Sharing by Students
Student Sharing on Service Outreach Experience Programme - Service Tour to Nepal 2020
Over 20 CityU students joined “Service Outreach Experience Programme (SOEP) - Service Tour to Nepal 2020” from 1 to 9 January 2020. The students visited Lamjung, a district destroyed by an earthquake in 2015, which was also the destination of “Servant Leadership Training Programme (SLTP) 2018/19 Global Village Community Service Project – Nepal”. Through conducting creative workshops and classes for the locals, as well as providing support in farming and wall painting to the village, participants enhanced various skills and gained valuable exposure.
Tsang Tsz Long Tony
Bachelor of Social Sciences in Public Policy and Politics (Politics)
Year 2
Lead a Real Life
“Namaste” (“Hi” in Nepali) had surrounded me during the 9-day service trip to Lamjung, Nepal. Simple greetings and interactions can be vital and precious in life. In this service tour, I have cultivated a new attitude towards life.
With the rapid pace of life and an intense workload, Hongkongers usually spend time only working and sleeping or having entertainment occasionally. Most of the time, we ignore the messages from our minds and body, as well as the people around us. The stress and the addiction to electronic devices hinder our ability to imagine, create and even live.
In Lamjung, people live in a “real world”. They care about communication and interactions between people; they send greetings to others face-to-face; they enjoy every second with people around. They demonstrate the way to live in the moment.
We stayed in Khani Gaun, a village up on the mountain in Lamjung, for 6 days. During the entire journey, we temporarily forgot about our electronic devices and followed the planned schedule. The days without smartphones allowed us to escape from the Internet and return to reality. In the village, we enjoyed our time together, shared our deep emotions, and of course, our genuine smiles. Though the supply of electricity was not stable, the hygiene facilities were not decent. There was no high-definition television. The villagers enjoyed every moment and cherished what they had already owned. At the same time, they strove to earn a living by developing family businesses related to hospitality and tourism, which showed their efforts in making changes in the village and improve their quality of life. In the 6-day experience, I was fully immersed in the local culture and appreciated their lifestyle. Most importantly, I was inspired by their spirit - to focus more on REAL life.
I’m glad that I’ve met some new friends studying at the school in Ghermu Village. Through organising workshops, we’ve exchanged our knowledge, thoughts, and culture with the locals. They even asked for my social media account! Keeping in touch with them on the Internet helps me know more about their daily lives and habits. They taught me a proper way to use our phones to get closer to others rather than build an invisible wall between people.