Change of heart

Top: Lu Song and other volunteers pose for a picture with the children. Above: Lu in the classroom, with another volunteer and students. Photos Provided to China Daily

Student Lu Song volunteered to teach in a Nairobi slum for an adventure but soon developed a deep affection for the place and the people

The first thing that drew university student Lu Song toward a volunteer position in Kenya was the opportunity to put the experience on applications for postgraduate study in the US. The second was the chance to spend a summer abroad having some adventures.

But the 18-year-old didn't count on a third factor that would only become apparent after he'd begun working at a school in one of Africa'a largest slum areas - the desire to help.

Lu, a first-year undergraduate at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, majoring in international trade and business, found the experience so rewarding that he now recruits other students as volunteers, and is raising money for the school he worked at.

"My perspective changed a lot after I come back from Africa," he says.

"Previously, I thought of the trip as more of a vacation, but now I realize there are a lot of things that need to be changed for children in Kenya."

As well as encouraging other students to volunteer, Lu and some of his classmates plan to make postcards using photographs he took during his trip and sell them to raise money for the school in the Kibera slum.

The experience began one day when Lu was thinking about what to do for the summer. Like many Chinese students, he wants to study in the US after graduation and thought a period volunteering in Africa would help with applications.

"I think my attitude wasn't good at the start," he says. "I was thinking about how I was going to spend my vacation there, asking for a comfortable place to live, in a good location, and so on."

Lu found a volunteer position through AIESEC, the world's largest student-run organization, and after passing an interview with teachers from the University of Nairobi, he was offered a position teaching at St Catherine school.

"It's a potentially dangerous place to work as there is a pretty high rate of robbery and a high incidence of AIDS in the slum, but I convinced myself that this was an opportunity that might only happen once in a life," he says.

The school was on the edge of the slum, which made it a safer place to work, and Lu lived with five other volunteers from Norway and Russia.

"There is a trend that university students worldwide want to change the world and they take part in volunteer work to do this," says Lu.

Lu woke up at 6 am each day, giving himself an hour to get ready before making the two-hour journey to the school for the first lessons at 9 am. At noon he'd have lunch and the work day would end at 3 pm.

Each room in the school was divided by short partitions into several classes.

"Sometimes I had to find a way to help my students concentrate while another group in the room was having a class at the same time," he says.

Lu taught "Creativity", which included painting, Chinese military boxing and debates.

"This subject was actually created by me as a way to broaden the children's minds with something that could not be learned in textbooks," Lu says.

During debates he encouraged the 18 students in his class to give their opinions on what it means to be good or bad.

"It was interesting to watch their debates. The girls were sharper than the boys," he says. "They were so lovely and passionate about learning new things."

On one occasion, he played music before the end of class and all the students got up to dance.

"I was surprised to see even the quietest student in my class start dancing," he says.

Alongside the international volunteers were local volunteers from the University of Nairobi, some of whom also spent time at a home for orphans.

"I have great respect for these local volunteers and in many ways I consider what they do for these children more valuable than what the international volunteers do," Lu says.

During weekends Lu also helped out at the home for orphans, where hugs were the most valuable thing he could offer. On one occasion, he held each child up to touch the top of some goalposts at the school, which is the only entertainment they have.

"After a whole day of holding children, my arms got sore, but it felt like such a meaningful thing bringing happiness to the children there," he says. "They were different from the children at St Catherine, because they didn't have parents and you could see the sadness in their eyes."

Lu played hide and seek with the children, taught them to count in Chinese and told stories. By the time he left, he says, he had developed a deep affection for them.

"I wish I could see them again. I would like to know how things are going for them in a few years."

On the last day before he left Kenya, after 35 days as a volunteer, Lu spoke with his landlord about the experience.

"I told him that I felt like I had done nothing to change the situation, as nothing was different after 35 days. It was just like a small wind had gone by," he says.

"But I was impressed by what he told me: that even small things matter."

When a student at St Catherine asked him when he would return, Lu burst into tears.

"I will go back in five to 10 years. I definitely want to see those children again," he says.

liaoxue@chinadaily.com.cn