Service Snapshots

I could write a chapter on each of the service experiences we have undertaken, but it is better that these perspectives come to you by way of the students themselves. Stay tuned for excerpts from their journals that I will be posting in the days to come. Meanwhile, here’s a little context for what we did at each of our service sites.

WORKING AT THE MORNING STAR REHABILITATION CENTER FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

We divided our hoard into small teams of four or five and dispersed through classrooms where we sat in tiny chairs (less a challenge for me than for some of our 6’3” guys) among uniformed preschoolers. We engaged in a well orchestrated schedule of activities to draw the children into sensory and social interaction. We strung brightly colored wooden beads to make bracelets; did movement activities; made Chinese dumplings and shared lunch. The number one thing we did was to be impressed. On every front, Morning Star left us with great respect for the adults who worked lovingly and skillfully with these special children.

I got to work with a mischievous four year old who figured out that making dumplings with me was more interesting if in doing his job of placing filling onto the little circle of dough I held, he overloaded what was needed, each time working up to a bigger spoonful. With each larger portion he scooped, his laughter grew proportionally and his laughter fed mine. I’m not sure our shared hilarity fit into the structure on which a classroom for autistic children thrives, but it was one of the more memorable moments of this trip.

ATTENDING AN ART SHOW BY HANDICAPPED ARTISTS

An umbrella organization for handicapped services in Hangzhou arranged the various visits we are making here. They provide a network for support and services to their members. They arranged for us to meet a group of Hangzhou artists, each with some form of physical disability, and each one a gifted visual artist. They prepared us a show of their work that filled a sizeable conference room. The purchases we made support the livelihood of the artists we had the privilege to meet, and will surely be treasured among the souvenirs of this trip.

Riley Huston taking in the art at the Art show by handicapped artists in Hangzhou.

Artists at the show

ACCOMPANYING AND AIDING IN TRANSPORT FOR A TOUR OF WEST LAKE BY A GROUP OF LOWER-LIMBED HANDICAPPED PEOPLE

West Lake is, by far, Hangzhou's most prominent feature. The large lake sits in the middle of the city and is surrounded by ancient temples and gardens. Within the lake itself, there are multiple islands to visit and a causeway that is lovely for walks. It is not so lovely, however, if a wheelchair is your means of mobility; handicap access is non-existent. This made for the perfect pairing, our team of able bodied young adults with a group of lower-limbed paralyzed men. (Some of whom were artists we had met the day before at the art show.) We provided the manpower to lift wheelchairs onto a boat, up steps, and across embankments otherwise impassable. Together we shared the wonder of West Lake, as it was the first time there for all of us. Hard to believe, but true, that these men, having lived all their lives in Hangzhou had before our shared excursion never been around the most prominent feature of their city, all for the lack of means to do so.

WORKING AT A RURAL SCHOOL ALONG WITH VOLUNTEERS FROM THE HANGZHOU CHARITY FEDERATION

Together with members of the Hangzhou Charity Foundation, we traveled three hours into the rural area. Our trek took us past rice fields and oxen and around a reservoir created by a hydroelectric power plant. There were several close encounters between our bus and other vehicles on the final portion of narrow winding road leading to the school. The school itself was a startling sight; In the middle of seeming nowhere, a gleaming new, state of the art facility. Money for this school (11 million) had been raised by charity efforts.

The Hangzhou Charity Foundation comes to this school to provide adult support for children whose families in this community have been disrupted by the common phenomenon of change in rural China: adults leaving the poverty of the rural areas to pursue employment in the cities, leaving children behind in the care of grandparents.

We spent our day teaching English, music, and movement games. We also observed a masterfully led intergenerational workshop designed to address the stress on relationships between children and their family members caused by the social disruption of migrant labor into the cities. The skill of the workshop leader, a professional from the department of education in Hangzhou, impressed us, as did the foresight of the educational system to offer such intervention.

Fellows and members of the Hangzhou Charity Federation having lunch at the rural school

MEETING WITH MEMBERS OF THE HANGZHOU CHARITY FEDERATION FOR DIALOGUE ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES IN ATTITUDES ABOUT SERVICE ACROSS OUR TWO CULTURES

It is an understatement to say that China and the US have different ideologies about the relationship between the individual and the larger community as well as different ideas about the concept of service. We have been wearing our anthropological hats in trying to be adept cultural observers on these issues. One of our richest exchanges came through time spent with the young professionals who belong to the Hangzhou Charity Foundation. (The same group that we accompanied to the rural school.) They remind me of a group like Rotary in the US. They devote a portion of their free time and means to address social needs in their community.

In an office building several stories above the streets of Hangzhou, we shared an evening of honest and deep dialogue that dispelled many stereotypes of each other’s culture. We discovered in each other a parallel community of well educated, warm and humorous, service-committed peers.

We left heartened. ... and with gifts: CDs of Chinese opera and ball caps with the organization’s logo. (For every meeting and visit we have made, in Chinese tradition, we have left with gifts. I’m threatening to make our group wear their hats when we travel so we can fit in with the Asian tourist groups we encounter who typically wear matching hats and follow their tour leader who carries a flag and a megaphone. ... Now where can I get a flag. .??)