Wow! What a day it has been! There have been a lot of highlights but I’ll try to be concise. Today we travelled 2 hours from our hotel to the District (or what they call an island) of Chongming in the city of Shanghai. First we got to volunteer at a beautiful school for disabled children. We got to paint with them and see their artwork, and also watch them perform their award winning rhythmic dance number! I was so impressed with their art, communication, and dance skills! Their dance was fast with complicated formations, I was completely blown away!

We then got to participate in a talk on Peace, the Internet, and the Perception of China. I got chosen to speak about Canada’s perception of China. I spoke about being blessed to have many Chinese friends and being immersed into their culture since I was 17 years old. I see the Chinese as extremely respectful, family oriented, loving, and hardworking people. This trip has only solidified those views, I have been treated like family here and I am so grateful.

Lastly we had a real treat! We held a dinner reception charity auction, where our gifts from home were raffled off. About half of the gifts were auctioned, and we were able to raise over 33,600 yuan for the school for disabled children that we visited earlier! 🙂

This has been such an enriching day, and it feels so good to be able to give back to those in need. I am loving Shanghai, I can’t wait for what tomorrow will bring!

Smiles and love, Catherine, xo