Vol.9 Issue 9 Vol.9 Issue 9

One more serving of hot meal, One more sign of caring.

According to Wikipedia, volunteering is a helping and organized action based on social responsibilities. Volunteering can be said to be the most borderless: any person, regardless of age, gender, education, occupation, religion, political or racial standpoint, who aspires to improve human society can become a volunteer.

The Little Ones recruits a lot of volunteers each time it organizes an activity, as we are strongly convinced that we cannot rely on the help of one or two persons when we work with children. Furthermore, we want to make our organization a platform – a platform for those who are blessed to share their time, talents, and love with the less unfortunate children in the world.

Every time before departure, I will ask the volunteers what they expect from the event. Most of their answers are “I want to experience”. On the return trip, they all indicate that the event has “exceeded their expectations”. One of the reasons is that they have seen with their own eyes the needs of these vulnerable children. It turns out that many volunteers will participate in more than one activity; one of the Hong Kong volunteers has already gone to Wuhan for four times. These children of migrant workers also see us as friends. They will reach out and hold our hands every time, and play with us. The older kids will also talk to us heart-to-heart.

Seeing the huge need in front of us, we have decided to begin volunteer recruitment in Wuhan, and many university students responded. Their willingness to sacrifice their rest time at weekends and volunteer at a place faraway from their dormitories touches us. In light of this, we have been running a “Volunteer Workshop” since October. We hope that we can pass on some knowledge and skills to these volunteers, allowing them to understand the children’s mental needs as they serve them. Of course, the other objective of the “Volunteer Workshop” is to cheer for these young volunteers, giving them some positive energy, such that serving underprivileged children can become the youth culture.

Love~ {Action}

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” Matthew 25:35

Postscript: I recall volunteering for the first time in Secondary Two, and that experience brought me immense joy. If you would also like to receive that blessing, you are most welcome to join our volunteer activities.

Act NowIn support of Little One Poverty Relief Ltd:

I wish to donate $1500 to support a student lunch fee for 1 year (I will support no. of students) I wish to give to support food parcel: HK$2,000 HK$1,000 HK$500 HK$ I want to make a one-off donation of HK$2,000 HK$1,000 HK$500 HK$

Donation Method Crossed cheque: Payable to "Little Ones Poverty Relief Ltd" Direct debit to our bank: HSBC: 004-614-036200838 Bank of China: 012-735-1-028074-1

Donor information (Please write in Block Letter)Name (Mr/Miss/Mrs): Surname First Name Name in Chinese: Email Address Address: Tel: Signature: Date: Please return the completed form and enclose the original copy of bank-in slip/crossed cheque to the Account Dept. of Little Ones Poverty Relief Ltd (Mailing Address: Little Ones Poverty Relief Ltd, P O Box 11163, General Post Office, Hong Kong)

Winnie LaiDear Uncle Chan,

Hi! I am a Primary Six student who receives your subsidy. Thank you for your care and for your blessings, which will accompany me as I happily grow up.

My family consists of 4 people: dad, mum, my litter sister and myself. As my mum and dad have not received education before, they can only drudge. My dad is a mover, and my mum is a cleaner. The two of them do not earn much each month, and most of their income is spent on living and tuition. Indeed, a rich man’s meal is the annual stock of a poor. My dad has an unstable job; sometimes he has nothing to do for a few days, and sometimes he has to toil till midnight. Yet even he has sweated blood, he does not earn much. I feel very sad for my dad.

But you have given us hope and relieved our urgent needs. It is like a timely rain, moistening the stream and nurturing the land. You have made it possible for us to cheerfully enjoy lunch at school every day.

Play and study used to be the most important things to me. I have not only benefited from your kindness, but I have also realized that the most important thing in life is to learn how to be thankful. I thank you all for lending a helping hand to me. When I grow up, I have to become like you and help others, giving back to our motherland, and giving back to society! I sincerely thank you!

