As I stood on a mountainside digging trenches for a CWEF water project, I took a big swig of water and wiped the sweat from my brow. I looked up and observed the rest of the service team working hard shoveling dirt. It took a long moment for my eyes and mind to register what I saw... This wasn't just another service group, working right beside me was a service team from MISSOURI! My mom, Joe & Janice Blackburn, Bill Damman, Roger Flandermeyer, and John & Valerie Frerking had shovels in hand and were working to implement a water system for a rural village in Yunnan. With tears in my eyes I said a silent thank you to Our Father for allowing me to share this experience with people from home.
Flashback to one year ago when my family first visited me in China. At that time she expressed interest in joining a service trip to rural Yunnan. She wanted to see the work I'm doing firsthand and be a part of it. But like many great ideas, we didn't know if the opportunity for mom to come to Yunnan would actually present itself. There were many pieces of the puzzle that had to fall into place before it could become reality. Our Father directed all the planning though, and 12 months later I stood on the side of a mountain in rural Yunnan digging trenches beside my mom and friends from home.
Digging trenches was hard work and produced many sore muscles; however, we made great progress helping the villagers implement the water system. By digging a significant portion of the trench, the villagers will quickly be able to lay the water pipes from the mountain spring to the water cistern in the village. As always, one of the highlights of digging was the beautiful mountain scenery. We hiked into the mountains and through several terraced fields to reach the section we needed to dig for the water pipes. The area was on the side of the mountain and overlooked a babbling creek, fields of harvested rice, and terraces up the side of the mountain. Over the course of the day we saw shepherds herding their water buffalo on one terrace and farmers harvesting crops on another terrace below. Watching life below while digging was so interesting and authentic.
The view from where we dug trench
Janice working hard digging
The villagers herding their water buffalo right beside us
Our time, efforts, and service made a profound impact in ways that we saw, and I'm confident we made a difference in many ways unseen as well. While in the village, we dug a portion of trench for the water pipe, we interviewed several villagers, and we visited the local school. Spending time with the children at the school was such a joy -- jump ropes, stickers, stuffed animals, coloring books, crayons, bubbles, a beach ball, and so much more. It was touching to sit back and watch my Missouri friends play with the village children. Many of them instantly bonded as they shared crayons, challenged each other to see who could blow the biggest bubble, or played ball or duck duck goose. Playing with the children and seeing their eyes light up as they received their new gift was heartwarming; however, perhaps the most important activity while at the school was to encourage the children in their education. We stressed the importance of school and told them how proud we are that they work so hard in the classroom. In a village where most adults are uneducated and school is not important or easily accessible, any amount of encouragement for children to take their education seriously is incredibly valuable.
Loving his new jump rope!
Playing ball in the schoolyard
Teaching the students the song, "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes"
Bill showing the students how to blow bubbles
So excited to show off her new stuffed animal
John passing out toys to the students
New coloring books and jump ropes - it's like Christmas!
Mom with her new friends
Decorating herself with her new stickers.
Students and teachers wave goodbye to us
In all the villages I've visited, I have never met villagers more hospitable, gracious, and kind as the people we served at this time. Our team was in rural Yunnan to serve the villagers; and yet, the villagers willingly served us more times than we could count. What an incredible example they set... and how humbling. While we dug the first day, several villagers carried lunch up the side of the mountain so we wouldn't have to hike down to the village. A few hours later, the village leader brought tea and fruit up the mountain so that we could have an afternoon break. It was so thoughtful and kind. Any time we stood waiting, the villagers hurried and brought benches for us to sit on and always made us feel so welcome.
There were two specific times that the villagers went above and beyond for us. First, they planned a dinner and dance party for us in the village. They even butchered a cow (against our wishes). Everyone enjoyed a feast to celebrate the implementation of the water project and our new friends. After dinner, the village elders played their bamboo flutes (called---) and they taught us their minority circle dance. Hand-in-hand we danced around the fire to the tine of their traditional music under the starlit Yunnan sky. Priceless.
Village feast
The girl with the pink sleeves really loved Valerie; she is teaching Val their minority dance.
Mom dancing the night away
The villagers sporting their new Concordia Implement hats Joe gave them. Look how excited they are!
The second act of kindness the villagers showed us occurred before the dinner party. The area where the dinner and dance was held was on a landing at the bottom of a steep slope. For the villagers, going down the hill was no problem; but for those of us who don't climb mountains daily, the hill was quite steep. The day before the dance, we all struggled to make it up and down that hill. But as we arrived at the dinner party the day following, we looked at the hill and found that the villagers had carved stairs out of the hillside for us. They had noticed our struggling and took the time and effort to create stairs for us. Mom looked at me and said she couldn't remember the last time someone did something so thoughtful.
One of the village homes, surrounded by fields of sugar cane
Denise and I in our matching outfits : ) walking back to the village after a long day of work
Road construction is taken to a whole new level in rural Yunnan. Trenches of mud we had to drive through.
Traffic jam because the roads are so bad, and of course, because the trucks have to share the road with the cows passing by...
Road workers building the retaining wall, stone by stone. Before the stones can be cemented into the wall, they first are chiseled to the correct size and shape. It is incredible to witness these workers building the road almost entirely by hand.
Construction workers live in roadside camps
Don't look! Flags don't make a very effective guardrail
Hiking down the mountain and through the fields
Bill successfully eating peanuts with his chopsticks! Look at how far the chopstick skills have come
Precious!
Visiting an orange plantation; the owners on the left took us into the fields and told us to pick and eat as many oranges as we could. I think we all literally ate like 6 oranges (and felt sick because of it! haha). Sticky hands from eating a monster orange that was bigger than a softball!
Love!
Roger presenting one of our government partners with a thank you gift of KC Masterpiece Barbeque Sauce and Russell Stover Chocolates! The group was so thoughtful, but, boy oh boy did it make me miss barbeque!
The group with our local government partners, after giving their gifts
The Missouri team's trip to China was not limited to time in the village. We were able to tour Hong Kong and spend quality time in Kunming. Here are a few highlights:
Enjoying dinner at an Irish Pub in Hong Kong
Cheers!
Victoria's Peak, looking out over the bay in Hong Kong. A perfectly clear day and such a beautiful city and skyline!
In Kunming, at the Stone Forest with JJ.
While in Kunming, the group took an afternoon to travel to my roommate JianJuan's hometown. Her mother invited my mom and friends to come to their home so she could prepare dinner for us. What a kind and thoughtful gesture!
Boys in JJ's hometown following around the group of foreigners :)
JianJuan, me and our mothers outside of JJ's home. Having my mom see JJ's village and meet her mother was a moment where I was able to share more of my life in China with my mom.
The whole trip was such a blessing and is something I’ll never forget!
*Bill, I know you aren't from Missouri; but I refuse to acknowledge that other state that starts with a K and ends with "ansas" because they cheer for a silly bird. So for the purpose of this blog post, you are an honorary Missourian -- what a compliment! : )
