See It: The Community being helped

OVERVIEW

Though China is often seen as a rising power in the international world, much of China still remains impoverished, especially in western provinces where minorities live. There the yearly family income of most families is less than 1900 RMB (about $250). Even though an education can be the difference between a life of crushing poverty and the chance for a better future, but the money is scare, and many can not afford to go to school.

The desire to help these children in their struggle to continue their education led to the creation of a national non-profit organization the Crossroads of Hope. In the first two years since its founding, the Crossroads of Hope has raised over $31,000 to benefit more than 100,000 children in rural China which was used to give scholarships, educational materials, establish libraries, and buy school supplies and subscription of children’s newspaper.

Now the Crossroads of Hope is also focused on raising awareness and cultural understanding and bridging the cultural gap between the East and the West.

DESCRIPTION

The living conditions of children in rural China and especially their persistent attempts to continue education despite all the hardship prompted me to do more than feel chagrined and touched, so I began to take action. I immediately contacted the founder of a non-profit national organization and shared ideas with her about ways to help these children through the organization she had just started. I became deeply involved in defining the mission and the vision of the organization, establishing its structure, working on day-to-day planning and operations, and recruiting members. In addition, I created the organization’s name – Crossroads of Hope -- and designed the logo, informational posters, and the letterhead for marketing and fundraising events.

After getting the national organization off the ground, I saw the needs of having a local organization to bring the initiative to a new level. I started the Atlanta Chapter and recruited many classmates to join in the efforts. As the president and the founder of the Atlanta Chapter, I established the chapter organization structure and filled in key positions. Numerous planning meetings took place after school and during weekends to identify the roadmap of this non-profit organization and the activities needed to happen to raise money for the poor children’s education.

On one hand, I focused on growing the organization; on the other hand, I worked closely with schools and many local communities and businesses to seek support through sales activities and participating in private and public events: car washes, bake sales, book sales, Business Expos-anything to help make the organization known and raise funds. I recruited members from school and on the internet through Facebook.

The organization, nationally, became known to more people and got bigger. Now in our third year, Crossroads of Hope has received an outpouring of financial support. Through the efforts of over 80 active members to date, we have raised more than $31,000 to help over 100,000 poor children throughout the rural provinces in China with the scholarships, books, newspapers and school supplies.

This past June, representing the Atlanta Chapter, I traveled with members from other chapters, using the money saved up from my part time job, to Kaili to visit schools and present scholarships and books to the students. The trip to visit the poor children and the schools in China is the ultimate milestone of the accomplishment of our non-profit organization.

See It: The Community being helped

The Rural China Education Foundation (RCEF) strives to empower rural teachers to develop community-based education that prepares children for life and for contribution to community development. We envision renewing the meaning, contents and methods of rural education so that instead of serving as an escape route away from rural problems, they work for the betterment of rural society and create citizens with a sense of agency and social responsibility for improving rural China from within. We test out our philosophy in summer camps for rural children run by short-term volunteers and now, we will expand to send a corps of long-term Teaching Fellows (TFs) to support rural educators and community members in developing quality, community-relevant education throughout the year. Well-documented action research from these experimental sites supplemented by our short-term volunteer programs will form the foundation for a proven and sustainable set of curriculum ideas and a cohort of rural practitioners who are implementing these methods across rural China. Their results can then be disseminated to reach more children and turn education into a true force in rural development.

RCEF philosophy must be tested by long-term action research on the ground to figure out how it can actually be implemented. Educators and villagers must be empowered to re-think the needs of their students and the community and to participate in adapting education to serve those needs. Students must personally apply learning to achieve positive change before they can think of themselves as long-term change agents in life and community development. Individuals who share our vision and want to work in rural education need to be connected with each other and given training, mentorship, suitable experimental sites, and funding. Thus, we will send a cohort of carefully selected TFs to live and develop curriculum full-time with rural people in their communities. They will get in-service support from RCEF staff and reinforcements from college student volunteering clubs and international volunteers who will go to the sites on school breaks to run enriching camps for the children. These allies will also raise public awareness and draw new ideas and resources to the cause. We will disseminate our experiences as catalysts for community-centered curriculum reform throughout rural China.