After a twenty-hour long flight from San Francisco, with a two-hour stopover at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan, I finally arrived in Singapore. The purpose of this trip was twofold: (1) to provide the Community Health Education training to church members who are interested in community services and (2) to introduce the works of the Go & Love Foundation.

Initially, Betty and I were planning to conduct the training jointly. But due to injuries to her back, Betty had to follow her doctor’s advice not to travel long distances for fear that it would worsen her condition. As a result, I had to take up the responsibility of this training in Singapore by myself.

The moment I stepped out of the Singapore Changi Airport, the smells of the warm ocean breeze and the fragrance of tropical flowers filled my nose. The smiling faces of the hospitable Mr.Jeffrey Ong and Ms. Jasmine Hui were already waiting at the exit. We left the airport in Mr. Ong’s car and went straight to the training site — the Swatow meeting Hall of Newton Life Church — to prepare for the training course. I was happy to see that the participants could receive the training in such a nice and conducive facility and environment.

While I was making the preparations in the training room, Mr. Alan Wong also arrived enthusiastically to lend me his help. Upon hearing that I was unable to find someone to translate three of the training handouts from English to Chinese and that I would, therefore, have to distribute the English version to the trainees in the following two days, Mr. Alan Wong immediately volunteered to do the translation for me. Elated, I accepted his assistance. But it was already 5:00 p.m.; there appeared not enough time for him to do the translation. So I wondered whether he would be able to complete the work in time.

The next morning, after having breakfast with Mr. Ong, I rushed to the training site and I realized that Mr. Alan Wong not only had already completed the translation of the three handouts but also made copies of them and placed them on the table. It gave me great pleasure to know that, amongst the trainees, there was someone with so much dedication and such efficiency.

Twenty-four trainees from various communities attended the two-day training this time. The training course covered the following topics: the origin of the community health education model, its theoretical basis, its application methods, and the way in which this model can be applied to indigent people, for instance, those in China’s remote farming villages. The training format/method included the use of lectures, reading materials, short films, group discussions, games, role-play, and case studies. During the two-day training, I was rather touched by the trainees’ enthusiasm as well as their dedication and active participation. There was also a good discussion of how to make use of the community health education model in community service. I remembered in particular, with great admiration, two female trainees, who reported to the group their work in a little-known fishing village in southwest Malaysia, a village where people speak the South Fujian dialect. It occurred to me that those who can speak this dialect in Taiwan could join these two ladies in their community services. Among the trainees, there was also a physician, Dr. Lu, who was willing to participate in the medical service that the Go & Love Foundation has been rendering to the ethnic minority group in Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna village. His commitment gave us cause for joy and excitement, because medical talents and resources were exactly what we lacked and, therefore, greatly needed.

After the training concluded on Saturday, Mr. Henry Chiang and Mr. Alan Wong volunteered to take me on a short sightseeing excursion. We toured such places as the Esplanade-Theatres On The Bay, the Merlion park, the Singapore river-bank and the Chinatown. We also tasted a variety of super-delicious ice desserts. That evening, Mr. Kuo-Chang Wang treated Mr. Chiang, Jasmine, and me to dinner at a Beijing restaurant. A landscape designer of abundant experience, Mr. Wong is the one who designed the landscape of the Community Activity Center in Xishuangbanna’s Jinuo village. We had very good discussions on the landscape design of the Jinuo community center.

Coming back from the Singapore trip, I had two reflections. Firstly, the participants’ caliber and enthusiasm were very impressive. They all showed commitment to community services. Go and Love Foundation would do well to offer more training courses in community health education and more introduction of the Foundation’s work in Singapore, as a way to recruit more volunteers to participate in the cause.

Secondly, in this trip I had the chance to eat in several Chinese restaurants, where the waiters were all from China. I heard that there were over 250,000 Chinese young people who had gone to Singapore either to study or to work. During the two-day training, we discussed the “seeding project.” I hope the participants could apply this model to the young Chinese workers, using the community as a unit, showing their love to the Chinese workers as their fellow human beings. I was very happy to have met many dedicated participants in Singapore. In the future, I hope to have the opportunity to join them in community services.

After reading this article, if you are interested in the work of Go and Love Foundation and the Community Health Education Training, or if you would like to introduce our work to others, you are welcome to get in touch with us. Our e-mail address is serve@golovefoundation.org. May peace be with you.

(The author is the Director of Training of Go and Love Foundation)