A Humbling Experience with Care for Education1

By Amirah Ahmad

∷黄湘淇 注

计划中的旅行，意料外的体验：在印尼雅加达的一个赤贫的小村落里，孩子们纯真和友爱让人动容，让前往上课的小老师自己学到了人生珍贵的一课。极其恶劣的环境与孩子们的美好之间的巨大反差也让人不禁思索教育、贫困与沟通等本质性的人文话题。

With a thick accent on the tip of their tongue and a passion in their voice, they called out to me, “Amirah! Amirah!” I had only met them once or twice before, but it was as if these children considered me a friend, a sister.

In the summer of 2012, I travelled to Jakarta, Indonesia with my mother.My father was based there for some work and was living in an apartment complex just a couple miles north of downtown. Naturally, I was ecstatic2. ecstatic: 狂喜的，入迷的。to be travelling to a foreign country and facing the unknown. I marveled at all of the opportunities for exploration and adventure, and I couldn’t wait to step off that plane to start my expedition.3. marvel at: 感到惊讶；expedition: 远征，探险。I would soon realize, however, that this wasn’t a trip for me to soak up the sun and witness the culture from a bystander’s point of view. I was going to feel the culture. Up until this point,vacations had been, in essence, vacations. My trip to Jakarta, Indonesia wasn’t a vacation, however. It was an experience. I was going to learn about myself and the depths of the world, and for that I have to thank the children and the staff of Care for Education.

Care for Education is a non-pro fit organization located in various countries in Eastern Asia. It works to provide education to the children of families who otherwise do not have the means of providing one themselves.Teachers are volunteers, and the children range anywhere between 4 to 10 years old. The base in Jakarta, Indonesia where I volunteered was about 30 students strong4. strong: 多达……的，计有……的。with about 3-4 teachers.

At first, I was very apprehensive5. apprehensive: 忧虑的，不安的。of going. I had been in Jakarta for nearly a week and still adjusting to the Indonesian culture when my father suggested I pay a visit to the children at Care for Education on Sunday.Sundays were the days allotted6. allot: 指定，分配。for a class to be held. The anxiety began as soon as I sat in the car, but began to build up throughout the duration of the ride to actually arrive, a lengthy 45 minutes. I was nervous not only to interact with the children, but also in teaching the material. I did not know a word of Bahasa, and had never experienced teaching multiple children. I was a complete novice7. novice: 初学者，新手。, and I was thinking of all the ways I could embarrass myself. The butter flies in my stomach were fluttering around my entire body as soon as I got out of the car and was walking down a narrow alley with homes scattered around on the sides.8. butterfly in one’s stomach: 感到紧张，心里发慌； flutter: 振翼而飞。The locals stared at my lighter complexion and my wringing hands as I stumbled, following my father.9. complexion: 面色，面容；wring one’s hands:（尤因害怕或紧张而）搓手； stumble: 跌跌撞撞地走，蹒跚而行。We stopped in front of an empty room whose door was open to the public. We were here, but where were the children?

Then came Ms. Riri, one of the lead teachers in this Care for Education at this location. Her smile and glowing face immediately resolved some of the tension. She made me feel welcome and was a tremendous10. tremendous: 重大的，巨大的。help and support throughout my time volunteering with Care for Education. My parents and I stepped into the room, taking off our shoes, and sat down on the cool marble.A couple minutes later, a flood of children began to arrive. They chit-chatted11. chit-chat: 聊天，闲谈。with their peers and stumbled inside, carrying with them either a notebook and a pencil or nothing at all. The empty rooms were brimming with12. brim with: 洋溢着，充满着。smiling children, and one confused girl from America.

The lesson, however, was surpassingly smooth. Along with Ms. Riri’s help and the cooperation of the 4-5 year olds in front of me, all went well. I had a book with pictures of simple things like a duck or plate with the word underneath, which I would say and they would repeat. By the end of the lesson,the children were teaching me how to count in Bahasa.

By the second or third time I visited Care for Education, two girls became very close to me. One would say my name, carry on a full-length conversation in Bahasa and enjoy the confused look on my face, and giggle with me. She hugged me constantly, never leaving my side. She sang my name in her beautiful, 8-yearold voice and twinkled13. twinkle:（眼睛因高兴而）发亮，发光。her innocent eyes at me with a smile I’ll never forget.We were a harmonious relationship, with absolutely no knowledge of the other person’s language. I never understood what she said and she never understood me, but the laughter and the love seemed to fill those spaces in. The other girl was extremely shy with her peers and her teachers, but I would always find her holding my hand or leaning on me. At times I would turn around and see her there behind me, gripping onto my fingers. These relationships were peculiar,but also precious. They epitomize the importance of kindness, and degrade the value of words.14. 这些关系很独特，也很珍贵，彰显了友善的重要性，也降低了语言的价值。epitomize: 成为……的缩影，概括。They surpass all social norms of friendly conversation and drive home the point of simple love for others.15. 他们超越了所有友好对话的社会规则，回归了对他人简单友爱的原点。

Ms. Riri once took me to their homes. Collectively as a group, we walked to the village in which they lived. We slipped past a fence and what I saw beyond it was completely numbing16. numbing: 令人精神麻木的，令人（因过度惊吓而）迟钝的。. Their homes were literally in the midst of trash. A pile of trash, which some men were sorting out, was the primary landmark in the middle of the several small, one-bedroom homes with nothing but beds. I remember I was consumed by what I saw, so much so that I tuned out the icecream man’s jingle as he passed through their village.17. consume: 使着迷，使全神贯注；tune out: 没听见；jingle: 广告歌，叮当声。Some children begged their parents for a coin to get ice cream on that hot day while others looked on as their friends sucked on their chocolate ice cream. My father stopped the man before he left, and bought every child an ice cream of their choice and the thrill in their eyes still lies deep within my heart.

One of the last times I visited was an especially moving experience. Their location had changed since the rent was too high for that room they previously were located in.They gave me the address, yet I couldn’t seem to find the place. I called one of the teachers who came to pick me up and drive me to where they were. As soon as I arrived,I finally realized why I couldn’t find it. They were sitting on the cement under a flyover bridge between two busy highway roads.18. cement: 水泥； flyover: 天桥，立交桥。The children ran across the street to come to class,bypassing several cars on the way there. These children who could barely speak narrowly missed speeding cars as they zoomed across19. zoom across: 疾速驶过。the road. I was appalled20. appalled: 震惊的，极度惊恐的。and confused.

I thought to myself about the wonders of the world. I pondered over the discrepancy of comfort and living style among the global population.21. ponder over: 沉思，考虑；discrepancy: 不矛盾，相差。This wasn’t fair. The sweet children I embraced and loved did not deserve these conditions by any means. What I came to realize is that they are incognizant of the other side of the spectrum, simply because they hadn’t had the chance to experience it. Is that what made these children so lovely? Their simple innocence and oblivion of the world?22. 我才意识到他们对地球另一端的生活无知无觉，仅仅是因为他们从未有机会去体验。难道是因为单纯和无知让这些孩子如此可爱？incognizant: 不知觉的，没有意识到的；oblivion:（头脑的）一片空白状态，无意识的状态。

I came to love these children, not only for their charm but also for their bravery. They lived a life I knew nothing about, but their spirits were not de flated. They were the happiest children I have ever come to meet,and I think of them everyday. Though I came to teach them English, they taught me even more. I learned the lesson of a lifetime.