A Life Changing Experience ― A Collection of Reflections by Summer Volunteers

Besides comprehensive testimonials our volunteers provided regarding their experiences with various Dream Corps sites, the brief yet deep reflections by volunteers also stay as enduring inspirations for us. This is a collection of short pieces of reflections from our summer volunteers after their three-week volunteer program in Yunnan and Beijing. 
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I’ve always wanted to devote myself to improving the education 
standard in rural China. In the past summer, Dream Corps offered me this invaluable opportunity to participate in their pilot program in Yunnan province of China. I spent three most memorable weeks of my life with the children there learning what I 
could not have learned elsewhere. It was a truly exciting experience  ― being with the children from sunrise to sunset and seeing how they 
live their lives. It was also inspiring to work with other volunteers who share the same beliefs. It made me think that we together can make a change.

It strikes every time when I see talented individuals cannot pursue 
the education programs they deserve because of economic hardships. I am certain that many oversea Chinese students have the same kind of emotions and impulses, but for various reasons, they find it hard to transform their thoughts into actions. I must say that you can only 
see the possibilities when there is zero distance between you, and them.

―  Da Liu, 2004 Yunnan Volunteer

One of the older children, Melody (whose English name we helped choose), told me she dreamed of one day studying at Harvard. As a parting gift, she offered me a small stone which she had found along the road and painted green. Really though, she and the other children gave me so much more.

Their frankness encouraged me to be more honest with myself. Their constant optimism offered me an example for how to make the best out of difficult situations. They accepted me as a friend and made me feel welcome in a foreign country, and they helped remind me how to hope and dream, even when faced with great challenge.

For me, interacting with the children and seeing their progress made tight living quarters, early wake ups and less-than-ideal food worth it. When we first arrived at the site, one of the kindergartners would grab my nose, stroke my legs, crawl on the floor, jump on my back and do almost anything besides read while in the library. By the time we left, however, she had learned how to read pinyin and pronounce the characters and would run up to me with books. Her academic progress and the change in how she used the library were amazing.

The children taught me so much more than I could ever teach them.

                 

 ― Denis Dupee, 2008 Beijing Volunteer