2020 Talk about Public Health in Gucheng Elementary School  

 Date: 9th December, 2020 - 25th December, 2020

 Time ：15:40-16:10

 Target of service : Students from Class 2 of 4th Year of Gucheng Elementary School, Jingning Country, Pingliang City, Gansu Province.

 Content: Team Introduction, 5 Talks about Public Health (Talk includes Q&A and giving gifts)

 01About Talk

In Decemeber 2020, we were honoured to receive an invitation from our senior, Leon, to give a talk to the Gucheng Elementary School in Gansu. Our members were being divided into five groups, which were Sleep, Frostbite, Eye care, Second hand smoke and Personal health. From 9Dec2020 to 25Dec 2020, our members taught the children different knowledge and raise their awareness towards health. Also, there were interaction sections with the children, which made our silent and deadly December a different one. In the following two days, there will be posts showing some words from our captains, team members and Ms. Chen from Gucheng Elementary School to all of you. Please look forward to it and enjoy!

 02 Captain's Sharing ---Cecilia Wong

 2020 has been a miserable year. As a result of COVID-19, the common threat to each of us, MSVT held nearly no volunteering activities. This definitely has disappointed many of you, our helpful and passionate team members. However, it is a golden rule that the darkest hour is just before the dawn.  

 In November, our captain received an invitation from our senior, Leon, inviting us to give a talk to the primary school students in Gansu. Thank God that the light of hope has finally started shining on us just before we said goodbye to the year 2020. Thanks to Leon and Gucheng Elementary School for giving us such a precious chance.

 As we could only have less than a month left to get prepared before the first talk, all our members took initiatives and tried every effort in order to make the talks successful.

 Time is a thief. Like a fistful of sand, it can slip right through your hands. The day of our first talk has finally come, regardless of being noticed or not. That day, just before we started the talk, we sent gloves to the primary school students. It was a gift to show our care and warmth to them. It was very warm in our hearts when we have seen their reflections on their smiling faces. Right after this, we started the talk with simple introductions of our volunteer team and our school by our captains.  

 It is the first step that costs troublesome. As the talk began, our team members faced a lot of difficulties, such as poor network, limited time, or even lack of confidence. However, they bent over backwards, they wholly devoted themselves to teaching students the correct way of sleeping. In return, the students were fully engaged in our talk. In the end, we managed to complete the talk with delight.

 A week later, after repeated reflections and evaluations, it came to the showtime for our Group Two. Their topic was quite interesting, frostbite. To me, a new generation born and grown up in the warm southern part of China, this is something new. I’ve never seen it before. Not only the children but also me learned quite a lot from the talk. The most unforgettable was the warm-up dance part. The children followed every movement played in the video. They sang and danced joyfully. The classroom was overwhelmed with young and innocent laughter.  

 What a shame that two of the captains and I did not have the chance to give presentations to the primary school students. However, it was also enjoyable to us to have played the overall leading role in the activities. We assisted individual works to different groups at the very beginning, from preparation to rehearsal, and the final performance in front of the primary school students. We saw how much endeavour you have paid. Your success is indeed the real success of each and everyone of us. I sincerely thank you all for participating in this talk. I hope all of you have gained a lot from this activity, and I wish what you gained will better pave your way to becoming good doctors.

 03Sharing by our members

 Group 1 Topic: Sleep

 Date: 9th December, 2020

 We were grateful to participate in the event. It was our first time giving a talk and although we could not interact with the children on site due to COVID-19 it was a very unforgettable experience for us. We had the opportunity to teach the children, whilst learning a little more ourselves, about the topics related to our daily lives. The children seemed very intrigued and engaged with us during the talks and virtual games. It was not only a unique virtual experience but a unique volunteer experience as well. MSVT prides itself on teamwork, to which the success of these talks would not be possible – from our wonderful and supportive captains who guided us and made our work a little easier to the team leaders and their team who worked in unison. MSVT's unwavering commitment to volunteer was shown this semester and we hope there will be similar activities in the future as we can bridge the distance for non-local volunteer work reaching many more communities.

 Group 2 Topic: Frostbit

 Date: 16th December, 2020

 When I first knew this educational activity, I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to know more about the living conditions of people in different regions, hence widening my horizon. Frostbite is a topic that I never get deep in touch with. I knew more about frostbite and increased my understanding towards it through the preparation for this talk. I am very glad to see the children responded actively and smiled happily, which ensures my thought that this is a very meaningful activity.  

 ---Angel Lau

 I think this activity is worthwhile. Not only children and we can learn more about frostbite, the most gleeful thing to me is seeing the children’s big smiles, and seeing them learning new knowledge in a joyful and enjoyable way. This is the best thing that I have harvested in this activity. ---Thomas Xia

 I was very impressed by this activity. At first, I was worried that the children would find the topic boring hence not focusing on it. But I’ve never imagined that they concentrated and engaged in it so much! When we asked questions and invited them to dance with us, they were very cooperative and their active response was just out of my expectation! We could feel their desire and thirst for knowledge by observing their positive and earnest attitude. In my opinion, this kind of free educational activity not only enriches children’s knowledge, but also gives us a valuable chance to unveil our own potential and gain more experience. Most importantly, we can exchange our thoughts and communicate with the children without any restriction. I believe this is the significance for us providing this talk! ---Mona Li

 I’ve gained three rewardable results from this activity. The first one is team spirit through communicating and cooperating with my team members. The second is enriching both the children and our knowledge. The third is the charming smiles shown on the children’s faces. Through this activity, I gained satisfaction and happiness by helping others, and these gains are priceless. ---Kelly Chiu

 There was too much unfortunate in 2020.  

 But everything is going to be fine.  

 We hope 2021 will bring us peace and joy.  

 And we will continue to pursue our passion and do our best this year.

 (文字/刘旨洳 朱颖欣翻译/王绮婷 邓彩诗编辑/李昕责任编辑/尹秋颖审核/余佳佳 杨璐瑶终审/刘明)