力行植林慈善基金會

Reflection on Tung Shan Summer School 2015 (Lam Ka Wing Kevin)

This is the second year I participate in this service trip. On arrival, so delightfully, the children remembered me. I was pleased to meet those familiar faces again. 

The number of children participated in the Summer School program this year was less than that of last year. Regardless of the number, I adopted a refined method of teaching and attitude towards them, using my experience from last year.

I was responsible for teaching two elements, namely phonics and reading aloud. The former emphasizes the ability to pronounce words with similar vowels and is the element that I taught last year. The latter emphasizes the ability to read a passage within time limit and pronounce accurately.

On the second day, students were assessed on these elements. To my surprise, the students really showed improvement in phonics compared to last year, thus manifesting the effectiveness of teaching in the past year. As for reading aloud, the students' performance left much room for improvement, and was worse than expected. Therefore, the teaching curriculum had to be refined to match their progress. This was certainly a challenge for me, as I had to completely amend the teaching content and plan within one day. Under time pressure, I thought thoroughly at night to produce a more suitable teaching curriculum.

In the next few days, I encountered another problem. I suddenly found out that the teaching curriculum for a particular grade did not cater for every student well, due to the huge differences in level. After one night of careful consideration, I eventually came up with a solution, which was to teach all the contents suitable for the higher level students first, then tutor the lower level students individually. 

Throughout the course of the trip, my patient and caring character gradually developed. It is essential to show the children that we care about them, as this determines their willingness to obey our instructions. Occasionally, they became cantankerous and disobedient, and this is when patience needs to come into play. We had to try to put ourselves into their situations and think from their perspectives. After this, respond and remind them in a patient and amicable tone. We found that this is the most effective method to have them to obey.

Leadership skills as in the ability to gain control of a group of students are also involved in this trip. This has really been an obstacle for me since this is one of the qualities that I lack. At times I found myself over-indulgent, yet what was required is an authoritative leader mixed with some extent of generosity. I believe that this is what constitutes a charismatic leader in general.

We were also given the precious opportunity to visit a family of one student. During the visit, we looked around their home and chatted with the host about their living routines and conditions. This allowed us to take a glimpse into the lifestyles of a typical rural family. The lifestyles are relatively simple and basic, merely sufficient for one to sustain life. Through the discussion, I also gained a better understanding of the difficulty in migrating from rural to urban areas in the mainland, which largely accounts for the widening of the rural-urban gap, thus resulting in the increasing socioeconomic inequalities in mainland China. Nevertheless, what drew my admiration is that they are still leading a satisfying life without any complaints, despite all those unfavorable conditions. Contrasting this with our unending materialistic lust, I feel ashamed.

To conclude, I really enjoyed interacting and playing with the lively group of children. The teaching process has helped me sharpen my leadership and caring skills, and the ability to change plans immediately according to the situation under time pressure. Although the nature of this trip is non-medically related, the qualities required are medically relevant. Hence it is a great opportunity to explore our weaknesses, improve ourselves, simultaneously provide assistance to the children in need and understand more about the living standards in the rural areas of mainland.

Kevin Lam (CUHK Year 3)

2015年9月 陽山縣下鄉篩查白內障活動簡報(鄧月嫻)

2015年9月6 - 9日回到陽山下鄉篩查白內障活動，地點包括七拱衛生院（七拱鎮，杜步鎮），太平衛生院（太平鎮，楊梅鎮），嶺背衛生院（嶺背鎮，黃坌鎮，秤架鄉），青蓮衛生院（青蓮鎮，江英鎮），黎埠衛生院（黎埠鎮），縣殘聯（陽城鎮，小江鎮，大崀鎮）。

各合作單位包括縣殘聯，鎮政府，民政辦，各衛生院等的協助及鼎力支持，使這次活動一如以往順利完成。

今次由新會區人民醫院醫務科蘇永亮醫生帶領醫療隊下鄉義診，蘇醫生對各項目都親力親為，實值得表揚。而醫療隊林醫生，吳醫生及各位護士，都盡心盡力為病人檢查，專業的水平和純熟技巧，對前來應診的白內障患者精準地斷症，使這次下鄉篩查活動超額完成。

