Brilliant Experience Volunteering at a Special Needs Centre in IVHQ China

I spent two months volunteering at a Special Needs centre in Xi'an in China, and had an absolutely amazing time. The volunteer work was difficult at times but incredibly rewarding. The centre had around 30 students, but we were primarily working with the younger group, which included 7 kids aged 4 to 14. Spending so much time with such a small group meant that we really got to know each of the kids, learning their likes and dislikes and understanding how we could best support them - it was lovely, although it made leaving incredibly difficult! During our time there we organised lots of activities - arts and crafts, singing songs, dancing, educational activities - which I think is important to do. There wasn't much structure at the centre, so bringing our own ideas (and resources) really made the experience much more enjoyable. Volunteering felt really worthwhile as there was clearly a lot of need at the centre. I had a brilliant time - they were really lovely kids and it was a pleasure to spend two months with them.

The support for volunteers here is really great too. Staying at the volunteer house was really lovely, as it felt so homely and the food was amazing! I met some fantastic people in Xi'an who really made the experience so much better.

China itself is such an amazing place to visit. There's lots to do around Xi'an in terms of sightseeing - there's the Muslim Quarter, the City Walls and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an itself, the Terracotta Warriors an hour or two away and the sacred mountain Hua Shan an hour away by fast train. I also got to do some travelling on the weekends, visiting Beijing (I saw the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, which were all amazing) and Chengdu (to see the Giant Pandas and the Grand Buddha at Leshan, which was so impressive). I would recommend coming for as long as you possibly can - there's so much to see in China, and I wish I had had more time to travel!

All in all, my experience in China was really amazing, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to travel and to make a difference.