Contents
Program News
Field Notes from Shanxi Province
An update from the Starfish Rural Youth Cultural Research Center in Yongji, Shanxi.
Training-of-Trainers Workshop in Shanghai
We organized a training for NGOs that serve rural children who have moved to the city.
Organizational News
RCEF Promotes Serving Learning in Rural China
We share our philosophy and field experiences with rural community workers.
RCEF Presents at Harvard Business School
RCEF spoke at a panel at Harvard Business School and two fundraisers in New York City.
In Memory of a RCEF Mentor
A pillar of the rural development community in China has passed away.
Donor Updates
Recognition of Recent Donors
We warmly thank those who donated to RCEF in March and April 2011!
Notes from the Field
Above: Students interview their school's elderly gatekeeper about what their village was like 30 years ago.
We are over a month into the spring semester and program impacts are just beginning to show at Xiaochao Primary Schol and Dong Wu Xing Primary School. Starfish director Junfang Zhao has noticed that after one semester of our program’s reading classes, students have grown to love reading and reading class. Our program partner schools and parents have always supported children to read more books because they know that this helps to build reading comprehension abilities and broadens students' horizons.
In the four months from March to June, the Starfish Center's curriculum will guide third and fourth graders through twelve carefully selected books. The books were chosen around themes that are close to students' lives such as village history and family relationships. Students also have a chance to pick out books of interest from teacher recommendations and share their feedback about the books.
Above: Students look at illustrations from the book Village Changes to the Sound of the Bulldozer which helped them to begin and explore changes in their own villages over the last twenty years.
Each unit of the curriculum includes previewing the books, reading and responding to the books, exploring related themes in real life, and applying what was learned.
In each step, students learn different reading methods. For example, during the reading of Village Changes, students learned how to guess what will happen next in the story by looking at illustrations. They also observed the different illustrations to identify how the linked together and how their changes express the author’s meaning.
Training-of-Trainers Workshop
Above: Participants learn an educational game.
RCEF partnered with CIIC HR Management Consulting Company to put on a workshop for six non-profit organizations that serve children whose families have migrated from rural areas to Shanghai. Rural mgrant children in China's cities generally have fewer opportunities for quality education than their urban counterparts. The volunteers from these non-profit organizations play a key role in providing free weekend and after-school activities to enrich these children's lives.
During the workshop, participants learned icebreaker games that they can use in different teaching situations and for different kinds of learning goals. A speaker with a decade of teaching experience in one of Shanghai’s best middle schools shared insights into child psychology and communication strategies.
The workshop which was extremely well received also served as a platform for volunteers of different projects to get to know each other and share information about their work that could open the door for more collaborations.
RCEF Promotes Service Learning in Rural China
Above: RCEF was invited to speak in Guangxi Province.
In mid-March, RCEF Executive Director Diane Geng and RCEF's long-time rural teaching partner, Ms. Sun Huimiao, traveled to southwest China to share RCEF’s philosophy and teaching with around a dozen rural development organizations. The teachers and NGO staff in the audience were very interested in examples of RCEF’s Service Learning projects.
In the evaluation form, one participant wrote, “The hands-on practical classes that (RCEF) has developed were totally new to me and is something my organization needs. It was eye-opening to see such diversity in education!” Another participant wrote, “The (RCEF) presentation showed me an alternative kind of education and the limitless possibilities for rural education. This kind of education is close to the community and close to life. It also helps students to be full of interest in learning.”
The training was organized by Hong Kong-based Partnerships in Community Development (社区伙伴) and Andian Non-Profit Culture Exchange Center (安典公益文化交流中心).
RCEF Presents in New York and Boston
Above: Nikita Guo speaks about RCEF's mission and work.
On April 2, RCEF's Co-Director of Development, Nikita Guo, spoke in a panel at the Asia Business Conference at Harvard Business School. The panel was moderated by Professor Peter Geithner of Harvard University and focused on sustainable development in Asia. RCEF's philosophy and work were well-received by the audience, and many of their questions were addressed to RCEF during a question-and-answer period afterwards.
