Comments from students volunteering in classrooms:

“I didn’t expect much as I thought I was only there to help-out the teachers. I learned that it was difficult trying to get the shy kids to talk as some were afraid of asking for help with their assignment. I never realized this growing up in school and how it makes it difficult for both the student and the teacher when it comes to getting help. One of the issues I had for today was dealing with two kids who were arguing/yelling at each other. I had to separate them and it made me realize that their silly issues that they fight over could mean the world to them, while the issues that high school students fight over could be very insignificant, in hindsight…… I didn’t think I would enjoy volunteering this much and I’m glad to have taken it as my experience week.”

“Seeing the classes from a different perspective now has finally allowed me to fully understand why it was such a struggle for me in primary school. There is not one student that is the same. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses …”

“In the last hour (of the day) they were making paper airplane, (from written instructions), to help them learn “procedure”. I was really surprised by this kind of teaching, because when I was a kid I was not allowed to making paper airplane and fly them everywhere. See how different cultures that teaching kids in various way to learn, maybe it is a good way to teach them to learn and make it more interesting.”

Comments from students volunteering outside TIS:

“Our trip for the third day was different, we went to the Municipal Park in Mong Ha where we learned how to plant and take good care of plants or crops. In the afternoon, we went to the Caritas Macau which was also nearby and we saw the various things that were sent by citizens for charity. For today, we learnt various ways of hard work and what the benefits will be in the end. We also learnt that unity is the best way to get things done and in a short amount of time, as well as taking care of our things, especially the environment.” (Aitana)

 

“This afternoon we went to a warehouse in Macau, it is where the Caritas workers store all the clothes, toys, and ornament that was from the wealthy people’s extra, old and clothes they don’t use it anymore and donated to the Macau Caritas workers and they would rearrange it and sale it in a very cheap price as a second handed product to people who needs it more. The warehouse was quite big and and a lot of stuff was stored in rooms. Our job today was to classify these heavy burlap of clothes that came from other places. First, we dump all the clothes together into one pile and then we separate the winter clothes and summer clothes. It was tough work, those clothes were actually heavy, and some of the clothes were hard to define whether if should be winter clothing or summer clothing. Next we take out the suits and put them in one bag and the dresses in another, them the jacket, shirts and pants. Last we carry the heavy bags back to the storage room and continue working. After having the bathroom break we sit down and listen to leader of the Macau Caritas and share her thoughts and I think the passion for those workers to help the people who is needed was very touching, even though there were a lot of work for them, cleaning, folding, and carrying but they still keep their hearts together to help who is needed.” (James)