My name is Imelda Ganes Handayani, I am a student of international program of accounting 2016 in Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta. One of the most unforgettable moments in my life was when I was given a worth opportunity to become an elected delegate of 1,275 applicants in the Friendship From Indonesia program in Guangzhou, China. Friendship From Indonesia is an international community service program aimed to convey caring from Indonesians to international concerns by involving youth in programs to improve the quality of life and peace. The program was held from 6th – 10th September 2017.

We arrived at Baiyun Airport, Guangzhou China on 6th September 2017. We are as the Muslims wanted to do isya prayer and then asked to the airport staff about where the mosque was, but they did not answer because not all Chinese can speak English. However, we realized that there was no mosque at the airport because Islam is a minority religion in China. Finally we did isya prayer in an empty place near the toilet at the airport. I thought that everyone who looked at us like weirdo. Maybe they were confused what we were doing, but everything was okay. After that, we rode a subway to Xilang Station which near with our hotel. Subway in China actually made me fascinated. Subway which every three minutes comes and supported by comfortable seat, clean, and cool. Moreover there was a light sign above the door of the metro  that can explain at which station you are. On the other hand, we also have field trip to explore several tourism spots in Guangzhou. The high-rise buildings supported by excellent transportation, as well as modern technology made us realized that nothing can not be done in this world if we work hard.
The second day in China, we visited the General Consulate of Republic of Indonesia. The staff welcomed us. After that we were sharing with Miss Siti Hajar Hapsari, head of culture and social development along with Brother Avis and Yudha, internship staff at Consulat General ff the Republic of Indonesia. We were sharing about cross cultural dang economic understanding. Miss Siti told us that many chinese learned technology overseas and they made a better technology than they learned. It made me as a young generation have spirit to improve my knowledge and skill in other country to make my country to be better and be a role model for the countries of the world. Furthermore, Miss Siti also suggested us not imported goods from China, although we knew that the goods from china was cheap, but be someone who can introduce local products abroad. We think that’s an important point to us.

The third day, we visited Guangdong University of Foreign Studies which was accompanied by Wu Dandan and met the students who taking Indonesian Language bachelor degree. Besides offering Indonesian language, the university also offers 61 bachelor-degree specialties and teaches 18 foreign languages. We walked around the campus and they shared about education in China, especially in Guangzhou. After that, we met with the student from various countries. We exchanged a bit information about education and we also introduced Indonesian culture. We told about the tourism, culinary, and culture in Indonesia. They were very enthusiastic to hear our explanation and they said that they will visit Indonesia soon. We also gave tourism brochures of Indonesia to help them understanding the richness of Indonesian culture.
Last day, it was the core of our program. We did volunteering activity at Qing Xin Fu Li Yuan. Qing Xin Fu Li Yuan is a social institution composed of orphanages and nursing homes located in Qing Xin District. This visit collaborated with morfias community who are the international which consists of people from various countries such as Kenya, Bulgaria, Russia, Malaysia, and China.The activities undertaken by participants are the sharing of love and affection for the orphanaged children, majority of them are disability. We accompanied them to play, read stories, help them to get what they want with chinese language, and other things that can be done to arise the spirit and motivation of the children. Actually we  didn’t know about chinese language, but we tried to understand what they wanted and we always showed them our smile. After visiting the orphanage, the group moved to elderly that is still a complex with the orphanage in Qing Xin Fu Li Yuan. Here, participants were sharing bread, chatting and massaging the elderly who abandoned by their family. However, we were unable to capture the activities of participants at the orphanage due to the regulations of the directors. Many lessons received by us during our social service activities was at Qing Xin Fu Li Yuan, one of them improving our gratitude to God who has provided mercies, health, as well as families who always love us wherever we are.

 
Therefore, we have to look for a lot of experience. Meeting new people and exchanging information on things is one of the fun things. It makes me want to go back in China and visit various countries to learn many things to be applied in indonesia and build the country to be better. The most important thing is always be grateful for what we’ve got, but do not be lazy to try something new to make a better change, because the future is not something we are waiting for. It’s something we’re going to create.