On October 1, the autumn sky was crisp, and the whole country was celebrating the 72nd anniversary of the founding of New China. The second batch of volunteers of the "Overseas Service Plan of Chinese Youth Volunteers - Service for United Nations Agency Project", Li Shilin, a 2020 graduate student in foreign linguistics and applied linguistics from the School of Foreign Languages, Shaanxi Normal University, Started a six-month volunteer service in the office of the United Nations Population Fund in Laos. Due to the severe epidemic situation in Laos, Li Shilin has taken up her post through online work and fully participated in the project implementation and practice of the UNFPA Youth Development Team in Laos.
Li Shilin Attends the United Nations Volunteers (Second Batch) Centralized Training and Departure Ceremony
Give pleasure to people and enjoy yourself
Li Shilin is keen on participating in various volunteer services. In giving care and help to others, a seed of becoming an excellent young volunteer began to take root in her heart. Since high school, Li Shilin has often used her spare time to provide voluntary tutoring for left behind children. In class, she observed carefully that the children who are shy on the surface often hope to get the teacher's attention. So in teaching, she often arranges children to read and perform together. "I remember that among many children, there was a girl who was very isolated. She often hid in the corner and played silently. To encourage her to join other companions, I often took the initiative to chat with her, and encouraged other children to invite her to participate in group activities. Gradually, she began to laugh and talk, and sometimes took the initiative to share her little secrets with me. Seeing the children's constant growth and change, I was deeply moved and strengthened my original intention of volunteering. "
Tutoring homework for left behind children
In college, Li Shilin also insisted on participating in volunteer services related to the China ASEAN football league for four consecutive years, and served as a Sino Vietnamese language interpreter for Vietnamese players. She recalled: "At the beginning of work, I didn't know much about Vietnam's culture. In order to prevent misunderstanding, I needed to communicate and confirm with each other repeatedly. In order to improve work efficiency, I would strengthen my study and ask teachers and friends for questions I didn't understand during breaks." Because I needed to communicate and exchange with people from different countries and cultural backgrounds, This volunteer service also broadened Li Shilin's international vision, improved her cross-cultural communication ability, and made her feel her own life value in the process of helping others.
Volunteer service in China Vietnam Football League
Be good at accumulating small steps, and eventually travel thousands of miles
After graduation, Li Shilin has been engaged in full-time teaching for two years in Fangchenggang Senior High School, Guangxi, as a senior English teacher. During the two years she spent with students, she taught carefully, learned about the physiological and psychological changes of teenagers through observation and communication with students, and learned how to enlighten and help them. In addition, she has traveled to Laos many times to learn about the local customs and cultural differences in Laos. In order to understand Laos more carefully, she also consulted the teachers in Laos about the local development for many times, and timely learned about the current situation, problems and countermeasures of local youth development. All these have laid an important foundation for her to work as a youth development assistant in the United Nations Population Fund office in Laos and deal with issues such as adolescent psychological education, gender equality and left behind children.
Li Shilin in Vientiane, Laos
Perseverance makes a needle
In learning, Li Shilin also has a solid professional foundation. She has successively won the Shaanxi Normal University Scholarship, the second prize of the National College Students English Composition Competition, the third prize of the National College Students English Competition, and the second National University "Belt and Road" Knowledge Competition Outstanding Volunteer and other awards. She has also always focused on volunteering as an important way to exercise learning ability and test learning achievements, giving consideration to "reading thousands of books" and "traveling thousands of miles", and improving comprehensive quality in the practice of volunteering.
When learning that the China Youth Volunteers Association and the United Nations Volunteers Organization are recruiting the second batch of volunteers for the "Service to United Nations Agencies Project", Li Shilin did not hesitate to sign up. With the help and guidance of school teachers and the continuous efforts of individuals, through layers of screening, Li Shilin finally stood out and obtained the valuable opportunity of this volunteer service. In order to quickly adapt to the pace of internationalization, Li Shilin also actively participated in many online international courses carried out by the school, and comprehensively learned the organizational structure, operation mode, philosophy and purpose of the United Nations.
Life photo of Li Shilin
Since her online participation in the UNFPA office in Laos, Li Shilin has mainly participated in the celebration of the 15th Nang Noi International Girls' Day and the 6th International Seminar in Laos. She actively participated in group discussions and put forward her own work suggestions on gender equality, mental health, high dropout rate of adolescents, education inequality and other issues in combination with her personal knowledge.
For this volunteer service, she secretly promised herself that "she hopes to show the youth style of Chinese youth volunteers through her own actual participation, and call on more Chinese youth to participate in volunteer service, so as to contribute to the development of volunteer service in the world." In the coming months, she will use her own practice and action to write a new chapter of her volunteer service at the United Nations, We will better practice volunteerism.
Since 2019, the China Youth Volunteer Association (CYVA) and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) have jointly implemented the "Overseas Service Plan for Chinese Youth Volunteers - Serving United Nations Agencies" project. Up to now, the project has determined to send 30 volunteers to overseas UN agencies. The first seven volunteers have served seven different United Nations agencies in five countries, including Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States. Their services cover many fields, such as volunteer service capacity building in the host country, youth participation in sustainable development, and so on. On the basis of the good operation of the first batch of assignments, the second batch of 23 Chinese young overseas volunteers has been recruited and have successively served UN agencies in 14 countries around the world. Currently, the dispatch process is being orderly promoted.