Our Three-week Adventure in Xi'an

In April, we spent three weeks in Xi’an, China, teaching conversational English. David and the rest of the group were at Goa Xin No. 2 School, a new (2006) facility with 1,200 students in grades 1-9. English instruction begins in grade 1, so after a few years the students are fairly proficient in reading and writing, but have much less experience speaking and listening. For the students and most of the teachers, this was their first interaction with native English speakers. Classes are large, 45 or more. Group chanting and singing are standard activities. Having a regular teachers in the classroom helped greatly with translation and, occasionally, discipline.

David’s routine was to introduce himself with his English and Chinese (Da Wei) names, using a map and photos to locate Brockport and illustrate words like “canal,” “bridge,” and “boat.” This was followed by whatever useful could be found in their text books and questions from the students: “Do you like Chinese food?” and the like. Halls and classrooms are adorned with portraits of Confucius, Marx, Mao, Edison, and Einstein—an improbable assortment. Midmorning the students are lined up outside for half and hour’s exercises done in unison. Midafternoon, there is a five-minute break for the students massaging their eyes--traditional medicine.

For the first two weeks Peggy (Ke Jing) was at La La Shou Special Education Center, a small (60 students) private school. The Chinese government does nothing for autistic or otherwise several handicapped students, so two mothers created this school. Peggy worked with six students, a teacher, and an aid or two.

One Sunday, we attended the Dong Da Jie (East St.) Christian Church, located within the medieval City Wall. The 10:00 a.m. service was the third of three. The sanctuary seats about 400 on wooden benches, with two overflow areas for another 150 or so. The service was in Chinese, but the structure was familiar. There were hymns with familiar melodies such as “This is My Father’s World,” a unison Scripture reading, litanies with frequent “Amens,” a long sermon, and a benediction. The congregation brought their own Bibles and hymnals (words only). A collection box in the courtyard replaced a collection during the service. A couple of people helped us with translation as we introduced ourselves to the pastor after the service. The experience was more than worth our while.

Our Team Leader, Hu Di, belongs to the Nan Jiao (South Suburb) Christian Church. It has a membership of about 800, adds an average of ten new members a week. Services are held in a rented hotel dinning room. The congregation is divided into groups of about 25, which meet weekly for Bible study and prayer.

Of course there was time for sightseeing. In addition to the famous Terra Cotta Warriors (before 220 BC), we visited the Provincial History Museum, the beautiful Famen Si Buddhist Temple (147 AD), the Taoist Temple of the Eight Immortals, and the Great Wild Goose Pagoda (648 AD). We did not get into the Great Mosque (9th cent.), home of Xi’an’ substantial Muslim community. Finally, thanks to the Trustees for a grant from the Tooley Fund which defrayed some of our expenses!
- David and Peggy Hale, China Volunteers

The End of a Village Adventure

Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday I was writing the first journal entry, now we only have six classes remaining.

The morning mist burned off by noon so we enjoyed a beautiful day. We were all thrilled because an afternoon walk was scheduled, but more on that later. The morning activity in all of our classes was the same - speech presentations, then the students then selected the three speakers they thought presented the best speeches. These speeches will be presented to the entire group on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

We had a team meeting at our noon meal. Several issues were discussed, the most important being how we are doing on our “Team Goals”. We all made comments concerning each goal and how we felt we were doing. When we got to the list of items that make an effective team, it was noted that we are lacking in the area of “timeliness”. Baoli refreshed our memories as to the times of meals in the hopes that we will be better able to accomplish this.

The afternoon walk was enjoyed by all. We walked to the old Taoist/Buddhist Temples that are in caves close to a nearby village. We experienced a beautiful Spring day with blooming fields, flowers and trees. There are several caves in the area of the temple, so many students and Global Volunteers explored the area and there were numerous photo ops! Almost everyone walked a little farther down the hill and were one is able to overlook the Wei River Valley. Since time was short we were not able to go all the way to the terrace below. Before and after the afternoon walk, Ginnie, Nan, Steve and Marta met with their students who wanted extra help with their speech presentation.

At dinner Baoli posted a schedule for the teachers concerning the rotation of students to different classes for the next four days. This change will give us a chance to meet and talk with all of the students and the other way around. In addition we talked about our options for our weekend activities, but were unable to reach any conclusions before we had to leave for the auditorium were we met with the students at 7:30 P.M... Mr. An-Wei gave an excellent and moving presentation with photographs on the life and accomplishments of Helen Foster Snow, and how she influenced his life. For the first time since we have been here, the sky and moon were bright enough so we did not need a flashlight to walk home. Maybe we will have sun again tomorrow!

Respectfully submitted by: Marta Wallace, An Shang Team 160 (Read more about this team's experiences here)

Chinese Teachers Say "Thanks"

Dear friends, Global Volunteers and my fellow teachers:

Another team has ended and we must say good bye. First of all, I’d like to say that I’m very lucky to get the chance to represent my fellow teachers to express our heartfelt gratitude to Global Volunteers, our honored guests. We’ve got a thousand thanks to you. But for the time’s sake, I can name only some of them. Thanks for your hard work! Thanks for your dedications! Thanks for your perseverance in work though not feeling well. Thanks for your help to us! Thanks for your well-prepared classes and speeches both to us and to the senior school students! And thanks for the wonderful time you brought us! Actually, we all feel very sorry that the time passes so quickly and we have to say goodbye to each other. How we wish time could go back so that we might learn more from you.

During our time with you, we have benefited a lot from exchanging ideas on the bilateral cultures, customs, educations and some other interesting topics. You even brought in idioms, jokes, games and songs to the class that really made us feel interested and relaxed, and what’s more, made us more like a family than a class. Most important of all, we also shared our opinions on how to motivate our students to work hard at English and on many different kinds of classroom activities and games. These in all drives us to think "outside the box" of how to learn a language and how to teach a language.

Meanwhile, I hope that, in the past three weeks, we have all done our part and have helped you know more about China. China is a fast developing country and Haikou is a nice city. I hope Global Volunteers have enjoyed their trip here and we welcome future volunteers to Haikou again. We are looking forward to meeting you again and you are always welcomed here. Let us be forever friends.

Finally, I’d like to, on behalf of my fellow teachers, send our best wishes to Global Volunteers:
May you have enough happiness to keep you sweet;
enough hope to keep you happy;
enough success to keep you eager;
enough friends to give you comfort;
enough wealth to meet your needs;
enough enthusiasm to look forward;
enough faith to banish depression;
enough determination to make each day better than yesterday!

Respectfully, "Connie"
Farewell Party of Global Volunteers Team 157 Hainan Island, China

Waging Peace in Ghana

I’m retired from advertising and am now more involved in philanthropy. Having experienced a true “grass roots” program through Global Volunteers, I believe my giving will now always be with my own personal engagement in a locale.

The ethics of the program largely dictate how sustainable it will be, so I plan to further experience Global Volunteers and help to expand its efforts.

Global Volunteers makes very accessible, in terms of time, money and logistics, a way for individuals to come into very close contact…and almost instantly break down the barriers created by lack of understanding and fear.

There can really be no peace without understanding. What we don’t understand, we tend to fear. The reaction to fear is to create distance from that which we fear. But, by coming to understand the things we share in common, with others, we can learn to emphasize our common values and our common goals. Thereby, we minimize those differences which have defined our relationship.

This seems especially true of Americans in relation to Africa. It’s the same as the way many Americans view New York City. Reports of evil, crime, corruption and violence are greatly exaggerated and thus keep people away. Only by word-of-mouth reports from those we trust can we mobilize even greater numbers of ambassadors for peace.

-Nancy Vick, Ghana volunteer