如今回顾圣诞假期已恍如隔世，远得不像几个月前才发生过的事。但对FLIS学子Jeffrey与Steve而言，2019年末那段日子大概不那么容易忘掉。两位学子同为FLIS乐队成员，圣诞晚会才贡献了精彩演出；学习演出生活之余，暑假曾前往贵州支教的Steve说起马布岛支教项目，两人一拍即合，决定在圣诞假期远赴海岛给小朋友们上课。
Looking back on the Christmas holidays nowadays, it’s like a lifetime away, far from something that happened only a few months ago. But for FLIS secondary students Jeffrey and Steve, that time in late 2019 is probably not so easy to forget. Steve, who was a volunteer teacher in Guizhou during the summer vacation, told his FLIS band leader Jeffrey about the Education Support Program in Mabul Island, and they decided to go to the island together to give lessons to the children during the Christmas vacation.
马布岛位于马来西亚斗湖市下的仙本那东南侧海岸，近年来因外海域富有微型海洋生物且适宜浮潜而成为火热的旅游胜地。在这方碧蓝仙境中生活着世上现存最后一支海上游牧民族——巴瑶族。巴瑶人世代讨海，生活贫困，下一代鲜有机会获得教育。
Mabul is a small island off the southeastern coast of Sabah in Malaysia. The island has become a hot tourist destination in recent years due to the abundance of microscopic marine life in the outer sea and its water, which is ideal for snorkeling. In this turquoise wonderland lives the last remaining nomadic island people in the world, the Bajau. These people have been living in poverty for generations, and their kids usually have little access to education.
甫一抵达马布岛，Jeffrey与Steve都被乞讨的孩童与艰苦的环境所震撼。但看过当地居民的生活环境后，两人默默收回了心中的抱怨。“看到当地人住的房子的时候真的就觉得我错了，他们住在用木板搭起来，最多只有五平米的简陋房子里，我顿时就觉得自己不该提这么多要求，整个学校占地面积八十平方米，三个班，在一个集装箱里，没有空调，只有一个简陋的风扇，也没有校门。”Steve如此回忆道。
Upon arriving on Mabul Island, both Jeffrey and Steve were not very pleased with the very simple accommodation that was provided for them. They were also struck by the begging children around them. But after looking at the locals' living conditions, the two silently retracted their complaints. "I really felt guilty when I saw the houses where the locals live; they live in simple houses built with wooden planks, at most only five square meters! I immediately felt that I should not make so many demands. The whole school covers an area of only eighty square meters, three classes, in a container, with no air conditioning, only a simple fan, and also no school door.", Steve recalls.
既来之则安之，两人迅速融入岛上生活，与项目小组成员一道开始教学。但新的问题又一一涌现。一行人给巴瑶族孩子上中文、英文、数学、绘画、音乐方面的课程，起初小组成员以为自己可以通过翻译软件同孩子们沟通，可他们渐渐发现，当地孩子所说的并非标准马来语，其中掺杂的众多外来词汇令双方沟通更加困难。当然，解决问题正是成员们此行学到的重要一课！最后，他们通过图画示意及跟读，顺利将所授知识传达给了活泼好学小朋友们。那一刻，无与伦比的成就感油然而生。
Once they were there, they quickly integrated into island life and began teaching with the program's team members. But new problems emerged, one after another. At first, the group thought they could communicate with the children through translation apps, but gradually they found that the local children were not speaking standard Malay, and the many foreign words mixed in made communication more difficult. Of course, problem-solving was an important lesson they learned on this trip! In the end, they successfully conveyed their knowledge to these lively kids by illustrating and reading along. At that moment, an unparalleled sense of accomplishment was born.
除了支教，Jeffrey与Steve也趁此机会好好感受了一番当地生活。热爱音乐的Jeffrey发现岛上居民的音乐素养不凡，能歌善舞；漫步岛上，酒店、民宿里经常传来经典的摇滚乐歌曲。他在岛上认识了新朋友，一起弹琴。Steve则对当地人的饮食习惯颇感兴趣，支教尾声，他也尝试了用手吃饭，“确实，我感觉这样吃貌似更香？”
In addition to teaching, Jeffrey and Steve also took the opportunity to enjoy local life. Jeffrey, a music-lover, found the islanders to be exceptionally musical and also good dancers; classic rock songs were often heard in hotels and B&Bs as he walked around the island. Steve, on the other hand, was interested in the eating habits of the locals, and at the end of his mission, he also tried eating with his hands like the locals, and exclaimed: "Wow, I think it tastes better this way!"
海之子会梦见陆上花吗？相处中，Jeffrey与Steve也发现了岛上孩子对外界的渴望。巴瑶族世代生活于海上，孩子没有国籍，大部分当地人最多只在成年后坐船去过仙本那小镇。他们热情友善，会在Jeffrey播放FLIS乐队视频时好奇地凑过来围观。有一名男孩对Jeffrey表示，自己的梦想是成为一名足球运动员。一旁聆听的Steve也不禁动容，“我真的很希望未来这些孩子能获得国籍，走出马布岛。这也是我来这里的目的，想提升一下当地的教育水平，希望他们能应用他们学会的知识，走出无国籍的屏障。”
Do Sons of the Sea dream of land flowers? As they got to know some of the children, Jeffrey and Steve also discovered island kids' desire for the outside world. The Bajau have lived at sea for generations, their children have no nationality, and most of the locals have only visited the small town of Semporna by boat in their adult years at most. They were warm and friendly and would curiously come around to watch as Jeffrey played the FLIS band video. One boy told Jeffrey that his dream was to be a soccer player. Steve, who was listening, couldn't help but be moved: "I really hope that in the future these kids will get their citizenship and get out of Mabul. That's what I'm here for, to raise the level of local education a bit and hopefully they'll apply what they've learned to get out of statelessness."
当地居民大多环保意识薄弱，更有低素质游客乱扔垃圾，是以在岛上最后一天，支教小组一行人带着孩子们参与海滩清理工作，向居民、游客普及环保概念。回首这段支教经历，起初两位学子都经历了诸如找不到护照、丢失证件等乌龙事件，但两人在无助彷徨中渐渐学会了独立解决问题，也提升了抗压能力，更在教学过程中意识到了团队合作与责任心的重要性。FLIS向来鼓励学子多多参与各种类型的社会实践，锻炼学术及生活技能，增长生活阅历。天地偌大，远方近处，繁华都市与边陲小镇，是教育构筑了双向桥梁：令人生友善之心、包容之意，触到更大、更远的世界；或许有朝一日，海之子也会启程远航，穿越屏障，望见缤纷的陆上繁花。
On the last day of the Education Support Program, a team of teachers took kids to participate in the beach clean-up work to spread the concept of environmental protection to the residents and tourists. FLIS has always encouraged students to participate in various kinds of social practices, to develop academic and life skills, and to grow their life experience. It is education that builds a two-way bridge: a friendly and comprehensive metropolitan heart that reaches out to a more distant world; perhaps one day, Sons of the Sea will set sail and cross the barrier to see flowers on land.
