March 5 is Learn From Lei Feng Day in China. Lei Feng is a Chinese war hero who was selected by the Party as a model citizen for his selflessness and dedication to helping others. Though the day has a host of historical and political connotations, in modern society it functions mainly as a day of community service. This year, CET-Middlebury students in Beijing took advantage of this opportunity to visit a neighboring elementary school and learn from Lei Feng together with the schoolchildren.
The joint activity opened with the children singing the China Young Pioneers’ Song, to which CET-Middlebury students responded with a rendition of the American Anthem. The class teacher must have taken this as a challenge, and a minute later the kids were singing the Chinese Anthem in unison, led by a young rosy-cheeked conductor.
Chinese Young Pioneers Song
Time and again, the 7 to 12-year-old children amazed us with feats of memorization as they stood at the front of the room individually or in small groups and recited from memory long stories of Lei Feng’s achievements and selfless deeds. When asked about their own thoughts about helping others, the kids would often use quotes from Lei Feng’s famous diary to support their personal opinions.
Once the singing was over and the glorious stories of Lei Feng were told, the teachers issued the command to go outside, gather up the tools, and head off to complete the mission of the day: cleaning up the neighborhood. Each CET-Middlebury student (or, in the words of the schoolchildren and their teachers, “big brother/big sister”) was put in charge of a platoon of 3-4 little workers armed with brooms and shovels and told to make a contribution to the community by making it a cleaner place to live. We walked to our designated building complex, and the fun began!
No comments:
Post a Comment