I wish you success in your work and good health!

Yanzi GuoPrimary SixLixin Primary School

A sweet mailbox

Vol.9 Issue 9 Vol.9 Issue 9

One more serving of hot meal, One more sign of caring.

Chen FangWuhan – the provincial capital of Hubei – is, in my understanding,

a piece of brightly lit and prosperous land of treasure, devoid of poverty. Yet one day, someone told me, “In Wuhan, there are people who live

in dangerous buildings, who are not full, who do not have electric lights at home…” I looked at him in astonishment, and waved my hands, saying, “You’re kidding me! How can it be possible that it is poorer than my home? This is Wuhan!”

Due to my disbelief, I came to Lixin Primary School. I felt fretful by what I saw and heard on my way to the school from the metro station. At the end of the activity, I sat on the school’s playground, silent. I doubted what I saw. I kept asking myself why… I dragged myself back to my room, hoping to jump right into my bed. Yet upon entering my bedroom, I had a huge nosebleed – bad air.

My roommate and classmates kept asking me what I did on Saturday, “Why didn’t you join the Youth Volunteer Association? You can earn credits for that!” I looked at her and smiled. Yeah, why did I join the Little Ones instead?

I am also a kid from the village, and I have a lot of friends who are left-behind children, and friends who come from a broken family. I have heard about their struggles. At the same time, I am blessed by God. It is also my wish to share what I have with others.

On the first day of tutorial, I saw how timid and love-deprived the kids were. A simple “my dear” can make “Fish Head” smile, and remarking that “she is quite savvy” can increase her confidence. Honestly, I felt a strong sense of blissfulness here. On the second tutorial session, I discovered that the kids were all actually very smart, just that they lacked proper guidance.

I really enjoy the process of sharing knowledge with them. I have come to know what I like to do; I have found where my passion lies. I have come to understand why there was a special group of people beside me in the past, and why I had to go through certain experience that I use to regard as “unbearable pain”.

I hope that my hard work can bring blessings to the kids!

I have technically given tutorials to the migrant children twice. I was late for the first time, so I could only observe how other volunteers did it. I came in early the second time, so I could start helping them with their schoolwork. We tutored the primary school kids in the morning, and the secondary school kids in the afternoon. I tutored a girl in the morning, and she listened to me very attentively. She would ask me when she did not understand, and I was more than happy to explain to her. I was a bit nervous when I first explained, because I had to consider her receptivity, and because I was afraid that my explanation was wrong. If your explanation is wrong, then the kids may not trust you the next time, losing the basic trust.

This girl was very hardworking and attentive. From our conversation, I realized that her home was faraway: she had to take a one-hour ride to school every day, so she had to wake up at 5 a.m. I asked, “Is this also the case in winter?” She said yes. At that moment, I was shocked but pleased: perhaps the difficult environment has stimulated people’s will, so that she has such a conscientious learning attitude.

In the morning, I tutored a middle school kid for English. The girl did not have a firm foundation. She took out her exam paper and asked me to translate for her. She said she just did not understand, and she could only work on the exam paper when they were translated. At first, I wanted to do what she asked. Yet the volunteer beside me reminded me not to, because translating for her would defeat the purpose of tutorials. So the volunteer taught her instead how to pronounce the words, starting from the basics. I switched to help another kid. Time passed quickly; the session came to an end, but it could be said I hadn’t had enough of it. I hope that next time I can still tutor these kids, because now that I have understood their foundations, I can plan ahead for next time. It might not be that good to have another tutor.

In short, helping those kid has been very meaningful, and we have also gained happiness out of it.

Dai Mi

Company infoMailing Address: GPO Box 11163, General Post Office, Hong KongTel: 5428 7009 Fax: 3020 9741 Website: www.littlepoverty.comEmail: info@littlepoverty.com www.facebook.com/LittleOnesPR

Tutorial Classes – Who want to give blessings to these kids? I Am Very Happy