Another aspect of our OCSP (in addition to educating secondary school children in Tashkurgan) was refurbishing the Uyghur Cultural Centre in Kashgar. By now, the temperature had taken a huge change and it was sweltering in Kashgar (hence the drastic change in our attire). Refurbishing included cleaning and tidying the interior of the cultural centre (no photos because it wasn't particularly interesting) as well as painting a mural on the external wall of the place.


Many many MANY photos of this adorable boy, Abdul Salam, who was busy running around whilst we were doing our work. Apparently, his parents work and live at the cultural centre (think they tend to the chores around the centre). He probably doesn't see many visitors on a day to day basis. Hence, the sudden arrival of 17 English-speaking young adults must have excited him quite a bit. Really love how the photos turned out; I think it not only captures his glee, but the simple things that bring him joy which you won't see in Singaporean children.


PROOF that our OCSP wasn't all about taking #OOTDs, riding horses or visiting stone fortresses, ha-ha. We spent an entire day white-washing the external wall and another day painting the mural. Let me tell you this, it ain't easy trying to white wash a wall made from mud instead of bricks. The painting of the mural on the other hand was actually quite enjoyable and therapeutic, minus the sun beating down our backs. Just thankful I didn't get sun burnt even though I was resembling a lobster towards the end of the day. Think the only truly challenging part of this whole experience was visiting the loo. Oh goodness, just typing about it out brings back so many nightmares about the sight and smell of the water cabinet. OKAY, moving on~


And here's me with the final product - a Uyghur man guiding his camel into the sunset (which my big ass head is blocking). I'm quite proud of what we accomplished as a team. We managed to work extremely well together and finished way ahead of time. This gave us more opportunities to bond and get to know one another even better. Below is a time lapse video we recorded using a GoPRO to show the formation of the mural painting. This is my first time embedding an InstaVideo so I hope it loads on your computers/laptops. Oh and if you haven't already done so, follow me on Instagram.

Labels: china, friends, OCSP, travel, videos

written at 01:56