My personal experience in the "support education" activity - Li Ruiqi

I got the friendship of my teammates. To say it more accurately, our affection is as if we were a family. From July 14 to July 31, 2015, 15 peers, colleagues, friends, comrades in arms, become even more like a family. Seeing each other's hazy and sleeping eyes after waking up, seeing each other's dirty look of our greasy hair, seeing each other's different eating habits, seeing each other's most authentic aspect of our daily lives, we can really call ourselves "a family" because of all these reasons. We will never forget our amazement when we saw the ink-like sky and the ornament in the mountains during our trip from Kunming to Kaiyuan, the typical houses like dots in the middle of the fields. We will never forget the tomato and egg noodles with gravy we had in our first dinner, simple but delicious, warm, that was our company at the sunset, or the full of confidence chef surrounded by many smaller apprentices. We will never forget the long road we had to walk in our family visits accompanied by the small children, or the heavy heart we had on the way. We will never forget we couldn't sleep because of the heat and mosquito or other insect's bites. We will never forget the daily classes, or the serious and happy environment in preparation of classes we had in the office late at night. We will never forget our truth or dare in the last night we were together, our night conversations under the stars... We had our problems, but fortunately, the outcome is so beautiful.

I was able to get the children's mind. From the strange and a little fearful look of the children during the first class, to the hugs and dismay look of the children at our departure on the last day, in the course of 15 days of being together we have come from the strangers, to get to know each other better gradually, to be able to leave a warm memory in the minds of each other. Sometimes, after lunch, the children would come to me to ask me if I had my lunch already, what did I eat, and then talk about anything. Sometimes, after the school in the afternoon, some kids would stay in the classroom to talk to us or to play with us. Sometimes, in the morning before school, would start chatting with me about what places are the most fun around the coal mine, and ask us to arrange a trip in the weekend to experience the good things of Meitan. To get the mind of a person is a very happy thing, to get the mind of a group of children is much more so. I also got a lot of sentiments. During the time of the "support education" activity, I slowly understood that to sacrifice yourself can also be very sweet. After lunch and also after dinner in the evenings, I used to spend several ours correcting the children's essays and writing some sentences to every one of them to encourage them. After the calligraphy classes finished, I also spent two or three hours every day during three days to write on rice paper and using the brush some words of blessing to every student attending the calligraphy class. It was very tiring, but, looking at the happy eyes of the children, I also felt joy, happiness and sweetness. Slowly, I came to understand that poverty is not excuse for being left behind. The first time we visited the families, we went to visit 3 families and I could see the survival of this group of people living in the periphery of progress. The houses were old and worn out. Around them, there was a strong smell of the pigsty. Not far away, you could see some high rise buildings. They look so near, but they are so far away from them. But this doesn't seem to affect the children of those families. They still work so hard at school, they still get good grades at school, they still can smile so brightly. I slowly came to understand that hardship can also be some sort of pleasure. It is a bit tough to live in a classroom in a makeshift tent, kitchen and basin and to bath yourself in cold water, and to be in a classroom full of mosquitos, but the smiles and voices of the children during the day and the jokes of the teachers when we were together at night, makes me thing that this seemingly tough life has become also a kind of enjoyment. Every day we are hoping for tomorrow, but at the same time hoping that tomorrow never comes so we can face our departure later.

"I will firmly remember your face, I will cherish your love, these days will never be erased from my mind. I can’t promise you I will come back. Don't look back, don't look back when you are leaving". But the "support education" activity doesn't seem to have ended. The children keep calling my mobile phone, so the time seems to have stopped, their messages keep bring me their news, so the time seems to have stopped in yesterday... This July is bound to be a memorable memory. In this half a month, from 14 to 31, I went to a certain place, meet some people and experience many beautiful and moving memories.