There are many things that can be done in two weeks, for example, travelling to a village in South Africa and build a classroom for local students.
That’s what 11 Hugh Boyd students and alumni did last summer, through the Initiative Program organized by the school and Rotary Club of Richmond Sunset.
Since 2006, the program has sent a number of students to help build a daycare in Lanseria in South Africa, a township where many people are living in poverty — earning an average income of around $50 a month.
“We started the program because we wanted to help our kids here to be a global citizens, and to teach our children to be more compassionate and understanding,” said Magdalen Leung, foundation chair of Rotary Club of Richmond Sunset.
In previous years, the program has helped people there build a kitchen, a gym, a day care centre, two ‘food tunnels’ to grow vegetables, and repair a playground.
“This year, our mission was to renovate a container for the after-school care program that accommodates 30 high-school students. They come to get help with homework,” said Leung.
After one year of preparation and raising funds, the students set out to South Africa in August and spent the next two weeks turning the large container, donated by a local organizer, into a cozy classroom.
They furnished the container with wooden walls, floors, desks and chairs, installed electricity, and painted colourful pictures outside.
Hugh Boyd student Alicia Zhang, 16, designed the exterior pictures, which include astronauts, hot-air balloons, animals and a Canadian flag, with the quote, “I live in a world where dreams come true.”
“I want them to dream big while they are sitting inside the container," said Alicia.
“I want them to reach their goals and realise what’s outside in the wider world and explore all the options, and to be motivated to continue studying.”
Alicia said she chose the bright colours for the painting to form a contrast with the surrounding environment, which is “generally dull.”
“It’s very dry there, so there is a lot of yellow and brown. I wanted something to pop up, to stick out when you look around. Those colours pop out in a way that is attractive but not distracting,” she explained.
UBC student and Hugh Boyd alumnus Kyle Gomes was the photographer on the trip. He had also been on the trip when he was in Grade 9.
“The initial draw for me to take part in the program was the ability to make a difference. When you are in high school, a lot of the time you feel that there is not much you can do to actually make a difference,” said Gomes.
“It was so amazing when we came back, we had such a great appreciation of what we have here in Canada.
“We really saw the economic difference in lives between the kids here and the kids in South Africa. That’s in addition to the work we did there.”
Alicia said the poverty there was almost beyond imagination — children might not get regular meals, their clothes are torn, and families squeeze into tiny homemade constructions of metal or wood, without water or electricity.
“You see this kind of situation on TV or in the media, but when you experience it first hand, it’s definitely a life-changing experience,” said Alicia.
“You just feel almost sad in a way, that you have so much, while they are still living their lives happily with so little. It really puts your life in a different perspective.”
Gomes said the smiles on those children’s faces are “really powerful.”
“That really adds to the appreciation. Some kids here are not happy because they don’t get certain toys. They had little, but they are also happy,” said Gomes.
For Alicia, the highlight of the trip was when the team took an hour out of their busy schedule to visit a preschool in the area and play with the children.
“They were having the time of their lives, and we were having the time of our lives.The classroom we built is going to stay there for a very long time, and the memory is going to stay with me,” she said.
