Mission Trip: LRS Camp 2017 Day 2

This was written by Emily Kam, an Agape Fish high school intern. View the original post.

​I woke up, frozen in place. It was cold at 6:30 in the morning. 

The children gathered outside at 7:40 to do some morning exercises. After a breakfast of millet congee, bao, you tiao, and an assortment of vegetables, the kids made their way back to the courtyard for music, which I was teaching. Mom translated for me while I taught them the songs “wo de peng yo zai na li” (which means “where is my friend”) and “Flowers of the Field”. They did fairly well for the first run!

When music class finished, we set up two table stations for crafts. One for painting photo frames, and one for stringing together a beaded keychain. 

Beading keychains!

They carefully painted their frames.

Colorful frames ready to be decorated tomorrow.

​Towards the end of the hour, a girl (the one with the gray-streaked hair) tapped my shoulder and held up her keychain. It was missing the key ring, so I quickly put one on for her. But she still held it up and said something. Noting my confusion, she dragged another counselor over to translate. 

“Oh,” he said, “she is giving it to you.”

I was touched. We were there for not even a full day and already a camper wanted to give me something. I thanked her in Mandarin and hooked the beads into the belt of my jeans. It wasn’t an aesthetically pleasing mix of colored beads, but I knew that I would keep it forever. I suddenly knew why parents liked to keep their children’s artwork.

Next, I joined then for dance class. It had gotten a lot warmer, a stark contrast from the chilly morning. We waved our hands like flower petals and turned slowly in circles.

After lunch, we listened to one of the counselors give a slideshow presentation about the city of Lanzhou. The English teacher asked Beth and me to help with her class, to which I readily agreed.

We counted to ten, played word games, called out colors, and learned the meanings of “wash your face”, “brush your teeth”, “jump”, “bend your knees”, and “clap your hands”. The English teacher, Serena, had me pronounce the English words for her, since she wanted the children to better grasp the American accent. At the end we played a game of pictionary. 

-Emily