Day 3: Service Learning at 罗家坡小学

Teaching numbers to a pre-primary class

过桥米线配料

Mr Chua briefing all on the clearing of vegetation.

Before clearing

Before clearing

Before clearing

After 3 hours of vegetation clearing, the long jump pit is uncovered.

The long jump pit will be refill with sand and the students will be able to learn long jump again.

It has been a couple of days since we left Singapore, however, it is really comfortable here in Yun Nan. Today, we teach a class of Primary 2 students from Luo Jia Po Primary School. In addition, we helped in ploughing the field to facilitate the building of a number of outdoor facilities for the children. The children here are much disciplined and  interested in learning. They are always participating actively and always pay close attention to the things we teach. All these values that they show us really impressed me as I hardly see this kind of excellent behaviour back in Singapore! The ploughing of the field is really a good experience but it is extremely tiring and energy consuming. The whole company of councilors cleared the field within 3 hours which is quite an achievement in my opinion! After all today, I have realized that although we are older and we are in a developed country, we still have lots of things to learn from these kids at Luo Jia Po Primary School which includes discipline. In addition, I realized that the people living in the rural areas are in fact better than us in terms of their character and perseverance, although they might not be rich, they proved to us that they are still successful as they had a wealth of character.

SEAH ZHEN AN (3HM)

It has been an action-packed couple of days so far! I can hardly believe that only two days, has passed. We seem to have been here forever; life here in Yunnan is really interesting.

Today was the first day of our iCIP @ Luo Jia Puo Primary. The schools here are so different from the schools we have back home! According to Mr Chua, the classrooms at Luo Jia Puo Primary are a throwback to our old Chung Cheng. It’s hard to imagine that our classrooms were once like that. Looking around, I feel very fortunate that we have such easily accessible education, not to mention better classrooms.

The children are so different from the kids back home. They are earnest, disciplined and willing to learn, as what Zhen An said above, while Singaporean students take all the knowledge for granted - including me. Seeing how the children respect us “teacher-students”, I am really impressed, especially in the regard that they are extremely rooted in their culture. The ancient Chinese morals are so deeply ingrained in the people here that the blackboard at the back of the classroom for Primary Ones said something along the lines of

In the morning when the teacher enters the classroom, greet “Lao shi zao an” (good morning teacher).

During break time when the teacher is in the classroom, greet “Lao shi hao” (hello teacher).

In the afternoon when the teacher ends the class, greet “Xie xie lao shi” (thank you teacher).

The manners of these kids are really impressive. I feel that Singaporean children should emulate their eagerness for knowledge. I will, too. Seeing how fortunate we are, I vow to study hard and improve my own results! Maybe one day when everyone is qualified we can all be like Doctors Without Borders and become Teachers Without Borders to educate children like these here in Luo Jia Puo Primary.

NG HAN YI (3EP)

Today has been a really tiring but definitely fulfilling day. The last 12 hours allowed us to experience things that I have not even imagined in all my 13 years. 

Our main destination for today was “luo jia po xiao xue”., a small but warm and welcoming primary school down the village. Upon arrival, we strolled along corridors observing the students in “action”. It was really an eye opener in many ways. First and foremost, most students were in sandals, instead of wrapped shoes, on such cold weather. But more to my admiration was that all students despite age or classes,

(ranging from 6-12) all displayed that enthusiasm in their eyes. As if they can’t wait to learn more from the teachers. Proof for this was clearly shown when each of them reacted spontaneously throughout the lessons even though it was reaching the end of the day and all of them were really tired. This is no doubt lacking in Singaporean students these days definitely good role models for us. Another heart warming example was how the students and teachers, even the principal , treated us with great respect and hospitality despite knowing that we were students all the same. This was a great example of “small me big you”, the centre principal in our trip.

LEE SER JEAN (2FG)

Today rocks! After teaching the students English alphabets, we had a great lunch of Yunnan’s famous Guo Qiao Mian Xian! It was delicious and it really perked me up for the whole day. After that awesome meal, we headed back to Luo Jia Po Xiao Xue to do landscaping! It was a great experience to really pick up tools and work and sweat under sun. I feel that we Singaporeans take things for granted, some complaining about the work conditions even though it is very good already. Respect was also something that flows through the whole school. We earned the respect from the students, teachers and even the Principal. This trip has really been an eye-opener for me and I have enjoyed the past 3 days immensely.

TEO KAI YI (2DL)

Last but not least, today (18 Nov) is Mrs Lim Suet Peng's birthday.

All students and teachers sang her a birthday song and 感恩的心.

She made a wish and cut the cake! 

Happy Birthday, Mrs Lim