Student comments 2013#

Although students had found it tough adapting to the living conditions, the experience of meeting new people and making new friends made the trip a great success. Here are some comments by students at the end of the trip.

Here I was, coming from a privileged background in Hong Kong but staying in a rundown hotel which was still much better than the average Baiwan home. I felt ashamed of how if local residents were staying in my hotel how thankful they would be for shelter and how I could only complain. In this week in Baiwan, I really learnt how to think of the less fortunate, and how to be thankful for what I have.

When you start to give out sweets or snacks to the kids, they smile widely at you and are so happy to get just one treat, it just gives you the feel of annoyance of why these kids are not studying in some great, good quality schools. I have had so much fun with the kids during the week. From just the week of teaching, I feel as though the key to teaching is not to shout or get angry with them, but to have patience with them.

My first impression of Baiwan is the flies, mosquitoes and spiders. However, I can’t believe that I actually got used to them after living them for 5 days. I stopped moaning and complaining about the smelly toilets and noisy conditions, dogs in the early morning. I decided to enjoy all the good things of this trip, making new friends, looking at millions of stars at night and most importantly, learning new things by challenging myself. I forced myself to speak loudly in front of the crowd, deal with difficult students and be motivated. Baiwan is a place worth going to. I will never regret going there.

Although the students in Baiwan do not receive proper education, just by meeting new teachers from abroad puts a smile on their faces. During one short hour regardless of the content, our presence as teachers and sharing of our knowledge has a special place in their hearts. Feeing the joy in the atmosphere makes me realize our importance to the students and pushes me to raise my teaching skills. Staring up at the magnificent sky at night dotted with sparkling stars, I realized that no matter where we are on Earth, all children strive for a good education, and this is heavily relied on teachers.

We aren’t so different after all. People in Baiwan need opportunities. It’s so easy to despair. There are no job opportunities at all in Baiwan. Year after year people leave like locusts after ripen jobs in the city. Last year, 7 teachers left for jobs in bigger, richer villages and cities. Those who can leave, do. But what kind of replacement are we? We may be native English speakers, but that doesn’t make us qualified, nor particularly dedicated teachers. I regret not having planned lessons properly at first. I underestimated how hard it would be to teach a class, even for just forty minutes, and I underestimated how much the children actually needed us. Or rather, qualified teachers who can help this generation break out of this cycle of poverty and help Baiwan prosper.