Beach Cleanup!

This was a very fun service project, we have a great time while serving our community. We had a great time, all we had to do was go to a beach in Tai Po, and then just clean junk off the beach. The team that had the most of a specific category would recieve a prize, and somehow that motivated us to work harder and faster. As soon as we got there, we saw that the beach was riddled with trash. We immediately got down to work, we picked up bottles, plastic bags, a broken lamppost, basically anything we could see. Our team of boys worked hard on a specific section of the beach, and we were able to pick up more than thirty glass bottles that were washed up on the shores of the beach. To our surprise we actually won in that category and recieved a prize, but because I wasn't at school the day they distributed the prize I wasn't able to get the prize. :( However the greatest challenge was not to just pick everything up, but to get it back up around 3 flights of stairs and to the bus. Once everything was done; all the rubbish was picked up by workers. We went down to see what else we could bring up. Not wanting to leave empty handed, we decided to pick up a broken lamppost and bring it up to the bus. That was the most memorable part of the service trip. Around ten guys picked up the heavy iron lamp post, put it on our shoulders, and brought the whole thing back to the bus. Then we went home, the experience was somthing I would remember through the ages.

CrossRoads Auust 25th, 2011

Hello everybody, my name is Samuel, and this blog will be filled with all the service projects that I will have dedicated my time and efforts to. On August 25th, 2011 we went to CrossRoads, all the way at GOLD COAST. If you don't know Hong Kong that well, it's very far from where our school is. But this experience was worth it, because of all the knowledge and expereince we recieved from going through this simple simulation.

Upon arriving at CrossRoads we hastily made our way up into a simulation room, where it was hot, had dim lighting, and had no windows to recieved sunlight. The only light source we had was from a few lights from the ceiling. Then, we were told about the simulation.

We weren't expecting much, and the way the instructor explained the simulation was made it sound fun and entertaining. In reality, it wasn't it was far from it. It was tiring and completely draining. We had to simulate what it was like being deep in poverty in the slums, and we had to fold paper bags made of newspaper. Then, we had to get our bundles of ten and try to sell them to a store keeper. These store keepers were not kind people, and if even one slight mistake was made they would rip all ten of our bags. It might not mean much for the store keepers, but it was hard for the families. I was in a group with Luana, Leon, Leo, Chi Lok, and Wesley, and we were a "family." In this group we would fold paper bags together and sell them together. The challenege was, if we did not match the amount of money we needed before the day (twenty-minute session) ended, we would be sent "Under the Bridge". "Under the Bridge" is where loan sharks would lend the people money, but then they have to work even harder with much harsher standards and conditions. The ultimate goal though was to make enough money to send one "child" to school. That is everyone's dream in the slums, because attending school allows someone to get a job and hopefully escape from poverty.

I learned a lot from this simulation. I have experienced poverty and the desperation for money. I did it for a hour, for people in the slums this is a lifestyle. I felt horrible for everybody in the poverty, and then we learned that once someone is caught in the net of poverty it is EXTREMELY difficult to escape from it. This experience was life-changing.