GDUFS’s International Students with Beneficence III

Difficulties are unavoidable despite exhaustive deliberation. During the course of carrying out their plans, not everything went as smoothly as they had expected. The troubles they encountered varied, but one thing certain is that all the project participants managed to overcome them.

One group planned to raise money for the earthquake victims in Nepal by selling clothes to others. When they were selling clothes to the passersby outside the campus, they went to great lengths to persuade those who were little suspicious of their motives, only to find it was of little avail. Then, they came to realize that they were supposed to produce compelling evidence if they wanted to convince and attract more customers. Fortunately, one of their Nepalese classmates was doing voluntary work in Nepal’s earthquake-stricken areas. He offered lots of moving photos, which helped boost the sales greatly. What’s more, the group leader also mentioned that the clothes offered by the manufacturer also included underwear, “It was so awkward to sell them, especially to women,” he smiled shyly and added, “but it’s OK, as long as it was for the sake of helping others.”

In addition, their tutor of this project, Maria, also talked about the difficulties she met. What with their different values and diverse personalities, there were some divisions hindering those international students from cooperating smoothly. Some thought it was the group leader who should shoulder all the responsibilities, while others believed the tasks should be spread out evenly. Therefore, Maria took great pains to mediate to ensure everyone could get involved. As a result, almost every student pitched in and learned give and take through teamwork.

The class of Professor Isaacs

When asked about the significance of this project, all their faces lit up with great pleasure. Compared with what they’ve learned, the troubles they encountered seemed to pale into insignificance.

On the one hand, their knowledge and skills was consolidated by building business project in the real world. As business majors, from theory to practice, they learned how to budget, advertise and deal with different people. Just as the tutor Maria said: “Our objective is to make students realize the importance of self-reliance as well as teamwork and truly grow as a person. I think they’ve all made it.”

On the other hand, they understood the true essence of philanthropy. A student from the Kyrgyz Republic said it was the most rewarding and enjoyable project he had ever done and he quoted an adage from his country; “Living for others is much more interesting than living for yourself.” Another student said, “Making people smile because of you is the happiest thing. I can’t help grinning at the mere thought of the smiling faces of the children in Syria when receiving our clothes. This feeling is far better than owning one million RMB.” What’s more, they all demonstrated their willingness to continue doing charity in different ways, because just as the saying goes: “love knows no bounds.”

These GDUFS’s international students with beneficence really have done a god job. They have brought love and hope to others.