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After the 2007 Summer Volunteer Program ended, volunteer Jikky Lam stayed in China to conduct a half-year research internship with RCEF. Her job was to evaluate the Summer Volunteer Program by returning to village schools and interviewing the students, teachers, and villagers about their experience with RCEF. Below are her reflections on her trip to Runzhen Township in Shaanxi Province (陕西淳化润镇). The picture was taken there during the Volunteer Program.

“My next stop for evaluation was Run Township in Shaanxi province. I stayed there for 6 days in mid-December. Although it was quite cold in Run Township, it was nice to breathe some fresh air and see the clear blue sky again after the big cities, where I’m never sure whether it’s fog or smog I’m seeing. The key elementary school in Run Township only has fifth- and sixth-grade students. It’s quite a large school with 638 students and 43 teachers. The school is sponsored by Plan International and it shows in the relatively well-resourced buildings and hardware that they have. Just a couple months ago, a new paved road, a three-story-high dorm building, new toilets, a garden, and a canteen have opened and all look very nice.

Most of the local students who participated in the Volunteering Program were 5th and 6th grade students before the summer, so currently they are in the 6th and 7th grades. This time I could only could do questionnaires with those still in the 5th and 6th grades because the 7th grade students now go to a different school. Still, I had 49 respondents from the 6th grade alone. Students’ favorite classes at this site were Community Research and Theatre/Speaking Class. Just as in Dayang Village, the students said they liked to go outside to learn about their own community and to observe and ask questions instead of sitting passively in the classroom. By participating in Community Research, they not only gained more confidence to talk to strangers, but also experienced what it was like to be part of a team. My favorite quote from one of the focus group interviews is:

‘I learned that if you are alone, it takes more time and energy to finish a task compared to doing things together with others; more people are stronger than one. It is the same as playing basketball, you have to work together, pass the ball on to others if you want to win; you can’t do it by yourself. We can learn from the volunteers as well; they come from different countries and have different backgrounds, but they are also able to work together and listen to each other’.

I’m glad that our volunteers have set an example for the students.”

This was Jikky’s report. What do you think of it? Is two weeks enough time for students to let meaningful experiences crystallize and sink in? Or was this just a lucky shot?