Report_2005

Notes from A Volunteer Allen Chen

……………… A ……………

Each year, people commit their time, money, and energy to the uneasy task of inspecting schools. I have no money, no time, and I can’t stand suffering, but I went on my way anyway. After hours of hiking up a mountain under the bright hot sun, our tired, sore legs finally got us there. Seeing the old, broken dorms, and scrawny kids made my heart sink and tears began forming. I saw the tattered buildings in need of repair. I heard of students who could not afford tuition, and of students who had to drop out of school to work. I heard of those whose parents had to work far away to support their children, and of kids who just disappeared. Some were injured and couldn’t afford their medical bills. A bad harvest in the previous year would come back to haunt the food supply in the current year. Surprisingly, at a place where government officials don’t even enjoy visiting comes a representative of America. I see the principal and village head fervently explaining their poor conditions: the schools are too old and are about to collapse; the desks and chairs are 50 or 60 years old and cannot be used anymore; there are no bathrooms, no textbooks, etc…
Everyone helplessly looks at me, awaiting my answer. “No problem.” And just like that, all of their problems become mine.
It would be incredibly cruel to not keep a promise to such a secluded, small village.
“But we have a policy of only building elementary schools, and we can only support students with the best grades,” I tell them. With 12 years of experience, EEP has learned a lot about prioritizing. There is a great deal that needs improving, but money, time, and human resources are limited, so we can only do so much.
In reality, the villagers and government leaders each do their part to the best of their ability, and EEP is like the last piece to their puzzle of creating a better future for their children.
After going to several villages over the course of a couple of weeks, all the problems I heard were beginning to tire me out.
……….…….… B ………………

The first thing on every new volunteer’s mind is the food we will be eating. Food is, of course, very important.
Those who have lived in America for a long time usually prefer food to be fresh and organic if possible, without any chemical enhancements or preservatives. This isn’t easy to attain in a large, highly commercialized city. However, it is much easier to achieve in places like Sichuan and Guizhou.
For example, there’s a popular dish in Guizhou called Sour Soup Fish. The fish is raised in rice field ponds (and only natural compost is used, as they cannot afford chemical fertilizer). Without cleaning it, the fish is grilled until it is still half raw. Fresh green peppers are also half cooked. Then tofu made from filtered brook water is added. Everything is then mixed in a large wok and sour soup is added. (The soup actually aged water that was saved from washing rice. This “soup” gets better with age and may be aged for as long as 100 years.) And that is the entire recipe. Every ingredient is accessible within a few steps outside the kitchen, and of course everything is fresh and original.
Climbing mountains all day can really wear a person down. But having a plate of stir-fried bees immediately gets one’s energy up again. Compared with Energy Bars (what are in those anyway?) I’d prefer the bees any day.