By Angellic Ross
Richard Lawson, Rashad Cain, International New Look youth leader, Taylor Hopkins and Angellic Ross.
It’s not every day you hear the words “Welcome to Shanghai,” especially not a 19-year-old girl from inner-city Milwaukee.
This past May, I had the opportunity to travel to Shanghai and Hong Kong with Usher’s New Look Foundation, a leadership program that I’ve been involved with since my junior year in high school. A program that has given me and many other youth once in a lifetime opportunities that train us to be better leaders of the future. I must admit, when they first told me the flight to Shanghai was 14 hours, I was terrified. However, I knew the experience I was about to have would be well-worth getting over my fear of flying. In a span of ten days, I took away a whole new meaning of culture, service, gratitude and leadership.
Hong Kong and Shanghai might be on the same continent, but they’re two very different places. While Shanghai is bright and flashy (a Chinese version of New York to some extent), Hong Kong is more serene with its mountainous streets and natural plant life. While Hong Kong is more westernized, Shanghai has its own style and way of life.
From my trip I now have a new appreciation for Chinese culture. We visited many places, including the Buddhist temple, Yen Gardens, Giant Buddha, TV Tower, and local markets (where I bought a lot of nice souvenirs.) The history of China is so embedded in its architecture.
It was cool learning and experiencing a different culture first hand.
Our first night in Shanghai, we went to a plaza a couple of blocks from the hotel. I don’t remember the name of the plaza, but I like to call it Times Square – Shanghai Style.
At the same time it was very overwhelming. There were so many people and they didn’t mind bumping into you. There were people asking for money or trying to sell us these wheels we can attach to the bottom of our shoes. The most terrifying moment was when one or two of us decided to buy wheels.
The next thing I know there were 7-10 people surrounding me trying to get me to buy some.
I also enjoyed the business aspect of the trip. We toured Acorn International, General Electric, Bloomberg Television and Fanstang. This was my second favorite part of the trip.
In high school I took classes in business so it’s always nice to see what you learned in class being effective in the real world.
I got a chance to see how New Look works behind the scenes and how they establish relationships to better the program.
I also enjoyed spending time with John and Cammie Rice, two of the most humble and dedicated people I know.
My favorite part was, of course, the Powered by Service training with a group of fifth-graders in Shanghai and eighth-graders/ high school students in Hong Kong.
Powered by Service is the first phase of Usher’s New Look leadership certification program. In this training we open the doors for youth to see how they can become leaders through our four pillars of leadership: talent, education, career and service. I always get re-inspired by the youth in our training’s. It was so amazing to see the amount of leadership the students had.
They were very talented in art, music and sports. In Shanghai we worked with a group of fifth-graders who didn’t speak English. We were worried, but the other three youth leaders and I knew we could handle it. In the end, we did; thanks to a translator and the universality of body language. The thing that had the most profound effect on me was the inequality of rich and poor in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
One image that I still can’t get out of my head is of a beggar holding his dying son outside of the Buddhist temple. The boy was sickly thin, with a golf ball size tumor on the back of his head.
I don’t understand how the city can be so flashy and rich, yet people have to line themselves up outside of a temple to beg for money and food.
In Hong Kong, it was the housing condition. One of our service projects was giving food to the people living in “cubicle homes.” As we walked in, we had to walk in a single file line because the stairs weren’t wide enough for two people. There were about 12 rooms inside of small apartment; smaller than the size of my dorm. The only space to walk was to the “door” and back. The next building was made out of bathroom tile, but the rooms were much smaller. The beds were built into the wall; a rectangle, about the size of a casket.
A 28-year-old man who worked full time at The Hong Kong Jockey Club lived in this building. He can’t cook his own meals; he can’t use his own private bathroom. He has to eat at restaurants for meals and go outside to the public restroom. He makes HK$8200 a month and a rectangle box is all he can afford.
I don’t understand how Hong Kong can have a high tech and spotless clean subway system but can’t even afford to give people proper living conditions. I would rather see a broken down subway than a broken down home and community. I was told multiple times that it’s expensive to live in Hong Kong. Seeing this made me even more grateful for everything I’ve been given. I’m so happy I grew up in a place that gives opportunities.
This journey was a lifechanging experience that everyone should have the chance to take. Ten days may seem short, but it was more than enough time to make me realize my duty to give back to my community nationally and internationally. I left China with a new meaning of what it means to be a leader and I can’t wait to implement all that I learned in my community back home.