“Living In the Moment” Through Helping In Nepal Disaster Areas

(Oriental Daily) Living in affluent Hong Kong, our basic needs are always fulfilled.  Indeed, buying the latest phone or travelling to Europe are often seen as part of the basic needs by many youths.  However, having abundance in materialistic terms does not necessarily translate to spiritual fulfillment.  Earlier on, a group of CityU students participated in the Servant Leadership Training Program (SLTP) and went to Nepal.  They volunteered to rebuild the disaster area, teach, farm and fund-raise.  Through these activities, they experienced a life back to basics, and understand the importance of “being in the moment”. 

Demolishing Collapsed Structures

Affected by the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, many buildings near the epicenter were badly damaged.  Rebuilding the school at the disaster area became one of the important tasks for this trip.  The school is located at the Lamjung District, in the south of Manaslu Mountain.  To get there, it is an 8-hour journey from Kathmandu by car, followed by a long walk uphill with luggage.  To these young students, it was certainly a challenge, yet they had no regrets doing the trip.  Frankie, a 4^th-year Policy and Politics student, and Kelvin, a 4^th-year Architecture student, emphasized the importance of helping out in the rebuilding of the disaster area.  “It has been 2 years since the earthquake.  Yet, the disaster area is still in a mess.  The rebuilding work has been slow.  With our help, we hope that the community can be up and running again soon.”  The students were responsible for demolishing the collapsed buildings, from the roof to the walls, to allow for future reconstruction.

A life without smartphones

In addition to rebuilding works, the students were teaching and helping out in the farm.  Through these activities, they had a cultural exchange with the local community there.  They had home stays with the locals.  Supplies are limited uphill.  People live a simple life.  They did not have access to WIFI; they also did not have enough water for showers.  To a young urbanite, this is a real challenge.  Michelle, a 3^rd-year Marketing student, had a different perspective.  “Without WIFI in the mountains, everyone had to put down his phone, and we got to communicate more.  After our work and our meals, we could leisurely sit on the mountains to appreciate the views, watch the stars, and chit chat.  The locals are friendly.  Even though they know very little English, they used their body language to communicate with us, and we had a lot of fun trying to guess what each other means!”

Learning to treasure the moment

From the mountains, the students head to Pokhara, the second largest city in Nepal.  They visited a children’s home among the snow mountains, and held a Fun Fair at Hotel Love and Light (a social-enterprise which supports the same children’s home) to raise funds.  They invited tourists and trekkers to join the Fair and raised HKD5,000 in a day.  The trip ended with this exciting achievement.

In the 8-day journey, the 28 students experienced a simple life without WIFI, without showers, and observed the frugality of the locals.  Natalie, a 4^th-year IT student, and Suri, a 2^nd-year Economics and Finance student, said that “to be contented (with what we have)” is their biggest reward from the trip.  “In Hong Kong, we are advanced in our transportation system, in our medical facilities, etc.  But in such an affluent city, people are not happy.  There is an air of complaints.  Perhaps these complaints stem from our endless desires.  After the trip to Nepal, I learn to live in the moment, and treasure every little thing in my life.  I find life more meaningful.”