Below are some accounts by past and present CNYT members relating to our Education Schemes.

Date: 1/11/2007 by Edward Cheng

In 2004, the CNY Trust built its’ first school in Damiao, Hebei province of China in co-operation with the local government. Since the school opened its’ doors in 2005, the CNY Trust have organized annual visits to the school to receive feedback and to look for areas for improvements.

In the 2007 visit, CNY Trust committee members Edward Cheng (President), Micky Xu ( Ents), and Donna Gao felt that that the school was in good conditions, with improved teaching facilities in the form of a new computer room the local government helped to built.

The committee also observed that there are problems with the lack of a playground space for the school children. The present facilities is restricted to rough outdoor ground, which not only raise safety issues but limits the children’s playground activities – football and basketball are out of the question, even running is a risk.

Also, the school library has a very limited number of books, far below the minimum level required by the government. Moreover, a large proportion of the books were unsuitable for children.

After the trip, the committee decided to invest in playground flatting and library extension, projects which in junction with the local governments will cost approximately £ 8000.

The money raised this year along with funds carried over from the last will be used to build our second school.

Date: 1/11/2007 by Hao Du

CNY in the summer holiday- The trip to Xi'an

On a beautiful sunny day in September, a large coach rumbles along a meandering road up the mountains of Lantian County, in Shaanxi Province. The CNYT was on our way to Lantian Junior High School, our newest project in China. Outside, mountains and valleys stretched into the horizon, the beaming sun lighting up every corner of the landscape. However the beauty of the place could not hide the poverty of the region's people. Lantian has never been a rich county, and now, with China roaring in development,
places like Lantian are being forgotten, until now.

Our trip to Xi'an was made possible by the dedicated and patient efforts of Wang Xixi, our External Officer. Through her patient efforts, Gaoxin First High School was to be be our hosts and beneficial in Xi'an. They provided accommodation for us top top of a 13,000 rmb donation for our project in Shaanxi. It was thus that we traveled to xx Junior High School with around 30 select students of Gaoxin and a group of their teachers.

Upon a tour of the school, and through speaking to its young students, we began to realize the degree of hardship which these children faced. Few families have enough income to afford a full secondary education and beyond for their children. Hence even if a child did well enough in his or her exams to attend a senior high school, they would be denied the opportunity. This is especially poinent as in the chinese society where decent jobs are hard to come by without a degree, this condemns generations of children in this area to a life of poverty and hardship, regardless of their talents or abilities.

Also whilst the classrooms seemed reasonable, the same could not be said for the accommodation of this largely boarding school. Each dorm, no bigger than some of the larger college dorms in Cambridge, houses up to 40 children. Each child is given a tiny strip for their pillow and duvet. Their row of bunk beds are made out of logs and covered with sheets and paper. It is hard to imagine, let alone describe, experiencing such hardship for a child so young, yet all the children we spoke to were cheerful, determined and hopeful of a way out of their hardship.

Together with students of Gaoxin Highschool, we donated the 13,000 rmb to Lantian Middle school in a meticulous ceremony organized by both schools. Meanwhile during consultation with the local education department, we began to negotiate how the CNY can further help Lantian Middle school. Although plans are to be finalized, we decided that it was priority to build a new accommodation block for the children, a project that will cost around 150,000 rmb. Bursuries should also be set up so the top students at the school can afford senior secondary school and hopefully, university. We left xx junior middle school and their children promising to do our best to help them. We will, but we need your contributions, whether through attending our charity run, charity ball or other events, your efforts are and will continue to make a difference!

I left Xi'an with a much clearer understanding of what we are trying to achieve. I saw the children whose lives will be directly influenced by our actions, and I am even more determined to not let them down! I hope you will help me keep my promises to the children of Lantian!

By Hao Du

Date: 28/04/2007 by Phoebe

Overseas teaching programme:
This is a brand-new project expected to launch next Christmas and continue in easter. In cooperation with the Yinghao international school in Guangzhou, China. CNY will dispatch approximately 10 students from Cambridge, as the first batch of volunteer teachers to give prep lesson to students wishing to attend high schools in UK and finally pursue a degree in one of the top ten universities of UK. We sincerely hope that by sharing our academic and life experience in UK from a student’s point of view. We can give the students some guidance in their aspiration to one of the elite higher education institutes of the world and contribute to Chinese education in a larger perspective. We also hope that all the participants in this programme will find it an exciting as well as a rewarding experience. Want to apply to be a volunteer? Keep an eye on our website, details coming up soon!

" If your plan is for a year, plant rice.

If your plan is for a decade, plant trees.

If your plan is for a lifetime, educate children."

~~ Confucius

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