A visit to Wu sheng County

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It was with great trepidation that I joined the class on the recent camp to Tangjia Mountain Forest. I have not been camping since arriving in Australia 8 years ago, and was not sure if I could manage. Of course, I could have opted out but, instead, I set myself the challenge to just do it. And I am so glad I did. The mountains are beautiful. I have a whole new perspective of life in rural China - the simple villages and homesteads, the small plantations dotted in amongst the 'forest' where they grow crops of all kinds and where chickens and ducks roam freely. While the students were busy with Orienteering activities, I had the chance to take in the beautiful surroundings and make new connections with Chinese colleagues.

Sadly, the one thing I noticed was the amount of litter scattered around the campsite and in amongst the trees. So, on Friday morning, while we were waiting for the camp leader to set up the day's activities, I invited some students to join me in cleaning up the site. Armed with plastic bags (as gloves) and a bucket, we walked up the hill and proceeded to pick up the rubbish. We attracted the attention of a visiting Chinese family who, after wondering what on earth would possess us to clean up (and taking photos to record this 'strange behaviour'), eventually joined us on the clean up for a while. Four buckets and a decent sized pile of plastic and paper later (the equivalent of at least another six buckets), the site looked beautiful again.

Thank you Autumn, Avalon, Ebon and Faith. I believe we really did make a difference. Even if it was a small one.

Arlene

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