with, that they can be a warm and civilised people too, if we learn to understand and accept the differences in culture. Just like how some races eat with their hands and others with cutlery but are both civilised people, it is merely a matter of how we define and perceive things.
When time has past and memories become faint, I think what I will remember will not be the program of our trip but random little things like the endless mantous we ate, grit and zeal for learning of the Chinese students, along with the peals of laughter from a bunch of strangers turned friends on this trip. There have been tiring moments, amusing ones, heartwarming ones — in short, memories to last a lifetime.
Meijiao
Before the trip, I expected OCIP Jinan to be a valuable learning experience in terms of independence, organization skills, and reaching out to the less fortunate - more or less like any other community involvement project. However, it was certainly much more than any ordinary CIP I have ever done.
Firstly, the planning of the project taught us to be more self-reliant, and pushed our time-management skills to the limit, as we had to contend with our end-of-year examinations at the same time. Fortunately we worked together well within our sub-committees and also as a collective team. This also marked the beginning of the great bonds of friendship that were forged among us by the end of the trip..
Then came the actual trip to Jinan, China. While our itinerary for the first few days was relaxing enough to be mistaken for a holiday, the rest of the trip was rather more exciting and exhausting. Gone were the 30-dish restaurant meals and sightseeing. In place came stones, sand, cement, and construction work we lucky Singaporean kids would otherwise never have been exposed to. Ever. We were forced out of our comfort zones and toiled as hard as we could to complete the basketball courts we set out to build. After days of hard work (not to mention much help from the school’s teachers and students), I am immensely glad to say that we not only completed the basketball courts, we also learnt teamwork, patience, and learnt to appreciate our teammates’ efforts more.
This trip also exposed us to the locals’ lives, and made us more aware of how fortunate we are in Singapore, and also highlighted our faults. I think we all have matured and grown. A big THANK YOU to Ms Liew, Mrs Chua and Mr Nah, Peter, Clarke, Ms Torre, Life Link International, and to all others whom I have forgotten to mention, for the bonds formed, lasting friendships made and memories collected..
Anyone familiar with the old song “Time in a Bottle”? Well, if I could keep time in a bottle, OCIP Jinan would definitely be one of those memories I would like to keep forever.
Qi Yu