Volunteer in China

It was a memorable and heart warming experience to me for the last three weeks volunteering in the rural area of Xi'an City. We were welcomed and taken good care of by the host principal and colleagues.

Be open minded and inclusive, adapt yourself to the new environment.

Coming to Xi'an, I gained a newfound perspective and was introduced to a completely different lifestyle. Interacting, teaching, and taking care of people with mental disabilities was a lot more challenging than I anticipated, but I developed patience, and eventually, a lot of the students learned the alphabet, numerous greetings, body language, and essential English vocabulary.

The first day felt especially challenging to both my dad and me, as we both felt a bit overwhelmed after our first full day there. However, after the first week, the next two weeks flew by. Patience is something that I developed during this experience and I was also enlightened on how hard/challenging life is for people. I became very close with one of the kids there, who had Down Syndrome, but was only around two weeks older than me. Although we are around the same age, our lives are entirely different, and there are numerous privileges that I took for granted that my friend hasn't experienced. I've become a lot more grateful and appreciative of everything that I have and after living in an area for three weeks and interacting with people who have mental disabilities, I've become a lot less ignorant about how challenging some people's lives can be.

Although I may be more privileged financially and educationally than the people, I don't value myself above these people and I believe that each and every person deserves the same opportunities I do. This is the biggest piece of advice I would give to people hesitant about joining this program because embracing and living with these people without looking at them through a partially inferior lens will help you appreciate every moment of the experience.

Some things I've gained from this experience is the love and support everybody at my placement showed me. They've mentored me and shared their wisdom with me; showing me a different perspective of the world that has well rounded my character.

I feel I gained some perspective towards the world. I've always been a sort of "home town" guy. So it was really interesting and exciting to go somewhere vastly different from my own country. And to interact with the society I was in, in a way other than a pure tourist.

I gained a better perspective of the world, different cultures, perhaps a little about human nature and maybe myself. Volunteering with IVHQ has the added benefit of bringing you away from the overtly "touristy" areas which you would normally find yourself in on a normal holiday. Particularly in China, the difference between rural and urban is immense, and this is a great opportunity to not only make a difference, or to see the world, but to get a more full view of the culture you're immersing yourself in.

IVHQ is so reliable, they have wonderful local support team! I saw how my child grows to be more responsible and independent - it was a great memory for my daughter and I to share.