力行義工隊各成員，無私的奉獻，對前來篩查的公公婆婆關懷呵護，發揮了身體力行的精神，和你們合作愉快，多謝！

今次下鄉篩查活動義診總人數為907人，已發手術通知書人數是白內障160人，胬肉15人，合計共：175人。

基金會雖然已定時定點在陽山下鄉舉行“扶貧復明＂活動，但每次前來的患者的比例都是有增無減。如這次活動，經統計需動白內障手術的患者高達281人，奈何手術名額有限，這都是基金會主席謝太常遇到需處理輪候手術名單的頭痛問題。祝願各患者一切順利平安。

義工　鄧月嫻

2015年9月13日

2015年 廣東 梅縣“扶殘助學”活動簡報 (王德富)

活動日期： 2015年8月16至19日

合辦單位： 梅縣區殘疾人聯合會，力行植林慈善基金會

參加義工： 香港 17人 (包括港大/中大醫科學生7人)，國內1人

活動簡報 ：-

8月16日 -

香港義工17人於早上7時乘坐直通巴土， 大約中午1時20分抵達梅縣。於酒店安頓後，義工們前往雁洋鎮“力行”第一個植林基地“還趣山莊＂ 視察樹木生長情況，喜見樹木參天， 茁壯成長，造水流量穩定，為附近村民提供源源不絕清澈泉水！及後，義工們前往拜候兩位國內義工 -- 烈伯和鄧院長。他們多年默默耕耘，義務協助工作，近年因年事漸高，體力不繼，無奈留家休養。喜 見他倆精神氣色頗佳，義工倍感安慰！

是晚，梅縣區政府設宴款待義工團，享用豐富客家美食！飯後，義工為明天下郷家訪安排作最後準備。

8月17 日 -

義工18人，分為3人1組，在梅縣區殘聯協助下，於早上8時分別前往梅縣19個鄉鎮家訪，進行資料確認，家居環境視察及審閱學生成績報告。家訪過程順利，於下午6時許， 6組義工完成家訪。

8月18日 -

上午各組義工齊集決議及篩選受助學生名單，標準條件爲：殘疾家庭，家境貧 困，學生品學兼優。

受助學生分別就讀高中，職中，大專及本科，助學金額分別爲：高中/職中助學金1,000元，大專助學金1,500元及本科助學金2,500元。大家商議到中午，完成確認102位受助學生名單。

午飯後，全體義工應邀前往參觀新近落成的“粵東醫院”，實地了解國內醫療設施。相比以往，“粵東醫院”環境整潔，設備先進，管理完善，踏實地提升 醫療效益。

8月19日 -

早上9時，“助學金送贈”儀式於梅縣區委黨校禮堂舉行，由梅縣政府幹部和香港義工代表攜手主持，與會學生及家長一百多人。嘉賓及學生代表先後致辭，鼓勵同學們努力讀書，他日學業有成，服務社會，改善家庭生活，共享美好人生！

本次受助學生： 102人

助學金額 ：人民幣183,000元

感謝 永義(香港) 有限公司 贊助

午飯後，義工應邀前往新城中學，與60多位升高中三年級同學進行英語互動交流。

總結：-

是次活動能夠順利完成，有賴梅縣區各政府部門及香港、國内義工鼎力支持，

謹此致謝！ 2016再見！

義工 王德富

2015年8月24日

2015年 “梅港青年英語交流互動課堂”簡報（李寶燕）

地點 ： 梅縣新城中學

日期及時間： 2015年8月19日 上午10點至中午12點

                 2015年8月20日 上午8點至10點 (每節2小時)

參加學生 ： 19日 68位高二文科學生

　             20日 64位高二理科學生

協助人員 ： 力行義工10位，醫科學生7位

預備詳情

(a) 在香港已預先參考高二學生暑期作業，了解他們的英文水平。

(b) 選用面試形式以英語交流。

(c) 在面試前，已通報了十多條問題給學生參考及預備。

活動當日流程

₍₁₎ 先將學生分為五組和面試次序，並安排到五個課室。

(2) 每組有三位義工，其中兩位負責模擬英文面試。(每位學生大概三至五分鐘)

