Let me give you some background on the Giving Tree. For those of you familiar with the Samaritan's Purse Christmas Child shoe box programme, the Giving Tree is the same idea without the Christian message (that's Communism for you). Instead of boxes, the children receive their presents in a bag. The bags are supposed to contain warm clothing, school supplies, a pair of shoes and toys.
This was a massive project to undertake. I was so impressed with how the Giving Tree administrators organized their fellow volunteers to make the whole process run smoothly and efficiently.
We started on October 23 with a Stapling Party, where volunteers in three shifts wrote identifying numbers and stapled corresponding pieces of paper to each of the 15, 000 bags to be filled. Yes, 15, 000 bags! Each bag was designated for a specific child. The piece of paper detailed their name, age, height, weight, shoe size and gender. Can you imagine the logistics of collecting that information? I know! Impressive, as I said.
The Stapling Party was a lot of fun. I am a HUGE fan of assembly line work and visible results, so this event was right up my alley. The fact that it was so well-run just added to my enjoyment. I know, I need help. All the volunteers went out for dinner after, courtesy of the Big Bamboo's generosity. The Big Bamboo is a restaurant owned by a Canadian (yay!) aimed at the ex-pat community. I am also highly motivated by food. I will volunteer for treats. Maybe I was a Labrador Retriever in a former life.
Not my hand, but a good shot nonetheless showing what we did. I was a stapler, no where near as photogenic as the number writers, hence no pictures.
Not my legs either. Just a few of the bags.
The next volunteer opportunity was a week later and involved shoe sorting. The Giving Tree needed help checking 3, 000 pairs of shoes. This meant opening each box, checking that there was a left and a right shoe of the same size and that the size matched the one on the box. This took the better part of a day, as you could well imagine.
Small section of the Great Wall of Shoes
For the individuals who wanted to donate, but didn't have time to shop, this "Shopping" Party filled the bags for them. Companies had donated shoes, toys, track suits and school supplies and we "shopped", i.e. stuffed the bags. Again, the organization was something else. It was assembly line style (love it!) where a volunteer would take an empty bag, look at the tag (maybe it was one I had stapled!) and move around the room collecting the appropriate items at different stations according to gender and size. I was on the boys' track pant station.
I was on the afternoon shift so these are only half the pants to be bagged.
A small percentage of the stuffed bags. Again, I love visible results.
There was also donated pizza for lunch. Woo hoo! How happy was I!
The best part was yet to come, the distribution of the bags. As I type, my eyeballs are already sweating reliving the distribution day while reviewing my photos. I know my easily perspiring eyeballs come as a huge surprise to some of you.
Here we go. Prepare yourself for a ton of photos. You might want to go to the bathroom and get a drink now. Go on. I'll wait.
The distribution day was December 10. It was sunny and warm. The school where we distributed the Giving Tree bags was Chang Lin Elementary School with 704 students. Just getting there was an adventure in itself as the school is located in a suburban village, down some very narrow crowded streets. You'll see those later.
Chang Lin School courtyard, note the balconies.
Yours truly
Students were waiting in antici...........pation
The excitement is growing....
But first, we make the students endure some speechifying.
They all literally marched into the courtyard, then stood for half an hour on concrete, listening politely.
Canadian students, take note!
The courtyard started to fill up.
I went up on the balcony to get a better perspective.
Wow! So many students!
Now for something new from me. I took videos! I know! so exciting! Let's see if they worked out.
Oh my gosh! That only took FOREVER to upload. They better work!
Argh! It didn't work! Clearly the learning curve is still climbing. Never mind. The audio and action was what I was after. Time to consult with my sullen in-house IT experts, aka my teenage kids.
I will recover, but you know this is just bugging me that I can't figure it out.
Aha! I just did! So proud of myself! And I didn't have to use my snarky, exasperated-sounding "consultants". Woo hoo!! Now I will record and post more videos. Lucky you, blog readers!
The speeches (you don't need to hear those, a still shot will do)
The students were so attentive and very well behaved.
Again, Canadian students take note!
Unlike the students, I couldn't stay in one place for the duration of the speeches. This should not be surprising either to those who know me. So I went exploring along the balconies where they had some excellent words of advice.
We need to get some of these signs into our Canadian schools!
Or on the wall of my living room.
My favourite. Making a "hue and cry" is what I do best.
I'd love to know who or what "criterion's word" is.
A teacher's ideal
Local TV crews and reporters were there to interview students and teachers. This Giving Tree distribution event was a big deal!
They then marched back to their classrooms to await the actual handing out and opening of their bags.
Now for the really good part, the actual giving and opening of the Giving Tree bags. I snuck went into a Grade 2 classroom where the kids were waiting oh so patiently for their teacher and the Giving Tree volunteers to arrive.
The pile o' bags
The students just as I arrived...
... and shortly after.
It's amazing how disruptive one Westerner with a camera can be.
Spot the waigouren (foreigner in Mandarin)
Look how sweet and cute these kids are. Almost unbearable.
Receiving and opening their Giving Tree bags. I kept my eyes peeled for items that looked familiar. Maybe one of these students was opening a bag from Hare or Vivian. Turned out, no.
If you scroll fast enough, it kind of looks like a video.
I love this little boy, too young to attend school, examining one of his sibling's presents.
Time to pack up and head home
Too cute!
It must have been this boy's turn to sweep the concrete floor. The teacher's platform was also made of concrete. All I can say is "brrrrr"! We don't know how lucky we are. Did I mention the classrooms are unheated?
Smiling students and teachers
You can see that by now the parking lot is empty. All the other volunteers had left. I was the last one to depart. I know, another revelation for my friends and family.
Driving back through the village, I saw a number of students carrying their newly-acquired Giving Tree bags. It was so cool to see.
Stopping for a snack.
That cotton candy was as big as her head!
This bundled up cutie reminded me of a certain teenage boy when he was little.
You know who you are, HP.
Various stores and businesses
I have no idea what this contraption was, but my driver did. Of course, I've forgotten what it's called in Mandarin. I was just pleased to find out I took this good a photo from a moving car.
I was thrilled to have been able to participate in such a day and all the activities leading up to it. The Giving Tree bags will definitely become a Shanghai Christmas tradition.
No comments:
Post a Comment