Spicy fish heads, with fried rice and some other vegetable dishes was on the lunch menu today. The fish actually tasted very nice, although I couldn’t eat too much of it.
Today I had the privilege of bearing gifts made possible by The Salvation Army Missionary Fellowship (Auckland) and a family in Australia. With their US$300 I was able to buy sports equipment and pens for the Beiguan Primary School in Xinghe. The school caters for children of the immigrants and locals; there are about 635 students in what most of us would consider pretty awful circumstances. But today, after they had participated in their morning exercises they received soccer and basket balls, badminton equipment, skipping ropes, Chinese chess sets, hacky sacks and hoola hoops – and a new biro each. Needless to say they were very excited, and the chaos was wonderful for me, not so much for the teachers.
The school visit was the highlight of an otherwise exhausting day of visiting local government departments and stakeholders. Drinking copious amounts of Chinese tea, and working through two translators gets tiring after a while.
To bring life into perspective a little we had the opportunity of visiting a few families in their ‘homes’ and again being treated generously to tea and their stories. Most of the people were forcibly removed from the ancestral lands in the mountains and relocated here for their benefit. Now, in a region they don’t know, unable to participate in the lifestyle they have known all their lives, unable to be self sufficient they do life tough. Stripped of their self-respect and their self worth the immigrants now battle to make sense of their lives – and yet strive hard to establish normality for their children and their elders.
Having the opportunity to walk with these people for this short time is both a privilege and a burden. There has to be more we can do for the millions who exist in poverty – but what little we can do – let’s do with excellence.
Tonight we’ve been invited out to dinner with one of the Government officials, so the white guy is on show again – watch him struggle with his chopsticks, and force the local delicacies on him. I have a feeling that I’m in for an interesting night.
Today I had the privilege of bearing gifts made possible by The Salvation Army Missionary Fellowship (Auckland) and a family in Australia. With their US$300 I was able to buy sports equipment and pens for the Beiguan Primary School in Xinghe. The school caters for children of the immigrants and locals; there are about 635 students in what most of us would consider pretty awful circumstances. But today, after they had participated in their morning exercises they received soccer and basket balls, badminton equipment, skipping ropes, Chinese chess sets, hacky sacks and hoola hoops – and a new biro each. Needless to say they were very excited, and the chaos was wonderful for me, not so much for the teachers.The school visit was the highlight of an otherwise exhausting day of visiting local government departments and stakeholders. Drinking copious amounts of Chinese tea, and working through two translators gets tiring after a while.
To bring life into perspective a little we had the opportunity of visiting a few families in their ‘homes’ and again being treated generously to tea and their stories. Most of the people were forcibly removed from the ancestral lands in the mountains and relocated here for their benefit. Now, in a region they don’t know, unable to participate in the lifestyle they have known all their lives, unable to be self sufficient they do life tough. Stripped of their self-respect and their self worth the immigrants now battle to make sense of their lives – and yet strive hard to establish normality for their children and their elders.
Having the opportunity to walk with these people for this short time is both a privilege and a burden. There has to be more we can do for the millions who exist in poverty – but what little we can do – let’s do with excellence.Tonight we’ve been invited out to dinner with one of the Government officials, so the white guy is on show again – watch him struggle with his chopsticks, and force the local delicacies on him. I have a feeling that I’m in for an interesting night.
