十四歲的葉懿德（Adorna
Yip），去年隨父親葉青霖到廣西，探訪一群接受捐款助學的學童。|
與愛同行到廣西 徐圓 |
十四歲的葉懿德（Adorna
Yip），去年隨父親葉青霖到廣西，探訪一群接受捐款助學的學童。
在澳洲長大的她，自幼生活在物質富裕的世界，一下子來到貧窮落後的山區，小心靈受到震撼！
如果我們一口咬定，是窮山窮水嚇怕了這朵溫室的小花，那麼我們便大錯特錯了。
在物質的千瘡百孔中，懿德卻感受到純樸的鄉情，更領會到富足的真諦！
以下是她宣諸文字的內心激蕩。原文是英文稿，我們同時刊出了中文譯本，與讀者分享這位少年的心聲。
為了配合懿德的故事，葉青霖提供了精彩的圖片，並設計這個版面。我們感恩他父女，以及義務將英文原稿翻譯的Donkey。
我面前放著兩封國內朋友寄給我的信。信是用簡體字寫的。我並非完全懂得他們寫甚麼，但是，他們抽空寫信給我，我實在很開心，心中暖暖的。我不禁又想起幾個月前探望他們時的情景！
二○○一年七月左右，福幼基金會邀請我爸爸前往廣西。福幼在國內搞了很多慈善工作，其中一項，是幫助不幸的兒童和青少年上學去。爸爸獲邀是因為他一向熱心公益。此外，他們邀請了一個從未真正吃過苦的香港少年同去。這個人，就是我，我終於可以一嘗中國的鄉村生活，從中學習。隨行的，還有無線攝製隊，影片會在電視上播放，讓香港人能分享我們這次經歷，希望他們也能像我一樣，有所得著。
八月三十一日，我們從香港飛往南寧。抵步後，我們前往南寧大學。一群接受福幼基金會資助的學生在此迎接我們。我不懂得普通話，跟他們溝通很有困難。所以，當所有人在說說笑笑，自我介紹時，我只得靜靜的站在一旁。幸好，其中一名學生是唸英語的，我們馬上便交談起來。我們談到我們的家、我們的興趣、我們對學校的看法，還有我們的願望。他很希望一天可出國旅遊，放眼世界。但是，他要願望成真可真不容易，因為他根本負擔不來。他要如願的話，他得比香港人更加倍努力才行。我鼓勵他不要放棄，也祝福他好運。
之後，我們參觀學生宿舍。宿舍擠迫得使我吃了一驚，我大部分的朋友都擁有自己的房間，而這况的學生，卻是七人一間房間，跟他們相比，我頓感自己是多麼的幸運。
最使我難忘的，是要說再見的時候。那時，天在下雨，我們正要飛奔返回旅遊車，忽然，兩名學生帶著雨傘跑到我們跟前。我們全部好生感激，並衷心向他們道謝。
翌日，我們前往融水，參觀一所為失聰兒童而設的特殊學校。當我看見校舍時，我怔住了。牆身滿布裂痕，屋頂只差沒有塌下來，操場四處千瘡百孔。這裡古舊、落後，我去廚房看看他們晚上吃些甚麼時，我看見的，只有米飯和蓮藕，他們的晚餐，僅此而已。
可能，你會以為這些不幸的小朋友都是幽幽的、孤僻的。其實，他們都很友善。他們以手語演繹中國國歌，又在操場上表演健康舞款待我們。我覺得，跟他們溝通，比跟講普通話的更為容易，至少，我可從他們的身體語言猜出他們想說甚麼。如果，每個人都用心與人溝通的話，我們便不再需要語言了。. . . . . .
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The Trip to GUANGXI Adorna Yip |
Facing me are two letters from my friends in China written in simplified Chinese. Although I do not completely understand their words, I feel very happy and warm because they took the time to write me a letter. This made me think back a few months ago when I actually visited them…
Around July 2001, my dad received an invitation to go to Guangxi from the CFCF (Caring For Children Foundation). They are an organisation that carries out lots of charity work in China. One of these is helping children and teenagers from unfortunate backgrounds to have the chance of education. My dad was invited because he is enthusiastic to be involved with charity work. They also invited me to go along with them as a young teenager living in Hong Kong, who has never really experienced harsh living conditions before. Consequently, I could go through rural life in China and learn from the experience. The TVB crew also came along to film us and broadcast it on TV so that everyone in Hong Kong could share our experiences and hopefully, like me, learn something from it.
We left Hong Kong on August 31st and flew to Nanling. When we arrived, we travelled to Nanling University where a group of students welcomed us. They were all being supported by the CFCF. While everybody was chatting and introducing themselves, I stood there silently because I couldn’t understand Mandarin and had trouble communicating with them. Luckily, one of the students was studying English and we immediately began a conversation. We talked about where we live, what our hobbies are, what we think of school and our hopes for the future. He wished to travel overseas one-day and visit the world, but was not very hopeful because he is incapable of having enough money. He would have to work a lot harder than the people of Hong Kong to make his wish come true. I encouraged him not to give up and wished him good luck.
When we visited the students’ dormitories, I was surprised to see how crowded they were. While most of my friends have their own bedroom, the students share one room with seven other people. I immediately felt very lucky compared with them.
The most memorable moment was when we said goodbye. It was drizzling and we prepared to dash to the van as quickly as possible. Suddenly, two students came running up and brought us umbrellas. We all felt extremely grateful and thanked them heartedly.
The next day, we went to Yongshui to visit a special school for deaf children. I was shocked when I saw the structure of their buildings. The walls had cracks in it, the roof was near to collapsing and even the playground had holes all over the place. It was a very old and rural place. When I went into their kitchen to take a peek at what they will eat that evening, I found rice and lotus root only. That was all they ate for dinner.
You would expect such unfortunate children to be very sad and unsociable. However they were quite friendly and greeted us by singing China’s national anthem with sign language, then performing an aerobic dance in the playground. I actually found it easier to communicate with them than with the Mandarin speakers because I could at least guess what the deaf children are trying to say with their body language. If everyone communicated with his or her hearts, language would not be necessary anymore. . . . . .
(全文請看第65期【溫暖人間】訂閱請電28341000)