In the afternoon of June 3rd, as scheduled, volunteers of International Students Friendship Volunteer Association of Jilin University visited Xingfu Primary School, Shuangyang District, Changchun city, a place that they cared for and looked forward to going to. They were received by children that had been waiting for quite a while.
The volunteers, carrying the materials and tools that they prepared, were surrounded by children upon arrival. Children had not seen the volunteers for a week and were thus especially excited. They accompanied these big buddies and led them into the classroom, curious about the surprises in store.
Every week, the volunteers think hard to design the activities just to bring the children some joy and help them learn something. The activity of each class has its own features.
This time, the first-grade children learned how to make sandwiches. Making this simple but nutritious food can help them make food better. Children ate their self-made sandwiches with great appetite and were eager to show the volunteers what they made. One girl said that she wanted to bring the sandwich to her mother so that she could taste the delicious food made her.
Students of other grades and their volunteers made chocolate fruit cakes and rainbow cookie cake together, all of which showed the inspiration and creativity of the volunteers. For example, they first taught children to paint with color pens rainbows on the exteriors of cups, then put cookie crumbles inside and put other foods as decoration. Then a beautiful rainbow cookie cake was made.
Besides food making, the volunteers also designed many recreational activities. For example, some volunteers taught children simple Korean expressions, such as “hello”, “thank you”, “I like you”, etc. Some volunteers played games with children, such as “sports meeting”, “throwing the handkerchief”, “looking for gifts” and “cock fights” and so on. Happy laughter could be heard in every classroom.
The most exciting game was the battle of water guns designed for second-grade students. Teachers and students formed teams and played, and later attracted all the other students to join. They were wet all over, however, their faces beamed under the sun.
Children of this rural primary school look forward to every Wednesday because they can play to their heart’s content games with these big sisters and brothers and they can learn about things that are usually inaccessible to them in their classes. Always caring about the well being of the children, the volunteers want to help them with more, stay with them for longer and create some special and beautiful memory for their childhood.
