Africa Cries Out Report 2023007 A message from a parent

Author Duan Xiaohong, March 21, 2023

When I read all five Chinese teenagers said, ‘I will never ever, never ever complain again!’ at the end of the short mission trip, my heart was touched.

I shared the articles about the volunteer medical mission trips in Africa with my daughter and asked if she was interested in joining the trip to Senegal in 2023. We had previously discussed the meaning and goals of life many times. She often struggled with the reality and unclear ideals, frequently asking me what to do if she was heading in the wrong direction with her efforts. She sometimes lost the motivation to work hard in the present due to uncertainty about the future. Despite my many lectures on the importance of working hard in the present, even if the future is unclear, it is still difficult to persuade her to believe in that. ‘We only live once and how to live is the question of our lifetime. Loving ourselves and our families is our duty; loving others to change their lives is the meaning of our lives.’ – Dr. Jun Xu (Mr. Wang Yachen from the River of Life Church in Silicon Valley visited the Africa Cries Out Base)”

 I believe that true understanding of the meaning of life can only come from experiencing the power to change others’ lives firsthand. When my daughter read the articles about African volunteer medical mission trips, she became very interested in participating. However, it was not an easy decision for our family to support her. Neither she nor we had any intention of her pursuing a career in medicine, and she would need to take time off from school. Many people around us objected to her going to Africa, and some of  friends even thought we were crazy to put our daughter at risk. They questioned why she needed to go all the way to Africa when she could do volunteer work locally. My daughter explained that living in Silicon Valley is like living in a bubble, and she didn’t truly know what the world was like. She felt that working as a local volunteer only expanded her bubble and didn’t burst it. She wanted to experience the real world for herself. I realized that if she hadn’t seen the world, she couldn’t build a correct worldview, so I decided to take her to Africa.”

Her shoes often cost hundreds of dollars, sometimes even fifty dollars at least. She had a hard time understanding what it was like for African children to walk barefoot in 100-degree heat. When she expressed interest in visiting Africa, I challenged her to take action by collecting shoes to bring with her on the trip. To accomplish this goal, she founded a club at her school and created handmade crafts that she sold at the Farmer’s Market. With the proceeds, she purchased 75 pairs of shoes to donate to the children she would meet in Africa. I am extremely proud of her accomplishments, but I am also aware that her efforts were not entirely self-initiated.

I eagerly look forward to the moment when she presents the shoes to those children who rarely have the chance to wear shoes. Watching them happily kick a ball while wearing the shoes, she will realize that her contribution can help others. I believe this experience will inspire her to be self-motivated and continue improving herself.

Editor in charge: Liu Hui, Guo Yuanchun