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Middle School Made a Charity Trip to Pudong Lian Ying Primary School

November 22, 2016

Middle School Made a Charity Trip to Pudong Lian Ying Primary School

On November 10th, the students that made the most money in the Charity Fair went on a service learning trip to a local primary school which was to receive our donations. Their trip to the school was ordinary at first as everyone chatted or looked at their phones. However, as they approached their destination, the roads around slowly altered and the students began to notice a change. It began with a casual remark of how there were big malls on one side, and dilapidated shacks on the other, but soon all sights of modern and advanced technology melted away as small, tumbling houses came spreading into view. They looked as if hastily pieced together, fragile, and as the primary school entered the students’ view a silence fell upon them. Mounds of debris were piled upon the sides of the roads, with people working among them. The bus came upon a small local primary school gate. It was situated right next to a field of similar debris.

The school was built as a square, formed around a center courtyard. There was one mediocre sized platform at the very front of the courtyard, a courtyard which also served as playground and assembly place. There were no separate buildings in this school as a low chain wrapped and winded its way three sides around the courtyard. Children from grades one to five walked here and there. They had the green and red local trademark scarves tied around their necks.

The SHSID service learning team entered the right side of the long chain around the courtyard, and walking up a single flight of stairs were in the topmost hallway, and then were lead into a room similar to that of a conference area. The students were seated as Mr. Ni began to talk with the principal of the school. A short while later recess came on and the students flooded out of their classrooms into the single courtyard. An entire school began to play together, everyone running and chasing each other. No one was left out. There were friendly pushes here and there, and plenty of people laughing.

Soon the formal ceremony began. Each student was assigned to stand on a dot on the ground. They had to stand in the cold listening as students and teachers of our school came onto the platform and gave out our donations. There were scarves and clothes for the children, and two computers were given to the school as a whole.

After the assembly the students went back to their own classrooms. In them activities were taking place. They were making handcrafts while listening to us tell stories. The girls sewed, and some boys were given plastic bottles to make their own water containers. Students of SHSID passed out materials and made sure they all had exactly what they wanted to make the best they could. While the children talked loudly, their voices rising in the cold air, stories were read out loud; there were funny stories, mystery stories, scientific stories. Among each of the students their personalities all shone through. There were children with obvious leadership qualities, children with smiles that were those rare ones belonging to the group of smiles that can light up days, and children that listened with an acute silence that could sense all.

The end came too soon. As four o’clock approached, the students of SHSID began to leave and bid their goodbyes to the boys and girls they got to see so much of but not enough in a matter of only a several hours. I believe I speak for everyone in the trip that we wish to go back to meet these children again.

(Written by 8(9) Yilan Picture by Ni Minxue Supervised by Zhu Lei)