Some students spend their summers riding waves and sleeping in, but senior Iris Shieh, freshman Franklin Shieh and their family devoted their time to teaching English and Chinese to underprivileged children in Lijiang, China.

The family participated in Promoting Education, Art and Community Harvest (PEACH), the organization that runs the language-teaching program, after being referred by a family friend. “PEACH is two things in one,” Iris said. “First, you can sponsor children in China for their education and write letters back and forth with the children.” By establishing this connection, sponsors are then eligible to teach English and Chinese in PEACH summer camps. Volunteers must be fluent in both languages and over the age of 15 to qualify.

For Iris, the purpose of this trip was to directly help in teaching the children, not simply for community service. “Believe me, I have more than enough of those [hours] from EMR [Emergency Medical Responder],” she said. “I went because I’ve never been to China and when I went to the orientation for PEACH earlier in March of this year, I felt that it was a program worth joining.”

Though the trip’s stated purpose was to teach children English and Chinese, Iris believes the experience had a greater purpose. After working with students coming from families where the annual income is around 300 US dollars or less, Iris felt that “the main purpose of this trip is to give the children love,” she said. “Yes, love, as cheesy as it sounds. Love and hope.”

The program’s founder reiterates this belief through her lessons. “Ruth [the program’s founder] gives lessons called ‘Happy Life’ and ‘Q and A’ to help the children understand life... and give them an outlet that they don’t have at home,” Iris said. “You’d be amazed to know what they’re willing to share when you take the time to talk to them and to listen.”

As for Iris’ experience itself, it was both exhilarating and intimidating. “It’s given me new appreciation for our teachers, because it’s incredibly tiring standing up in the front of your own classroom and lecturing for hour-intervals with only five or 10 minute breaks in between,” she said. “On the other hand, it was also very intimidating to be standing up at the front as a teacher and having 12 people looking at you at all times. Also, because they’re all extremely shy, when you ask them a question, they don’t always respond or they speak so softly that you can’t hear them.”

Because he did not fulfill the age requirement, Franklin’s experience was different from his sister’s. “I was my mother’s assistant for her class,” he said. “I taught the English pronunciations to the class and led them in games. I enjoyed teaching the students and I might go back to another summer session in China.”

 Daily life over these weeks for the Shieh family was often routine. They lived within walking distance of the school and started teaching classes at 8 a.m. According to Iris, each teacher taught three sections of English, one section of Chinese and other miscellaneous classes, including EQ, Happy Life, Q and A and an English music class.

The first night of this summer camp was the most memorable for Iris. The teachers met and bonded with their students over dinner. The program provided roughly 10 dishes per table, which according to Iris, was often more food than these students would have in half a year. “They rarely eat meat, if they even do,” she said. “At school they get a piece of steamed bun for breakfast, a bowl of rice and some vegetables for lunch and dinner. Sometimes it’s hard to fathom what they go through and what they have to live with each day of their lives.”

According to Iris, when it was time for the children and instructors to part ways, the classes put on various performances for the camp in a final joyous yet somber ceremony. “I can’t tell you how overwhelming it was to try and smile when you know you will never see any of them again, and that you are leaving tomorrow back to your privileged life while they have to go back to the poverty that awaited them back home,” she said.

This experience changed the lives and attitudes of the entire Shieh family. “There are really no words to describe this experience and to describe the kids there and their forever positive attitudes,” Iris said. “I just find it completely unfair that they work so hard each day, and that there are kids better off here in the United States that don’t even try or put an effort into what they do.”

Both Iris and Franklin plan on returning to this program and encourage others to try it as well. “I more than want to do it again and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who is willing to take some of their own time and travel to China to meet some of the most amazing kids they will ever meet,” Iris said. “Go encourage your parents to join PEACH and sponsor as many children as they can, and go to the summer session. It’s worth it, I promise.”