By Nicodino da Cruz [East Timor]

I had never dreamed that one day, I would come to study in China and got the opportunity to be a volunteer teacher in the rural area.

I was born to a simple family in a remote area in East Timor. In 2000, while my country was rebuilding from the war that broke out in 1999,everything was burnt down to the ground, including nearly every home. Many people were homeless. I used to live in a small bathroom.

During our transitional government, we received humanitarian aid from many countries—China being one of them. There were also university students from other countries volunteering to teach in every village in East Timor.

Therefore, when I grew up,I’ve always been looking for opportunities to repay the society.I’d been a volunteer teacher for village children in my hometown of Lospalos.

I became a student of the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan (CUG) in 2014.

After I came to China, I heard from some teachers and through the Internet about the poor education status of children of migrant workers in underdeveloped regions. Their stories were such a magnetic force that pulled me in. I felt that I needed to do something when I got a chance.

I kept telling people around me that I would like to go to the rural areas and help teach the children during the vacations,and the opportunity finally came. Two of my schoolmates introduced me to山中花兒愛心助 學(xué) 團(tuán) (Shanzhong Hua’er Aixin Zhuxue Tuan, literally Mountain Flowers Student’s Charity Group),a foundation at CUG committed to improving the education condition in poor areas and to upgrade the growth of public consciousness of young students.Through it, students can apply and go to teach in rural areas in their summer vacation.

I applied to the foundation, and in the summer of 2016, I joined a group of students to volunteer in Nanpo, a village in Guangxi Province.

On the morning of July 8, we took off from Wuhan. After 24

hours cheerfully spent in music playing, chatting and making new friends, we arrived at a train station in Guangxi the next morning. The mango trees and cool weather in this southern province of China brought me back to my days in the countryside of East Timor.

我是來自東帝汶的留學(xué)生，2014年來到中國地質(zhì)大學(xué)（武漢）（以下簡稱“地大”）。

我出生在偏遠(yuǎn)地區(qū)的家庭，戰(zhàn)亂將我們的家園毀于一旦。我童年時期生活環(huán)境艱苦，但包括中國在內(nèi)的其他國家為我們提供人道主義援助，來到我國的各個村落支教。長大后，我曾在自己的家鄉(xiāng)參加過志愿支教項目。

后來來到中國，我通過多種渠道得知留守兒童的事情，他們的故事好像磁石一般吸引著我，有機(jī)會的話我希望自己也能做點(diǎn)什么。

在我不斷向身邊友人傳達(dá)這一心愿后，機(jī)會終于來了。兩名中國同學(xué)把我介紹到學(xué)校以支教助學(xué)為主要活動的公益社團(tuán)——“山中花兒愛心助學(xué)團(tuán)”。2016年暑假，我如愿加入志愿者團(tuán)隊，赴廣西南坡支教。

7月8日早上，我們乘火車從武漢出發(fā)，一天一夜后到達(dá)廣西。廣西的環(huán)境不比武漢，白天涼爽、夜晚潮濕，時常令我憶起家鄉(xiāng)的農(nóng)村。7月10日一早，我們乘車前往南坡，到達(dá)后便立即挨家挨戶招攬學(xué)生。

當(dāng)?shù)厝硕紵嵝暮每?，臉上總是掛著笑容。南坡村村民的生活水平差距較大，有些家庭條件好，有些卻住在簡陋的小屋里，為了讓孩子上學(xué)得夜以繼日地辛勤工作。盡管生活艱苦，他們依然保持樂觀，熱情接待來客。

7月11日是開課第一天。為孩子們辦理注冊手續(xù)、打掃教室后，我們便開始了課程。起初，注冊了的學(xué)生只有60人，我們把他們按年齡分成兩組。隨著時間推移，來上課的孩子越來越多，每個班增加到40個孩子左右。

有些孩子很害羞，主要是因為第一次見外國人。由于我們之間比較生疏，加上孩子年紀(jì)小，他們上課的時候不是太專心。我通過玩游戲、唱歌和彈奏樂器的方式拉近和孩子們的距離，教學(xué)也變得更容易。

繪畫課是最受歡迎的課程之一。我發(fā)現(xiàn)孩子們都非常愿意學(xué)習(xí)新事物，會認(rèn)真細(xì)致地觀察我在白板上示范的每一個步驟。其中有個學(xué)生很有天賦，回武漢前，我把我的圖畫本送給了他。

On July 10, in the early morning we left for Nanpo. With the fresh air and fog upon the hills, we enjoyed the morning sun while seated on the mini bus to the village.

