![]()
our project--envACTion in Palembang
Back to the early July, I was busy expanding my vocabulary especially the words about airport and flight. My friend and I had applied to be volunteers in the AIESEC organization this summer and had been accepted by an Indonesian project, envACTion. You may think how grate it is, but except the joy, I really in a worry. I have become a person that think too much and feel uncertain too often. When I was handling math homework, I slipped my mind because I felt my self-instruction was imperfect; when I was staring my Integrated English textbook, actually I was thinking about the correct way to communicate with local people.
And how was everything going? Excellent I have to say.
The instructions in the airports turned out to be normally, and I even felt at home when we transited in Kuala lumpur airport. The project city called Palembang, capital of South Sumatra. It was the warm sunset and enthusiastic supervisors form organizing committee that welcome our first arrival. Those supervisors who we called OC actually are our peers, studying in universities and gathering for this project. On the way to our Exchanged Participants’house, I observed this city. And actually during the project, my exploration of Palembang just like a communication between my inner voice and a traditional city. There is no great difference in reality between one country and another, because it is always people you meet everywhere. But thanks to the communication, I saw the colorful houses in the daytime and in the evening, the thousand varying shades interflowing liked a lighted water.
Before I went into the Exchanged Participants’house, let’s say EP house, I had never imagined how’s the feeling of shaking hands with so many countries’citizens. Besides we five Chinese girls, we have two boys from Oman, one girl and one boy from Egypt, a Sri Lankan boy and the last boy comes from Netherlands. We completed the schedule everyday, voted a EP leader every week, made a fantastic plan to free day, chatted until midnight, cooked our own traditional food, celebrated Indonesia Independent Day with our neighbors......anyway, we lived together just like a big family.
Yes, we communicated in English but the fact is far more than a certain language. So you see when I talked with my dear partners, whatever it’s about varying cultures, believes, weather or gossips, I felt no difference but normal people. Wiping out nationalities and ages, we are just a group of young people gathering for a common dream. We communicated in English but the fact is far more than a certain language. It's about world citizenship.
Actually it always occurred to me a text that I learned in last semester. The author’s idea exactly expresses my feeling about the life in Palembang. The writer is Norman Cousins and the title is Confessions of a Miseducated Man. He wrote“In order to be at home anywhere in the world, I had to forget the things I had been taught to remember. It turned out that my ability to get along with other peoples depended not so much upon my comprehension of the uniqueness of their way of life as upon my comprehension of the things we had in common.”
![]()
the game
He’s right. Once we needed to make a presentation about environment to the local best senior high school. We prepared for many days and nights and I can still remember the scene that we sat around in the living room and interacted our thoughts deeply. We aspire to communicate as responsible adults, building a nice impression to those students though we argued for the points many times. The communication among we people made me discover that we were both talking about the same neighborhood like this planet, and the conditions that made it pleasant or hostile to human habitation.
Communication is indeed a subtle human art that is extremely powerful whether with or without words. I was the last EP leader of this project and got the Best EP prize as well, you could say I was shocked when I heard the result. I asked my fellows and they answered "Do you remember that afternoon when you did the kitchen cleaning all by your own Wil? Do you remember the days that you acted as a doctor? You cared about all of us but ignore your hurting kneel. And do you remember that night we stayed up until 3 o'clock just because of your sincerely, passionate introduction of Chinese calligraphy and instruments?"
I heard and I got stuck, at that moment, I felt grateful and touched. Yes, I did share my country's marvelous culture legacies with all my passion which I regarded as a communication of expanding Chinese culture and I did try my best to help them to get a quick recovery from sickness. Not only because kindness is one of my traits, but also I really enjoy the time stay with them, also appropriate the friendships. If we had never met, can't imagine where would I be.
Communication really creates wonders. My brothers and sistersshowed methe palace of my potential which I always blind with them. I found that I have the power to get people touched so that I can make a difference; I found that I am the person whose action speaks louder than words so that this wordless communication can promote understanding in our social relationships; I also found that I am more than a world citizen who can enjoy the wonderful communications and fulfill my potential.
