By all accounts, CSA had one of their most fun days out of all time last Sunday when they went up to a community centre in Mianzhu. Here are a few comments from CSA Coordinator Mark Soper.
I got to the Bookworm at 7.50am to find the group of volunteers from Humana already there laughing and chatting with the Chinese volunteers from the South-West University of Nationalities — a great start to a chilly morning.
On the bus to Mianzhu we heard some remarkable volunteer stories; it’s a humbling experience meeting some of the volunteers we get on CSA trips.
As ever there was no lack of energetic children looking to find new ways to expend their reserves of energy, but we were pleased to find there were almost as many grandparents as kids on this occasion. Their smiles were huge as the Humana group got things going with a couple of African melodies.
Standard warm-ups are always a laugh when we get into 3 lines of 15—20 kids and volunteers, practicing passing, throwing different-shaped balls around. Then it’s on to game time. Sunday’s variety included jumprope, rugby, 10 pin bowling, chair balancing, blind walking, frisbee-throwing (and general mayhem with the toddlers).
We were back by 4:30 in the afternoon, fitting in a 24-person lunch stop of well-earned beef noodles on the way. Most slept on the bus while the rest of us took sneaky photos of the sleeping faces — hilarious!
One day volunteering adds an extra day to my lifetime.
For more photos from this day and other CSA events, head over to the Chengdu Sports Aid trips photo page.
Tags: Chengdu Sports Aid, children, CSA, Mianzhu, volunteer