RCEF also participated in a fundraiser organized by our donor partner Givology in New York City. The “$10K for 10 Schools” fundraiser was very successful with over 350 guests attending. They event raised money for education projects around the world.
On March 25, the Fudan Fuzhong Overseas Foundation, Fudan University’s High School Alumni Club, held its annual Spring Luncheon in New York City and invited RCEF to present the keynote speech. Co-directors of development Nikita Guo and Annie Zhou introduced RCEF’s programs to approximately 50 business professionals and academics who are concerned about the quality of education in China’s rural areas. We agreed to stay in touch with the Foundation and discuss future areas of collaboration between our organizations.
In Memory of a RCEF Mentor
Above: Liu Laoshi in Hebei Province in May 2005.
We were shocked and saddened by the passing of Liu Laoshi, a good friend and mentor of RCEF. The 43-year-old teacher and rural development worker was killed in a car accident in late March. Liu Laoshi trained and influenced hundreds of village leaders and university students in China and is mourned by a broad network of farmers, academics, NGO workers, and journalists who continue the work he devoted his life to..
Liu Laoshi played an invaluable role in helping RCEF learn about rural China. He was one of the first people we talked to who expressed a coherent vision for rural development in China and he introduced us to many good people who were instrumental in shaping our understanding of civil society and rural development work. His philosophy and spirit had a deep influence on us and was a major inspiration in our deciding to take action to join and support the rural reconstruction movement.
During the trainings and the village trips we participated in with Liu Laoshi, he always pushed us to learn more, be humble, and be disciplined. He stood as an example and teacher, urging and training young people to use their scholarly knowledge and research skills to go to rural areas and learn about the realities there while collaborating with rural residents to make improvements. Because of his personal commitment and unflagging work ethic, he was able to inspire and move to action many in China and abroad.
As a result of their interactions with Liu Laoshi, many young people have questioned and rethought their values and relationship to society--a feat that few educators can accomplish. With his resilient personality and great determination, Liu Laoshi would have done many more great things. We cannot believe he is gone, but are renewed in our commitment to carry on the values that he promoted. We hope that the network of people who have been influenced by Liu Laoshi will continue building on the rural development causes that he did so much to advance in China.
The official memorial website is here.
Donor Roll
We are grateful to all the supporters who donated to RCEF in March & April 2011! (A complete list of donors through the years is available here.)
Bronze Sponsors ($100-$999)
Andrew Fang (Hoboken, NJ)
Chinese Property Professionals Society (United Kingdom)
Goldman Sachs Matching Program
Google Matching Program
Min Tao
Nancy Hsieh (Pittsford, NY)
Supporting Sponsors (under $99)
Bob Chang
Owen Gibbins
The RCEF Newsletter is a publication about the educational initiatives supported by RCEF in rural China.
Contact Us
Annual Report 2009-2010
Donate
You can help rural Chinese students and teachers reach their potential! Donations are 100% tax-deductible in the U.S.
Checks payable to "Rural China Education Foundation" can be sent to:
PO Box 92424
Rochester, NY 14692-0424
Donations can also be made online!
From Our Website
From Rural School to the Big City and Back
Read the story of Ms. Wang, a teacher who returned from the city and now teaches reading to rural children.
Diary Entry: Weekend Excursion with Village Children
An informal outing sheds light on rural children’s relationship to the environment around them.
Our Village's Revolutionary Roots
Students investigate what life was like in their villages during a critical period in history.
See videos of RCEF's activities on our Youtube Channel!
Sweet Potato Investigation
All the steps of this yearlong project on a local crops can be seen in this video.
Helping Schools in Gansu
Project teacher Ms. Zhang Li worked with fourth graders to plan a fundraising campaign for impoverished schools in Gansu Province.
Green Campus Project
Project teacher Ws. Wang Min describes the process of helping students carry out a campus landscaping project.
Water Investigation Project
This video shows how students went into the community to research water issues.
Anti-Smoking Investigation
Students carried out a campaign to educate their neighbors in three villages about the harms of smoking
Past Newsletters
RCEF posts all our newsletters on our website.
Click here to read past issues