At the end of March, YCIS Qingdao students went on their first international service learning trip. A group of 11 students including all Year 12 students and two Year 11 students, accompanied by 3 teachers, embarked on an exciting 4-day trip to Manila in the Philippines. We partnered with Kids International Ministry (KIM), a missionary run community organisation set up to help and empower underprivileged children and families. KIM is also the beneficiary of Seeds of Hope fundraisers across all YCIS campuses. Our students were engaged in a wide range of community upliftment and service projects, including building homes for underprivileged families. During the home building project, our students helped to mix concrete, plaster walls and paint the houses. We also visited a very poor squatter community in the middle of Manila, during which we served soup to the community children, played games with them and bought them treats from the local house shops. We also had an opportunity of creating gardens along the outer walls of the Children’s Home, which will be a lasting memory of our visit to KIM. Our students were excellent ambassadors of Yew Chung International School of Qingdao and did an awesome job with practically living out the character traits that form part of the YCIS learner profile, including kindness, compassion, generosity, and patience. Thanks to all involved in making this trip happen, especially Mr. Dasari and Mr. Clarke for their extra time and effort in supporting this learning and life experience opportunity.