six years ago in Xi'an
"You buy flower. 3 kuai," murmured the little boy.
He thrust his tiny rose clenching fist into mine and weakly tried to persuade me to give him the equivalent of 20 American cents.
I cried the entire way home. I was fourteen and had never seen poverty firsthand, much less from a little boy that should have already been safely tucked away in bed. How could this be happening? What kind of a world forces five year olds to beg on the streets?
Looking back, this was a turning point in my life. In this exact moment, I had my first bout of that desperate "I need to save the world!" feeling. But how are you supposed to save the world at 14? I was just a kid from the magical land of milk and honey that is suburban Southern California. I wanted to find some way to help...to help anyone and everything, just as long as I was doing something to make a difference, no matter how big or small. Though not from the wealthiest of families, compared to people in more than half of the world, I've had a pretty privileged life free from want of necessities such as money or food. I've been given so many opportunities, I wanted to find a way to give back. From that first week in China on I actively sought ways to volunteer. I figured, hey, I have time and, in a way it can help me actually fulfill my desire to, you know, save the world and stuff--bit by bit.
I think this little experience was one of the many reasons why I chose China to study abroad. I wanted to see if the situation with the impoverished had changed, and see if I could do something to help. Of course, things are pretty much exactly the same when it comes to the poverty line. You can't spend a night out at the foreigner bars without a kid trying to swipe your wallet. Unfotunately thoug,rather than making me sad, seeing these kids hustle on the streets now makes me angry. They've lost their innocence and are never going to have a childhood. It's not fair! Everyone needs some sort of "happy place" that they can revisit later on down the line when the reality of life weighs you down. It helps retain our humanity and prevents us from turning into hardened, empty shells. These poor kids...they're only eight or five or ten and they've never had and never will have a chance to just be a kid. Most likely they have some gangster boss that beats them if they don't get a certain amount of money everyday. I wonder if they cry about their conditions, or if they're so far past it they can't even fake cry. When they steal, do they feel it's wrong? Do they feel guilty? Will they ever? Will they end up moving on to more serious crimes and still not care? Either way, most of them are headed for lives of misery--whether they're inflicting it on others or if they're experiencing it themselves.
Anyways, one day I was walking back from lunch during the club rush week and saw a club that had pictures of cute little kids all around. From my limited knowledge of Chinese I gathered that it was a teaching club for underprivileged kids, which was exactly the type of thing I wanted to help out in.
susan and me with our best student. Thank goodness Susan started coming to help me translate! haha it's hard enough to be a teacher but even harder when you're Chinese isn't that good!
Sigh...My time with my wonderful little teaching English club is over though. Every Saturday morning we met at 8:30am(even after late night partying) to take the hour long ride on the crowded public buses to Lai Guang Ying, a town on the outskirts of Beijing, to teach migrant worker's children our extremely complicated language.
The other teachers were all Chinese students from BNU. They were all so sweet and down to earth, and they were genuinely interested in talking to me, Susan and Darren about anything from the background of the students to movies to chinese culture. Their English is much better than my Chinese, so we mostly converse in English. I learned so much from them, and I loved being a part of a group of people with the same passion for helping others. Being part of a school club also made me feel more connected to the on campus community (it's sometimes hard to find Chinese students to interact with because they don't even let them walk into our residence halls!)
after we get off the bus we trek through the unpaved, dusty roads to the school they call the "Love and Hope center" that is geared toward encouraging at risk youth to hone different trade skills.
The school grounds
Here I am teaching. I was kinda too drunk the night before to make cards for "I use a" and "to" lol.
they're soooo cute!
Each teacher has a few students. Even though I don't have that many, some of the boys are so crazy that it feels like I'm trying to teach a hundred of em!
Anyways, for a few months we were doing one hour of lessons and then an hour of culture, and I taught about America. It was hard but cool to see the kids react in awe at some of the pictures
on a break
The school and the teachers and some high school kids from the International school of Beijing.
They provide us with homecooked lunch! Apparently, in China, in primary school they bring the food to you and you eat in the classroom!
Usually after lunch we hang out, play ping pong or basketball or just chat, and then we chat some more on the bus ride back. For some reason we talk more Chinese on the way back than on the way there lol. We don't get back til late in the afternoon, but I think that it's time well spent. Volunteering here gives me that same excited, happy feeling I get when I'm off adventuring like an explora.
I treated them out to dinner at a nice Sichuan restaraunt because a bunch of them are from there. (I love Sichuan food because it's SPICY!)
They gave me this gorgeous porcelain bowl and another volunteer gave me a bunch of intricate paper cuts! They also sat me at the seat of honor and I was served first for everything. Man, I sure am gonna miss Chinese hospitality.
I wonder though...am I really making that much of a difference here? Maybe, maybe not. But maybe, just maybe, something I teach them will help them somewhere down the line, whether it be finding a better job because they know a few phrases of English or making a new English speaking friend. And if nothing comes of it, well, at least I had a good time getting to know the kids and the other teachers. This experience definitely was one of my most important ones in better understanding more facets of Chinese society, and I'm glad that I can finally do something for those kids that might end up on the streets.
