The Story of Rainbow Gate
Just one year ago in a chilly winter morning, I walked into the 农家女亲子家园 (NJN Children’s House) for the very first time, carrying a violin, a simple CD player, and a stack of cartoon stickers. I had no idea what to expect during my first volunteer visit, but as time flew and the relationship between the children and me grew stronger, I began to experience a sense of great warmth and welcome from the children, which gave me a sense of joy and pride to be volunteer spending time with them.
Throughout the past year, I have been visiting the children on most of the Sunday mornings to be met with cheers of “何老师您好!” (“How do you do Ms. Ho!”) — and most recently, “Good Morning” in English. It is always a delight to hear this simple greeting. To me, it is a sign of real progress for the children. I have been introducing the English vocabulary, foreign custom and culture to the children, mainly through music. Music truly has the ability to make learning more easy and enjoyable. The very first song in the English CD that I bring every session is “Good Morning”. Once the children hear this familiar tune, they break out into gleeful chorus and know all the English words by heart. Although it wasn’t easy at first, with time and effort, every single one of the children was able to sing “Good Morning” with accurate English pronunciations and to understand what the words meant. We did the same thing with five other songs, and both the children and I were full of smiles when we all sang together. Sometimes, I would even bring my violin to accompany their wonderful singing!
I have also discovered that the children love reading books and listening to stories. Every week, we have “circle time” where we all sit in a circle and I read a story to them. As I got to know the children better, I found out their common interests in train engines and dinosaurs. So I borrowed books from the vast collection in the ISB elementary school library that fit these interests. This made the stories more attractive to the children and made story time and learning English a fantastic experience for all of us.
Not only have I been introducing some of the simple English words to the children, but I have also been showing them parts of foreign custom and culture, such as commonly recognized international festivals. The most memorable celebration for all of us has definitely been Halloween. When I showed the children their first jack-o’-lantern, they passionately dubbed it “Pumpkin Monster” (南瓜鬼). I told them about the different kinds of things people did on Halloween, such as children will dress up to trick-or-treating. Finally, on the Halloween weekend, when I visited the children dressed in a witch’s costume and presented each one of them with their own small plastic “Pumpkin Monster”, they were absolutely ecstatic. Showing them the Western culture has hopefully broadened their perspectives as well as given them excitement and happiness.
The past year with the children has truly been a terrific journey. Every time I enter NJN Children’s House to visit the children, it is almost as if I am passing through a rainbow. Hence, I have formed a small volunteer club under the name of “Rainbow Gate” and hope that many more will join me to share the experience. At the NJN Children’s House New Year’s performance last week, I was extremely proud of all the children when they sang “Good Morning” to a large audience. For as long as I am still in Beijing, I hope to continue sharing more delightful times with the children!
By Jolie Ho (International School of Beijing) January, 2013.