Winter Clothing for Rural Orphans in Western China: A Rotary eclub of the Southwest USA Min-e-Grant

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1 Winter Clothing for Rural Orphans in Western China: A Rotary eclub of the Southwest USA Min-e-Grant Dear fellow Rotarians, This week I would like to say thank you for supporting the Orphanage Without Walls (OWW) program through a mini-e-grant. I say thank you on behalf of myself, the staff at Shambala Foundation, and the children that Shambala Foundation supports. This min-e-grant provided winter clothing to OWW s winter camp participants. I hope that you were able to watch the video that introduces the project the Rotary eclub of the Southwest USA recently supported. If you didn t watch it you can watch it now by clicking here. Last year, I wrote about the area where these projects occur in a Rotary presentation entitled Introducing Rural China. In that document I highlighted some of the challenges that poor rural children in this area face. Some of the main issues discussed were:

2 China s reduction in the number of schools in an attempt to create a more centralized system has meant that travel to school is becoming increasingly more distant and therefore more difficult. Reverse affirmative action: Rural (and especially minority) students must score higher on college entrance exams than their urban peers to be accepted to many universities. Furthermore, university enrollment regulations allow for a limited amount of students from each region of China, and typically accept less from regions with more rural minority inhabitants. That means it is more difficult (from an academic perspective) for poor rural minorities to get into college than wealthier urban Han Chinese on the east coast. Changing policies in rural areas are making it more difficult to maintain a livelihood. The government has been trying to reduce the number of nomadic people by relocating them to cities. Unfortunately, such transitions can be extremely difficult for these families since they lack experience in the urban job market. For farmers, falling food prices and increased land taxes mean that farmers make less money from selling their food and have to spend more money to care for their families. Expensive tuition for the poor: Chinese tax laws (like in the U.S.) draw education funding from mostly local tax sources. In the U.S. this often results in lower quality schools in poor areas. In China, this results in lower quality schools in poor areas AND a high tuition cost. Despite the fact that tuition is supposed to be free for primary school students, corruption and general lack of funding has resulted in a series of mandatory fees for primary and high school students, which are some of the highest in the world. Many families simply can t afford to pay them. What s the point? Many families and children in these areas don t see the point of education. Parents never went to school and tend to be skeptical of the education the government provides. Furthermore, not having them at home to help with chores is a sacrifice parents don t want to make. 2

3 After introducing some of these issues that children face in rural areas, President Rushton Hurley suggested that I look into applying for a mini-e-grant. The mini-e-grant proposed to our Rotary eclub was to provide winter clothing to these children when they visit the Orphanage Without Walls Student Empowerment Camp that Shambala Foundation provides as a part of its support. The Student Empowerment Camp is one aspect of a larger program called Orphanage Without Walls. Orphanage Without Walls (OWW) is currently helping over 650 orphans living in western areas of China find a stable familiar home, get an education, and break the cycle of intergenerational poverty by getting their first paid job. It is implemented in the western Chinese provinces of Qinghai and Gansu by four organizations: Shambala Foundation, Pentok, Children of Madaifu, and Lotus Charity Group. All of the beneficiaries in this program have lost or been abandoned by one or both parents, live below the UN poverty line, and would be at risk of dropping out or not starting school without support. OWW attempts to address the complex obstacles these children face every day through a series of interventions: 1. Children are placed with a stable, familiar family. Orphanages in China are notorious for leaving children psychologically scarred and physically unhealthy. We believe it is important that the orphans in our program are cared for by a local family (usually a neighbor or relative). 2. Foster families receive material and financial support if they agree to send their children to school. Problems with children dropping out or never attending school to begin with are rampant in rural regions of Qinghai where these kids live due to the high cost of education, long distances to schools, and lack of interest from uneducated parents. 3. Children receive emotional support from social workers with similar backgrounds during home visits, school visits, and at the Student Empowerment Camp. During these visits social workers inspire and motivate the children to do well in school and recognize potential problems that need to be addressed specifically for each child as they arise. 3