He thrust his tiny rose clenching fist into mine and weakly tried to persuade me to give him the equivalent of 20 American cents.
I cried the entire way home. I was fourteen and had never seen poverty firsthand, much less from a little boy that should have already been safely tucked away in bed. How could this be happening? What kind of a world forces five year olds to beg on the streets?
Looking back, this was a turning point in my life. In this exact moment, I had my first bout of that desperate "I need to save the world!" feeling. But how are you supposed to save the world at 14? I was just a kid from the magical land of milk and honey that is suburban Southern California. I wanted to find some way to help...to help anyone and everything, just as long as I was doing something to make a difference, no matter how big or small. Though not from the wealthiest of families, compared to people in more than half of the world, I've had a pretty privileged life free from want of necessities such as money or food. I've been given so many opportunities, I wanted to find a way to give back. From that first week in China on I actively sought ways to volunteer. I figured, hey, I have time and, in a way it can help me actually fulfill my desire to, you know, save the world and stuff--bit by bit.
I think this little experience was one of the many reasons why I chose China to study abroad. I wanted to see if the situation with the impoverished had changed, and see if I could do something to help. Of course, things are pretty much exactly the same when it comes to the poverty line. You can't spend a night out at the foreigner bars without a kid trying to swipe your wallet. Unfotunately thoug,rather than making me sad, seeing these kids hustle on the streets now makes me angry. They've lost their innocence and are never going to have a childhood. It's not fair! Everyone needs some sort of "happy place" that they can revisit later on down the line when the reality of life weighs you down. It helps retain our humanity and prevents us from turning into hardened, empty shells. These poor kids...they're only eight or five or ten and they've never had and never will have a chance to just be a kid. Most likely they have some gangster boss that beats them if they don't get a certain amount of money everyday. I wonder if they cry about their conditions, or if they're so far past it they can't even fake cry. When they steal, do they feel it's wrong? Do they feel guilty? Will they ever? Will they end up moving on to more serious crimes and still not care? Either way, most of them are headed for lives of misery--whether they're inflicting it on others or if they're experiencing it themselves.
Anyways, one day I was walking back from lunch during the club rush week and saw a club that had pictures of cute little kids all around. From my limited knowledge of Chinese I gathered that it was a teaching club for underprivileged kids, which was exactly the type of thing I wanted to help out in.
susan and me with our best student. Thank goodness Susan started coming to help me translate! haha it's hard enough to be a teacher but even harder when you're Chinese isn't that good!
Sigh...My time with my wonderful little teaching English club is over though. Every Saturday morning we met at 8:30am(even after late night partying) to take the hour long ride on the crowded public buses to Lai Guang Ying, a town on the outskirts of Beijing, to teach migrant worker's children our extremely complicated language.
The other teachers were all Chinese students from BNU. They were all so sweet and down to earth, and they were genuinely interested in talking to me, Susan and Darren about anything from the background of the students to movies to chinese culture. Their English is much better than my Chinese, so we mostly converse in English. I learned so much from them, and I loved being a part of a group of people with the same passion for helping others. Being part of a school club also made me feel more connected to the on campus community (it's sometimes hard to find Chinese students to interact with because they don't even let them walk into our residence halls!)
after we get off the bus we trek through the unpaved, dusty roads to the school they call the "Love and Hope center" that is geared toward encouraging at risk youth to hone different trade skills.
The school grounds
Here I am teaching. I was kinda too drunk the night before to make cards for "I use a" and "to" lol.
they're soooo cute!
Each teacher has a few students. Even though I don't have that many, some of the boys are so crazy that it feels like I'm trying to teach a hundred of em!
Anyways, for a few months we were doing one hour of lessons and then an hour of culture, and I taught about America. It was hard but cool to see the kids react in awe at some of the pictures
on a break
The school and the teachers and some high school kids from the International school of Beijing.
They provide us with homecooked lunch! Apparently, in China, in primary school they bring the food to you and you eat in the classroom!
Usually after lunch we hang out, play ping pong or basketball or just chat, and then we chat some more on the bus ride back. For some reason we talk more Chinese on the way back than on the way there lol. We don't get back til late in the afternoon, but I think that it's time well spent. Volunteering here gives me that same excited, happy feeling I get when I'm off adventuring like an explora.
I treated them out to dinner at a nice Sichuan restaraunt because a bunch of them are from there. (I love Sichuan food because it's SPICY!)
They gave me this gorgeous porcelain bowl and another volunteer gave me a bunch of intricate paper cuts! They also sat me at the seat of honor and I was served first for everything. Man, I sure am gonna miss Chinese hospitality.
I wonder though...am I really making that much of a difference here? Maybe, maybe not. But maybe, just maybe, something I teach them will help them somewhere down the line, whether it be finding a better job because they know a few phrases of English or making a new English speaking friend. And if nothing comes of it, well, at least I had a good time getting to know the kids and the other teachers. This experience definitely was one of my most important ones in better understanding more facets of Chinese society, and I'm glad that I can finally do something for those kids that might end up on the streets.