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September 22, 2014

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Volunteers awed by scenery, Tibetan kindness

THE Shanghai Aid Tibet project doesn’t rely just on professionals recruited for the project. It is also assisted by an array of volunteers from all walks of life.

One such volunteer is Wang Chen, 24, a mechanical engineering graduate from Shanghai No. 2 Polytechnic University. He gave up plans to study in Germany last year and headed to Tibet instead on a 12-month volunteer project.

“I love the slow pace of life here and the work is challenging for me,” Wang told Shanghai Daily recently.

Helping Tibetans is in his blood. Wang’s grandparents worked for a Tibetan transport company between the 1950s and 1980s. His mother Gao Meiyan, who was born there, returned to the roof of the world in 2011 to help set up “Tibetan Voice” for the Tibetan People’s Radio Station.

His grandparents and his mother had told him about the hardships of life there. His uncle contracted polio while with the family in Tibet and ended up disabled because of the poor medical conditions.

Wang first traveled to Tibet in March 2013 on a short trip and was so fascinated by the experience that he vowed to return.

“Though my grandparents told me the extreme backwardness there, I was really seduced by the rugged beauty of Tibet and the warm hospitality of the Tibetans,” he said. “When I was out on the road, drivers would stop and graciously giving me rides, sometimes inviting me to sleep overnight in their humble homes.”

Those Tibetans didn’t speak Mandarin, so communication was by smiles and gestures.

“I could feel their kindness,” he said.

Wang returned to the school in Shanghai, where he found out about an Aid Tibet volunteer program organized by the municipal Youth League Committee. He applied immediately and was one of 31 students selected from hundreds of applicants.

Though his mother supported his decision, his father was against it. He wanted Wang to pursue his plans to do postgraduate degree work in Germany.

“Going to Tibet meant putting my overseas study on hold for a year,” Wang said.

His father finally relented.

“My mother persuaded him by pointing out that social work is part of life’s study, and young people my age had grown up not knowing hardship,” he said. “She said going to Tibet would be a self-development journey for me.”

Tibet needs help, she said.

Wang left Shanghai for Tibet at the end of July 2013. His grandmother, then 77, and his mother both traveled from the family hometown in Qingdao to bid him safe journey. They advised him to avoid strenuous exercise, drink plenty of water and get rest in order to handle the effects of high altitude.

When Wang arrived in Tibet, he was assigned to the secretarial division of the Community Party Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region, which was responsible for drafting official documents.

Office paperwork was initially difficult for the science student, but in time he slotted into his routine and began to feel at home.

Infrastructure in Lhasa is improving after so much help from other areas of China. Wang said many things in Lhasa are surprising.

“In Shanghai, bicycles are often stolen, even you lock them up,” he said. “But in Lhasa, nobody uses locks because thefts are so few.”

He lives in a dormitory room provided by the local government and eats in a canteen for government officials. In free time, he often plays ping-pong with colleagues.

“More strenuous activities can really knock you around because of the high altitude,” Wang said.

Wang told Shanghai Daily he has decided to prolong his volunteer tenure for one year.

“Though my former classmates now earn more than me working in developed cities, such as Shanghai, I have never regretted my decision to come here. I like my work and my life in this simple and beautiful place,” he said.




 

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