Brave dream of a top girl
Liu Wenjia, an unequivocally assiduous girl, is now a graduate student majoring in nursing at HOPE Nursing School of Wuhan University. During her four-year undergraduate life, there was never a lack of evidence for her hard work. Participating twice in academic projects, obtaining National Scholarship in two years and going on an exchange to Duke Kunshan University for one semester, she was one of the eight students that graduated with honors and also received 15300 yuan for credit reward, as well as a postgraduate recommendation by virtue of her first rank in academic performance.
The girl who seems to be rather quiet and shy is actually filled with ambitious ideas. Vehement affections for helping in the front could account for her first selection of a military school when choosing university, but the following failure in physical examination made her compromise. Out of the dream to escort the troops as a nursing retinue one day, she chose to study at HOPE Nursing School of Wuhan University.
In her sophomore year, joining Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) or any other NGOs who offered humanitarian assistance became this girl’s desire. Liu Wenjia had infinite yearning for it due to her foreign teacher Kelly, a nurse devoted to volunteering all around the world whose deeds and spirits deeply touched and impacted Liu Wenjia's life path.
During the last summer vacation, Liu Wenjia volunteered in the Mathare slum in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, sharing a border with Rwanda where Kelly was also fighting against Ebola. But Liu failed to fly to Rwanda due to some visa problems. During the interview, Liu said. "I am looking forward to meeting my mentor who came to Africa for the same reason, so that she could see my efforts. Now I can fight with her shoulder to shoulder."
Volunteer life in slum
"Before reaching Africa for the first time, we held such a belief that the animals and the majestic Kilimanjaro would excite us. By no means had we imagined that what happened in Mathare would touch our heart so deeply and urge us to do something for the people there." said Liu Wenjia. The clear and tranquil sky in Nairobi is a contrast to the miserable life of its inhabitants. Mathare, the second largest slums in Kenya, is a 34 square kilometers land where hundreds of thousands of people are living, and more than half of the residents are HIV carriers. Poverty, disease and violence are the vivid depiction of this place. With local transportation tools such as Matatu and Boda-boda dashing around randomly and numerous beggars and rubbish inundating the whole city, carrying out their volunteer work became more strenuous.
In Mathare, she worked for "Community Transformers" (CT) for six weeks and every day they would take an-hour bus ride to the Mathare slum. Taking care of AIDS patients, looking after orphans and young drug-addicts and offering educational training were all their volunteering routines. Moreover, Nairobi was so precarious that they had to remain vigilant all the time. "It's not wise to leave bags behind the back or take out mobile phones in the street." said Liu Wenjia.
Harsh though work and living there might be, days in Kenya were not always so dim. There are many warm locals who would cried out Jackie Chen or Bruce Lee, and other famous celebrities they knew about China, or played Kongfu routines to greet when seeing Chinese in street. Liu Wenjia was given a Kenyan name---Wanja, which meant summer. Despite the inclement material circumstances there, those sincere smiles and touching prayers as well as the warmth and concern between people captivated Liu Wenjia so much.
One farm, one hope
Community Transformers (CT) adopted 34 abandoned children. In the meantime, with attention on more than 350 AIDS patients, they offered educational assistance and providing adults with sex education and technical training.
But soon Liu Wenjia and her co-workers were confronted with a predicament that inconsistent income could never guarantee the life of children and AIDS patients unless there were a steady way to profit. She and her company had to figure out a plan to self-support Mathare in the long run. Taking the local circumstances into consideration comprehensively, they brainstormed a plan called "One Farm, One Future", hoping to establish crowdfund to purchase a farm operated by CT. Not only would it provide sufficient job opportunities for locals but also help cut down the food expenditures of CT. With such sustainable and steady income flow, they would succeed in maintaining the normal operation of the whole organization.
Once the plan was decided, the whole team embarked on field trips and made detailed estimation of construction cost. Everyone found his or her proper position in this project: fellows from Renmin University served as directors of new media and friends from Nanjing University got in touch with teachers from TENCENT Charity, who helped the team with the financial resources; friends from Donghua University good in English took charge of video making and translation. Just as Liu Wenjia said, "We are a powerful team, and we would have not achieved anything in the absence of anyone."
However, not everything worked out smoothly. Liu Wenjia and her team only managed to collect around 20,000 yuan through DREAMMORE and TENCENT, which could cover most of the expenditure but far less than expectation. As a result, they had to relinquish their original choice of land in central city, turning to another smaller farmland in the outskirt. Things didn’t go well either when it came to contracts. The farm owner stayed unforthcoming for days and it was not until message from her friends saying the contract was done that Liu Wenjia really got relieved.
They named the farm "HOPE", in memory of Liu's HOPE school in Wuhan University, implying the definition of the Project HOPE---"Health Opportunity for People Everywhere".
When returning to Wuhan, Liu Wenjia was still solicitous about the Mathare slum. Her team raised another 20,000 yuan to help farm with expansion and she kept checking financial statements every season. Moreover, her relationship with CT was also more than just work. The director of CT named his new born baby "Sylvia" which was exactly the English name of Liu Wenjia, to commemorate her unstinting kindness.
Keep exploring and stay persistent
It was not an easy journey for Liu Wenjia from the beginning. She has been applying for volunteer of AIESEC since she was a freshman, but not until the senior year did she manage to get the opportunity.
In Kenya she went through a lot. She was once dropped by driver in an unfamiliar African street, and was once ousted by a landlord on a windy storming day, just as she confessed that every little achievement required huge efforts behind it. With clear aims she let her intuition, her feelings and her internal compass to guide her to strive and stay impervious to any other obstructions.
As the first president of WHUMSA, Liu Wenjia went to Malta to attend the sixty-fifth International Conference of the medical student union in March to discuss the protection of refugees, women and any other vulnerable groups. In the meantime the farm project in Kenya won her another chance to volunteer abroad and Liu said she intended to go to Turkey or Lebanon next winter vacation.
As for her future plans, Liu said she would apply for PHD in the USA. With a new language to grasp, new first-aid skill to learn and practical experience to accumulate, Liu Wenjia was clearly aware that she had a long way to go before becoming a real member of MSF. "It might take me another ten years to realize my dream, so I need to be patient."
For those who never pause on their way, success comes sooner or later. With passion, sympathy and persistence, Liu Wenjia could possibly bring more miracles to those suffering from inequality and impoverishment, besides the verdant farm filled with dazzling vigor she created in Kenya. Once sowed, hope starts to take its root.
(Source: WHU Wechat)
（Rewritten by Li Minjia, edited by Wu Siying, Xiang Jiahao, Mark & Hu Sijia）
