Recently, a group of Year 10 students and faculty from Century Park Campus travelled to Xiuning County in China’s Anhui province to visit a YCIS Seeds of Hope School, located in a small rural village and surrounded by rice fields. The YCIS students had the opportunity to interact with the young children attending the school. Together they played sports, practised a co-ordinated dance, worked on an art project, and conversed using language skills that the YCIS students had built in class, and more. After returning to Shanghai, the students reflected upon the trip, sharing their thoughts about the meaningful experience, as follows:

“I really loved meeting the little kids and becoming friends with them. I danced with them and we really bonded since the kids loved dancing. It excited them to see us so involved, too.” - Sean

“The first day I was on the art team with Ms Fletcher, and being the ‘self-proclaimed artist’, I loved drawing and painting with the kids. There was this one little boy who drew a circle with a smiley face inside, and he pointed at it and told me ‘that's my grandfather’. It was really beautiful to see the meaning they created through art.” – Anna

“I really enjoyed helping the kids paint, and teaming up with them to experience the joy of making a huge mess, which is familiar to me, but previously alien to them. This experience of sharing is what I enjoyed the most, and was the highlight of the trip for me.” - James

“The Seeds of Hope trip to Xiuning was one of the most remarkable school trips ever. The children at the school were willing to learn in a way I can’t even explain. They had endless smiles on their faces which made teaching them very easy. I taught them two different dance routines. Both dances were very different, and I was delighted by the fact that no matter what age group I was working with, they all tried their best. I taught most of them what a ‘high five’ was, and by the end of the lesson I had about twenty kids trying to high-five me! Another great thing that surprised me was that after only one day together, the children would come searching for you during break to come play with them. This shows the meaning and strength of the bond you create with the children on these Seeds of Hope trips. This trip will remain with me for the rest of my life, and I strongly encourage everyone who has the opportunity to go on a Seeds of Hope trip to go.” - Lorenzo