Report_2005

Trip to China Ryan Weng

In December 2004, I went with EEP to China. In China, we went to go look at schools sponsored by EEP. We left in December of 2004, and arrived at the airport ready to help out. We were then given a packet showing what schools we were visiting and how many students were in each school. Our goal was to check on all the schools to make sure that the facilities being built were accurate to what the chart stated that the school was supposed to have. On the day that we arrived at the airport however, we didn’t go to see any schools, instead, we visited the students that EEP sponsors. We were able to see the students who didn’t have much, but still tried hard to make it past the basic education. It was touching to see how enthusiastic and grateful they were to the people who had sponsored them to succeed.
The day after that we started to visit the schools. As we were traveling on the freeway, we stopped by our first school. What I saw shocked me. I was so used to seeing schools with 4 or 5 buildings. However, the school we visited only had one 2 story building. I remember a lot of the locals being there, all ready to welcome us. They offered us some meat and a bit of their wine as a greeting.
After the first school we visited, we split up into groups to increase our efficiency. I normally went the longest route with Aunty Chang, the leader of our group. We drove then walked more than 3 hours to get to one school up in the mountains. I remember quite vividly the teachers at the school. They were very glad to see us and gave me, someone who was younger than them, much respect. I remember one who was extremely kind, who looked like a model. The teachers ended up walking back with Aunty Chang and me out of courtesy. This forced them to stay the night away from their homes. The gratefulness of the people in China who EEP sponsored was astounding.
All too often we in the United States take for granted what others dream of. On the last day of being in China, I got the stomach flu. It was pretty bad because I didn’t have medicine to help me out that much, and I didn’t know I had the flu either. However, if I was asked if I would go back today, I definitely would, even with the risk of getting sick. Through the trip I was able to appreciate my home more. I was able to look at a simple thing like a toilet with toilet paper and appreciate it. Helping out those people in China was definitely worth it.