It was March 2018. After finishing off high school, I was looking forward to my ________ years. But in the meantime, I felt a strong desire to ________ abroad. After weeks of serious consideration, I ________ to have a gap（间隔）year.

I cannot tell you how many hours I spent trying to find the ________ I was most interested in. I got in touch with many volunteer organizations. In the end, I decided to ________ for “African Impact（影响）”. I wanted to make a(an)________—no matter how small—on African and its people, especially the ________.

I took part in the Child Care Project. We ________ in a foster care home（孤儿院）in Cape Town and spent time with a group of orphans（孤儿）________ the ages of 0 and 3. There was nothing as exciting as seeing a baby taking her first steps, hearing a two-year-old girl repeat all of the ________ in the alphabet after I said them, seeing a little boy kick or catch balls of different sizes, and watching all of the kids carefully ________ their hands before eating as it became a habit. These were the ________ that I watched the children develop every day there. My heart was filled with ________.

I also took part in the Teaching Project and worked in a preschool. Teaching was more ________. Some children were naughty. They didn’t always listen to me. But it’s ________ to describe the joy I felt when the kids finally understand what I was trying to teach them.

Volunteering in Cape Town changed my life. It changed who I am as a person...

“On the night of Nov 24, I walked pass a courier depot (快递网点) nearby on my way home. Some of the deliverymen were sleeping in the depot while others were sleeping in their delivery vehicles (车辆). I never knew that’s how they spent their nights especially when it is so cold outside. I know that I had to do something for them,” Liu Yiying, the owner of Wugan Hotel in Xicheng district, said.

On the following day, she announced that deliverymen can stay at the hotel for 50 yuan ($7.12) per night per person when the cheapest room at the hotel is 200 yuan. “Such price is nowhere to be found in central Beijing and does not even cover the cost. I just want to make it affordable for the hardworking deliverymen,” Liu said. The hotel has fewer than 30 rooms, so she didn’t advertise it but simply depended on word of mouth to get the message across. On the evening of Nov 25, 11 deliverymen checked into the hotel. So far more than 40 have stayed at the hotel when they are unable to go home.

Li Sanbao is among those who have been staying at the hotel. “It’s unbelievable,” he said. “Like all deliverymen here, I am so grateful. Having a place to rest and peace in mind, I can work harder as there have been shortages in deliverymen recently.” Li also said he would check out as soon as he didn’t need it. “The rooms should be given to those who need them the most,” he said.

After his father was rushed to the hospital with bleeding, 43-year-old Desouvre nearly went mad. So he did the one thing he knew would calm himself: he wrote.

“I’m so scared,” he started. “I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose my dad.”

Over the next few weeks, Desouvre filled several notebooks, writing about his worries as well as his happy memories with his dad—the jokes they’d shared, the basketball games they’d watched, and the time they pulled through hurricane together, then cooled down with ice cream. Sometimes Desouvre cried as he wrote. Often he laughed.

“Writing allowed me to face my fear,” says Desouvre. “My pen encouraged me to deal with the pain.”

“He is in good company. People who do this, recording their deepest thoughts and feelings, often show improved mental and physical health.” Says James Penne baker, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Texas, Austin. “It can strengthen the immune (免疫) system, including for people with illnesses such as cancer, PTSD, depression. Research also found that it can help improve mood, sleep, and memory. And it may even help prevent colds and flu.”

Then why write? Thinking or talking about an event can make you become lost in your emotions. But writing forces you to slow down. It can lead to greater positive mood, and a stronger appreciation for life. “Writing can increase someone’s acceptance of their experiences, and acceptance is calming,” James Penne baker says. Expressive writing works because it allows you to do something meaningful out of a painful experience. Recognizing that something is confusing you is an important first step. Then, translating that experience into language forces you to organize your thoughts. And expressing gives you a sense of control.

“You can’t keep things bottled up,” he says. “It will make you sick.” As he wrote, Desouvre asked himself how he felt about the hard times of his life. “It was painful. But when I learnt more about the pain, I was able to see the courage I didn’t know I had. My expressive writing has helped me discover the hope I need to heal (治愈).”