4 4. Children attend the Student Empowerment Camp, which is a camp offered every year during the summer and winter holidays designed to help children see new possibilities unknowable before, realize the value of education, receive materials like clothes and hygienic supplies, learn how to use those supplies, and spend more time with social workers. Each child was assigned to one mentor who is currently studying at Qinghai Normal University in a special program for minority students. Most of these mentors come from similar backgrounds and/or places as the OWW orphans who attended the camp. The Student Empowerment Camp is a crucial part of the support we offer these children. This camp is designed to provide an inspirational, informative, and emotionally supportive experience for 12 orphans at a time over the course of one week. This winter we hosted 23 orphans over the course of two weeks. The first group of OWW orphans was picked up on January 12, 2014 and brought to Xining, the capital city of Qinghai province. The second group arrived in Xining on January 20. Each group stayed for 8 days. Upon arrival they settled into the new living area and met the mentors and administrators. The following week included mentor-led classes in the morning and trips around the city in the afternoon. Morning classes included topics such as computers, city life, study skills and team building. Afternoon activities included a trip to the Tibetan Hospital to talk with a famous Tibetan doctor and a trip to a local travel agency to talk with a successful Tibetan businessman. Students and mentors also took trips to the Xining Zoo, a local movie theater, and the Qinghai Science and Technology Museum. 4

5 5 During camp, children received a basic hygiene kit and clothing to bring home to their families. The hygiene kit included toothpaste, a toothbrush, a comb, a small hand towel, soap, and lotion. Clothing for children included winter jackets, pants, hats, scarves and gloves. We give the children winter clothing because it is often very expensive for families to purchase quality material and winter conditions can be quite harsh. The Rotary eclub of the Southwest USA generously supported the purchasing of clothing for the attendees of the winter Student Empowerment Camp this January. The act of giving clothing to these children during the student empowerment camp will: 1. Improve the likelihood that the child will stay in school. In the rural regions where these children live there are usually long distances that must be walked between the child s home and the school. The families of these children cannot afford to pay for motorized transportation of any kind, so children must walk. Weather conditions are extremely harsh, as most children live in regions that get extremely cold during the winter. Children do not want to walk long distances, and caregivers are uncertain of the child s safety. As a result, inadequate winter clothing in such extreme conditions becomes a factor in the decision to drop out of school. 2. Reduce the probability of health problems. Many of the children in our program already suffer from nutritional problems and as a result are frequently sick. By providing adequate winter clothing we can significantly reduce the chances of children getting sick. 3. Create a closer bond between the OWW children and social workers. One of the key aspects of the OWW program is the relationship between the mentors and the children. Social workers are able to encourage children in ways that parents cannot, because most parents aren t able to understand the value of education. When social workers provide necessities like clothing to the children, they are seen as caregiver and mentor allowing them to have a more positive influence on the child.

6 6 The Rotary eclub of the Southwest USA has done a great service for these children. The Orphanage Without Walls program commits to each child from the moment we begin support to the moment they get their first paid job. For many kids this means we will pay the tuition costs for university or vocational training school. Since there are so many obstacles that prevent these children from finding a paid job enabling them to support themselves and their future family, the OWW program must be sophisticated in its approach. That means we are consistently exploring new and innovative ways to help these children. Some of the other programs we are developing include: A financial literacy program: This program aims to inform caregivers in households of financial returns an education for their children can bring. In other words, the point of this program is to make caregivers see the point of education. A job placement program: After OWW children finish school, Shambala Foundation and its partners will help them find a job that fits their skills and ambitions. This will involve educating children on how to get a job, what to expect when working, and where to look for job opportunities. A literacy program: For most of the children in our program books are too expensive. We are in the process of launching a program that will provide books directly to the home of families and encourage reading for pleasure. This will have spillover effects for all aspects of their success in school. It is my hope that our Rotary eclub can continue to support these children in the future by providing general support, by supporting one of these new programs or by continuing to support the Student Empowerment Program. If you would like to learn more about this program or if you would like to personally support it somehow you can me (dgonier@gmail.com) or visit our website: Thanks for reading! Devin Gonier