The shock of adapting to rural life
Print Edition
Eleven children from Songjiang traveled to a rural village in an impoverished area of central China’s Henan Province to experience life they have only read about in textbooks.
Even that didn’t prepare them for the life they found in Chenzhou, where they were sent as volunteers to help Zhangjiazhuang Elementary School.
As soon as they arrived, staff there took away their cell phones and tablet devices. After the initial shock of losing their prized digital gadgetry, the volunteers forgot their troubles by immersing themselves in village life.
Used to fancy, modern city buildings, the volunteers were taken aback to see the broken windows and peeling walls of the shabby schoolhouse. They decided to help make the school a nicer place to study. They swept the floors and painted the walls.
“At first I had to flatten the walls with a shovel before I could even paint them,” said volunteer Chen Jiakai.
The volunteers taught their hosts songs and games. They also helped them with homework.
“When we are at school, we can’t wait until class is over and we can rush out to play or watch TV,” one volunteer said. “We aren’t nearly as hard-working as these rural children.”
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