(3) 其他學生由另一位義工負責和學生交談以作面試熱身。

(4) 整個面試大概一小時十五分鐘。

(5) 每組由義工選出表現最優秀的一位學生，在最後團體集合時再面試一次。

(6) 在最後五組學生面試的時候，也安排了用手機拍下短片，會安排交回學校，希望可對其他學生有幫助。

總結

英語交流活動整體氣氛很好，也覺得學生對英語對話並不抗拒，只是欠缺勇氣去嘗試和機會去開始，兩小時過程中充實，促進港梅交流機會。

義工 李寶燕

2015年8月26日

Dong Shan Summer English Program Reflection ( Shing Kei Lok Louisa)

Throughout this brief but fruitful period of ten days, I felt an internal struggle to fulfil the role of a teacher. In the eyes of the children, I was not seen as a teacher. Instead, I was a sister to babysit and play with them. They yearned for my attention, constantly pulling my arms, yelling and jumping on to my back simply because they wanted to play with me. Early in the morning, even before our breakfast at seven am, they would yelp and even order me from the bottom of the staircase to hurry up and piggyback them. It was hard to reject them with those teary, puppy-eyes. I would even have to carry children like Pak Sing and Chau Lai, who were already ten in age, and run around the basketball court until they were finally satisfied and were willing to let go. Although I was slightly overwhelmed with physical exhaustion, I made efforts to attend to these energetic, loud and needy children, giving them love both physically and in time because I could see how desperate they were just for some attention to fill their inner insecurities resulting from lack of parental supervision and guidance. Through play and games, I not only became familiar with each child’s personalities, but more importantly their social and familial backgrounds.

Frankly, I was not entirely happy to be a babysitter or even a teacher, in which I was supposed to fulfil. As the saying ‘teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’ entails, I frankly did not see much of a purpose of teaching the students dictionary and translation skills in a limited ten day duration especially if they were actually reluctant to learn. What I truly tried to achieve was to be a ‘fire starter’, to inspire change in their mentality: a determination not simply to study English, but to improve in their personal academic and moral development by establish a drive for learning, for self-discipline by setting and reaching goals, and finally for a better future for themselves and their family.

During my brief journey of ten days at Dong Shan, I was fortunate to have a glimpse of their improvement in both English and character. In particular, it was incredibly encourage to see the group 5 students blossom with more confidence to read English sentences out aloud and attempt to guess the meanings of the phrases to the degree that they began shouting and competing. Seeing how the introverted, shy only boy in the class open up himself and transform to be the class clown. Neither would I forget how an irreverent, temperamental 11 year old girl, who cried in my class after I scolded her for her reluctance to attempt at the set questions and focus in class, became so serious about her studies that she revised hard for the final test and teared up because she was disappointed in her test performance. There are too many indescribably memorable memories for me to note and I will never forget.

I believe there is a life plan for everyone set by a higher power in this universe and it is no coincidence for certain people to meet at specific time and plan. I feel very blessed to have been able to met and taught these classes of students, who I feel have great potential within themselves that have yet to be discovered. I have yet to fully understand the reason for why I was placed in their lives, but I know that they have at least humbled and opened my eyes to see the world in a new perspective.

Now that the trip has concluded, where do we go from here? The children have a heart to learn and a seed for maturity. However, like seeds on a hard, infertile soil, they are unable to establish proper foundation. Without proper guidance, they get lost easily in the weeds, yielding to adversity. They need a gardener to nurture them, shower love appropriately, prune them when they are growing the wrong way and fertilize them when their growth has stunted. The implications of our visit are limited by the short timeframe and whether or not the children were able to gain anything from our visit depends on them. I guess this is the harsh reality of this program because it is an annual project. Instead of giving them hope that a group of people like us will come and visit next year, I hope that I left an impression that there is a bigger world out there beyond that short, plain stretch of houses and cornfields waiting for them to discover. I hope that they will remember that thousands of miles, there are people who would be willing to ‘stand by them’ and these people will always carry a memory of them for the rest of their lives. Most importantly, I hope that they will never forget to strive and not yield because they are the future of Dong Shan.

For those who missed the point, I sighed endlessly in my class whenever I noticed this particular child in my class who was unwilling to learn and only saw me as a playmate. In a brief period of ten days, there is only so much that we can do for them –we can give them books in the library, but these books are meaningless because no one reads them. It is up to them to step up for themselves. Fundamental and sustainable change can only be derived from themselves.

Shing Kei Lok Louisa

(HKU Year1)