After some hours, we finally arrived at Nanpo. On the same day, we went to visit local families. We went door to door to ask whether there were any children able to come to a class that would start in the next few days. We met some of the children on our rounds and made our way to their homes with their help.

The local people were warmhearted and welcoming.They especially welcome volunteer teachers like us, “No matter what language you speak,it seems everyone understand the true meaning of a smile, it communicates everything that a heart wants to express and understand.”

Some people were living in good homes but some were not—some of them were living in very simple huts made of leafs, grass,wood, and clay. They have to work hard each day and night in order to support their children to go to school. Even though they have a hard life, they still appreciate everything they have—you can still see the happy faces behind the huts.

On July 11, we started our first day of the school program in Nanpo. Some of us were in charge of the students’ registration process and some cleaning the classroom. At the beginning, only around sixty students registered.We split them into two groups based on age. After a short while,each class had around forty students.

Some of the younger ones were shy, especially when they were seeing a foreigner for the first time. They didn’t know much about my lessons. In order to overcome this challenge, we played games and sang along with them. When they became more familiar with me and the other teachers, the teaching process became easier.

孩子們都善良可愛，其中有些有點(diǎn)淘氣。有一點(diǎn)我很喜歡的是，孩子們每天早上會來我們寢室笑著打招呼，甚至帶著零食與我們分享。在一起的時間越久，他們對我們越好奇。

他們給我“賜”了姓，叫“歐陽”，于是，我的中文全名成了“歐陽鴻飛”。有些人還給我取了各種外號。他們逐漸對學(xué)英語也產(chǎn)生了興趣。還有學(xué)生在課上和課后找我要畫，想當(dāng)作紀(jì)念。

7月18日是我們在南坡的最后一天。我們團(tuán)隊一起整理好教室和教學(xué)設(shè)備，還舉辦了送別晚會。孩子們唱歌跳舞、朗誦詩歌、表演小品，并和我們互換禮物。大家都依依不舍，氣氛傷感，但離別的時刻終究還是來了。

我從未想過有一天能來中國學(xué)習(xí)并去到偏遠(yuǎn)地區(qū)支教。在南坡支教的這段時間是我人生中最寶貴的、最令我驕傲的經(jīng)歷。

我會永遠(yuǎn)記得南坡的孩子們。◆

Art class was one of the most interesting classes. I was convinced that the pupils were willing to learn new things. All of them were really careful with their work. They paid attention to the steps I drew on the white board closely. Among the pupils there was a little boy who was very good at drawing. On one of our last days in Nanpo, we visited his home and I decided to give him my drawing book as a gift.

The pupils were cute and very nice, even though some of them were a bit naughty. One thing I liked about these pupils is that,every morning, they would come by our dormitory and greet us with their happy smiling faces.They would even take snacks in and share with the teachers. After more time passed, the students became more curious about us.

I didn’t have a Chinese family name before going to Nanpo.There, my students helped me in choosing my family name 歐陽(ouyang). From that moment on,my Chinese name became 歐陽鴻飛(Ouyang Hongfei).

Some started to call me飛 哥(Feige), especially the naughty pupils would prefer calling me黑哥(Heige) or even 老黑(Laohei).They started to ask me many questions. One of them asked me whether one day he will be able to speak English well. Sometimes after class the pupils would ask me for my drawings, because they wanted to keep them as a memory.

July 18 was the last day of our stay in Nanpo. Before we left the village, the whole group rearranged the rooms and the school facilities that we have used,and made sure everything was put in place. We also managed to organize a farewell party with the children, where the students presented their talents such as singing, dancing, poetry, and we gave them the presents that we bought from Wuhan and their certificates. The students also surprised us. They gave us some souvenirs and other small gifts.It was a sad day for all of us.Eventually we all left for Wuhan.

I’d never dreamed that one day, I would come to study in China and get to teach in a rural area. Being part of the life of the children of Nanpo might be the most incredible experience ever for me. If you asked me what would be the thing I have done to make me the proudest, my answer would be putting a smile on the faces of the children of Nanpo.

Those children will always be in my heart.◆