Planting trees, makes difference

This is written by John Lee Chun-on,
"Volunteer, International Humanitarian Service Leadership Program, HKRC"



When Emily was playing the slideshow during our last night of stay in Ma'an Qiao Village, I could see that a lot of us were very touched by the moment (definitely I was touched too, but probably not on the face); a little regret is that we didn't manage to have a final debriefing before we came back to Hong Kong.
The experiences and thoughts throughout my activities regarding JSJ and Red Cross flooded in my mind when I was watching the slideshow.

Before I set off the journey to Sichuan, sometimes I've been thinking about this: "how much difference can we make for the local people for these kind of one-time service trips? (be it JSJ, my Sri Lanka trip, or any other trips some of us went for)"
Thousands and millions of dollars were spent to make these trips possible; if donated to some outstanding development organizations, these money would be making very significant differences to a lot of people in need, quickly and effectively.

After after all the experiences in the village, that feeling disappeared completely.

What make this JSJ trip so special for me is that: not only there are added research elements, we also based our interventions on more sophisticated rationales and theories. I don't know to what extent we can change the behaviour of the villagers, but just from the self-reported behavioural changes I saw in my few surveys, I am confident to say that the whole JSJ Project is really making a difference.
(e.g. According to the 2009 situational analysis, Only 50% of all villagers washed their hands after restroom; yet the 8 villagers I interviewed unanimously reported that they washed their hands every time after restroom)

The seeds were are not only sown into the villagers' minds; they were sown into our hearts too.
Apart from the usual paradigm change that I've experienced after every journey, I also managed to learn a lot of practical knowledge and skills during the trip, which I believe will empower me (as well as all of us) to make more differences for humanity in the future: differences which are much more valuable than the trip expenses.

As I keep writing this note, I'm starting to look forward to witnessing my stories in the future, as well as listening to everyone's stories in the future!
"In what way will we continue to make differences for humanity?"
"Will we come together and work hard together for a common cause again?"

I'm yelling for a JSJ Reunion already!!!!!!!!!!!


original page : http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/notes/john-lee-chun-on/jsj-note-1-planting-seeds-making-differences/10150171932812394

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