Chun Yin Roger Lo AIESEC volunteer from Hong Kong
Hi guys, I am Lo Chun Yin Roger from HONG KONG. You can call me Roger directly. I am a year 1 student from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who study Engineering. My hobbies are playing guitar and go jogging. I perceive myself to be an enthusiastic and adventurous person. That means I usually think positively and encourage my friends. In addition, I am also willing to try out new stuff and hobbies, so if you guys have any interesting hobbies, please share it with me!
Motivation to this project
In fact, the major motivation for me to this project is that I want to bring changes to the others, as well as equipping myself with various capabilities. As a global citizen, not only should you focus on yourself though that is paramount, but also pay attention to the business of the others. In this trip, I hope I could bring positivity to the others, as my first step to do what I can do for the others. Aside, I think this project would be very likely to channel me different skills, like social, collaboration and problem-solving skills. These skills are also some essential push factor for me to take part in the project.
Why exactly Hungary and the Foundation
For me, I always want to visit some Eastern Europe countries. And Hungary is among those countries. Hungary has captivated me with its beautiful sight, as well as its culture and food. I would like to experience them on my own.
Why exactly this Foundation?
Well, this Foundation aims at providing hands to the children who have a painful experience and background, which is one of the aspects I am interested in. Volunteering in this Foundation could enable me to help the children in an effective way. And the programme from this Foundation is well-rounded for us and the children. Not only study, but also develop new interests. This also attracted me to join the programme.
Expectation
For the children, it is expected that I could help them with their learning, as well as bringing enthusiasm to them and cultivating them with a new interest. For me, I hope I could broaden my horizons, facilitate my personal capability. Last but not least is having a memorable trip in Hungary.
Farewell
What I got from the experience and from the kids
Actually, there are a myriad of things that I got from the camps. And the first quality among these are communication skills. In fact, for every single camp, I was meeting different teenagers with various age groups. Unfortunately, only part of us share the common language. This turned out that I have to be more active to communicate with them, with the help of translation app and a diversified body language, as well as a positive attitude. I have equipped myself with this quality throughout the camps. In addition, I also learnt the way of integrating into a new group. As I mentioned, I was a new-blood in the camp for the established groups of teenagers. I have to make the teenagers be interested in me with a sense of humor, positivity and caring them as a junior mentor. Beside from the above, I learnt something new from the kids. As they have their own hobbies, they often broaden my vision by teaching me different things, for instance, playing instruments, dancing, saying simple Hungarian. Last but not least, positivity has also been cultivated in the time spent with them. As we know, they were always happy, if not cheerful. That atmosphere has absorbed me into it – I became more positive with them.
My impression towards the kids:
My first impression towards them is active: no matter what background they are from. Most of them did participate in the camp, in the activities, in the tasks. That was beyond my imagination. Besides, it is also my impression that they are really talented. As they showed, they were good at their areas: sports, arts, music, academics. It was glad to see them having their own passion and devote themselves fully into the aspect. They, however, sometimes could be a little bit impolite, mostly verbally. As I understand, sometimes some of them would say something really rude, if not a foul language. These cases were not only be found when they were angry but in a normal situation. But it is a minor thing which could be corrected. All in all, I have a good impression towards them.
Feedback from the Foundation:
At first, there are a little bit clash AIESEC and me during the preparation work. But those things were soon resolved. All in all, I really like the Foundation, both in its motto and the way I was treated. As I knew, the Csanyi Foundation is aimed at helping children from different backgrounds, and cultivate them to be all-rounded well-beings. I strongly agree to this motto. In my mind, instead of giving the child a fish, the best resort is always teaching them how to fish. The work of the Foundation is rewarding, just by viewing the way the kids act and their passion, at a shallow level. I received a good treatment from the Foundation. I was always asked if I needed any help and advises, which really helped me to survive the difficult moment. This is my appreciation that my supervisor, Judit, really cared about me and assisted me a lot. As for the most important part – accommodation, it was wonderful and far above my expectation. Before I arrived, I was thinking I would be thrown into some student dormitory and left unattended; however, it seems the Foundation has proved me wrong in a positive way. The accommodation was really comfortable, both during the camp and between the camp. Theoretically, I should be thrown into some student dormitory during my 1-week holiday, nevertheless, the Foundation provided me with a short staying in some apartment. I really appreciated that, especially comparing the accommodation of some other AIESEC volunteers apart from Csányi Foundation.
Opinion towards the camp:
The camps were marvelous overall. Those camps have their own themes, which are different from each other. That has channeled me various experiences every single week, which is exciting. In my opinion, the camp did enrich the children in a good way, through a number of activities and tasks. To name but a few, the children have learnt things about drama, art, the mother Nature and the history. Not only were the camp meaningful for them, but also me. With a view to making the camp better and better, there are always room for improvement. Personally, it is my hope that some of the camps could shorten the free time for the kids. Consider the camp in Kőszeg, it was a great camp about nature; however, there are a little bit too much free time for them. As for the daily schedule in that camp, mostly we did only have two activities each day, and a nearly 4-5 hours of free time, let alone the free time in the evening. Aside, it is also my opinion that some food with more nutrients could be provided to the children, for the sake of their health. The local food provided was full of Hungarian color, I was really into it, like the Goulash, pörklöt, Chicken with paprika, to name but just a few. On the other side, fast food would be provided to the children. It is, of course, attractive and delicious for the kids. But in my mind, there are always cheap food with nutrients like carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, aside from fat, sucrose. Food with high content of fat and sucrose are really not good for their physique, skin and health. To conclude with, the camps were really wonderful and thought-provoking. This is my sincerest hope that I will re-visit the country and the foundation again in the near future, as a volunteer. So that I could provide a superb experience for the children. Thank you for having me in the camp, in the 5 applicants. I really hoped I have brought some new insight to the kids.
1st camp – Sarlóspuszta
It was a great start for my journey. We did different things every day in the camp, which is thought provoking and meaningful. It is good to see the children are actively engaged in the activities. Although we don’t share same language, we did communicate well.
2nd camp – Kőszeg
The camp was packed with hiking. It was really good for the teenagers’ health, as well as mine. The canteen food, however, could be improved by providing food with more nutrients, and no dessert for dinner. The camp is a little bit too relaxed for the teenagers, for there are so much free time.
3rd camp – Őrvidék
It was a great camp. It enables us to travel across the border to Austria, which really expanded my horizons. In the camp, we could have the chance to visit different historical sites in Austria, Vienna, which is really meaningful. On the other side, the travelling is a little bit exhausting and tedious, for there were a 5-6 hours of travelling. Also, we only had a simple sandwich from the hotel for lunch, and it would be a little bit hard for a teenager at 19 years old.
4th camp – Cíksomlyó
It was the best camp among all. In the camp, we were able to learn, multi-tasking, and had adventure every single day. The variety of the activities was the most diverse comparing to the other camps. It had allowed the teenagers and to me to try something new, and challenging day after day like the climbing-park. We had a real community.
5th camp – Sarlópuszta
It was a relaxing camp. The children could have the chance to learn something new themselves, and immerse themselves in the fields of art. The best programmes so far is the animation, drama classes and the Csanyi band. I have participated in the Csanyi Band and it was of great fun. I also learn some new musical knowledge with the help of the professionals.