The Humanities and Science Expedition Team of China Agricultural University's Fengyun Society conducted a six-day summer camp teaching volunteer program in Qiekang Village, Longzi County, Shannan City from August 9 to August 14.
During the teaching period, the team members and the children formed a bond as both teachers and friends, and many interesting and touching stories took place both in and out of the classroom.
“Teacher, you’re not tired.” “I am.”
On the basketball court in the yard, Teacher Xuanxuan was playing with the first and second graders. The kids wanted the teacher to carry them on their back or spin them around. Teacher Xuanxuan hadn’t yet fully adapted to the thin air at high altitude, and after a while, she was already a bit out of breath. But seeing the expectant look in the children’s eyes, she carried them again and again. Before class, one child ran over and asked Teacher Xuanxuan to crouch down. The teacher thought the child wanted to be carried and braced herself for his weight, ready to support him with her hands—but instead of that weight, she felt small hands gently pinch her shoulders. The child didn’t have much strength in his hands, but Teacher Xuanxuan felt all her fatigue vanish in that moment. “Teacher, you’re not tired. Go back to class quickly.” “Tired.” The child, who couldn’t yet speak Chinese fluently, expressed his love for the teacher this way.
“Take Mom on a trip.”
In the third and fourth grade classroom, a lesson called “My Lifeline” was underway. The teacher guided the children to divide their lives into several stages, writing down what they wanted to do in each stage and what goals they wanted to achieve at each point in time. One child wrote “keep drawing,” “keep drawing hard,” and “draw 100 paintings” for ages 18, 30, and 50 respectively, and for age 65, he wrote “sell the paintings to make money.” Was the dream of drawing just to make money? No—the teacher saw, written after “make money,” the words “take Mom on a trip.” It turned out that the child’s father had passed away when he was very young, and it had always been his mother raising him. Hoping to use his own dreams to make his mother happy—that was the most beautiful thing about this little child.
“Teacher, take the shortcut.”
During an orienteering race organized by the teachers for the fifth and sixth graders, to prevent injuries, two teachers accompanied each group. But at high altitude, the teachers’ stamina was far inferior to that of these teenagers. One child noticed the teachers struggling to catch their breath and ran over to say, “Teacher, take the shortcut. You can get to the next point from there. We’ll finish this point and come find you.” One teacher later recalled, “We were supposed to be taking care of them, but it ended up the other way around.”
The age gap between the team members and the children wasn’t very big. “They call me teacher, but more often than not, I see them as my younger brothers and sisters—ones I care for and guide.”
“I hope they have a future they truly want.”
“There’s light in their eyes, and I hope that light never fades.”
Several team members said this after the teaching program ended.