Photographer for Hike for Hong Kong

Organization: HandsOn HongKong

Date: 26/11/2022

This is my first volunteer experience and I love it! I have learned so much from it!

A) Volunteer is a great opportunity to meet marvelous people

There are two people that really inspire me.

One is the brilliant grandma. I don\’t know her age, and I don\’t really remember her name, I will just call her The Brilliant.

She is responsible for one of the checkpoints where I was responsible for staying around and taking photos, and we were walking together for the rest of the trip. I was inspired by how energetic she is. We were talking about my life as a university student, my dorm, my studies, and something about my hometown. I could feel the energy through her words, her small gestures, and I could tell that she has enjoyed her life and has a great bunch of impressive life stories that she could tell. Which is amazing! That\’s the first time I could feel the wisdom and peace and inspiration spreading out from someone, just because one has been through a lot and are 120% comfortable about themselves now. And I like it, I like the mood she is in so much.

I really admire her, I couldn\’t imagine what would my life be like when I am at her age, but she has just set an example for me. It would be great if I could be as energetic, positive, loving, and open-minded as she is at her age.

And that has actually taught me that, one will always be young if one keeps their mind young. They were just words that I think no one could achieve before I met her. And I have seen more since that volunteer experience, and it is a fact that people from the USA, from Europe, are more likely to make jokes and have fun with kids despite their age. And that\’s the best thing an adult could do and I like it so much. Men in Asia are more likely to gain that meaningless self-esteem as they age, they become arrogant and always brag out of nothing, which is super stupid.

It also reminds me of how life could be different and how beautiful life could have been. Wish I could see more and experience more in the future.

The other is Sunday. His name is so special and easy to remember.

What impressed me the most is that he has been volunteering almost every day for the past five years, which is amazing! He likes taking pictures of … I don\’t know… he called them wired things, but I think it\’s cool. We were walking along together as well and we have been taking photos of each other. I really appreciated it, normally no one takes photos for the photographer, and I am kind of used to that. It\’s such a sweet and kind thing to do. I like the photos he has taken of me and we had great fun chatting and walking along the way.

There\’s a lot more to say, but I would rather keep them as a precious memory to myself. I like the other volunteers I met as well. All of them are kind and supportive and great and embracing. I have taken photos of them and their smile are all so bright and sweet.

I love this experience so much and it could be great if we got to work together again in other volunteer opportunities.

B) Volunteer is a great opportunity to learn from the organizer

She is such a well-organized person and has been so passionate. I think that\’s what people will be like when they fully enjoy the job they are doing and they know that they are making a good impact on society.

I appreciate the way she is respecting her team, the way she is greeting people, and the way she is opening the event and participating in it. I am impressed and I learned a lot.

C) Volunteer is a great opportunity to learn from the participants

When we were gathering, I felt the loving and harmonious atmosphere between people. From how they are welcoming each other, how they express themselves to each other, and how they laugh together. They are young, middle-aged, with kids, with dogs, with families, with colleagues, yet they are all friendly with each other and there are no gaps and boundaries.

All of the participants are fit as well. Since we were hiking and kind of climbing up and down the stairs, people moves much faster than I think they would. We have around 90 participants in total, and my estimation would be that it took the first arrivals to wait for more than 30 minutes for the rest of the team. And no, when I rushed to the checkpoint where I suppose to take photos, they were just a few steps behind me and no one got left behind, I think it only takes 15 minutes or so for the whole group to pass by. It might be because everyone participating in the hiking are fit otherwise they wouldn\’t even show up, but I do think that all of them, to some extent, work out daily or at least weekly to keep fit. That is mind-changing, I got to see how those successful people value their health conditions and really started to know that I should pay more attention to my body fitness. I am fit, and I am pretty confident about it, but I don\’t guarantee that I would still be as fit if I don\’t actively exercise which I do need to pick up.