| Letter to Our Supporters |
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Dear RCEF Community, RCEF volunteers from around the world have organized summer camps for children in 14 villages of 9 provinces every summer since 2005. Many children have said that SVP showed them a whole new and enjoyable way to learn. Over the course of four summers, we've learned a lot about how to implement student-centered education in rural China. Local teachers also learned from our experiences and even use some of our methods in their own teaching. The Summer Volunteer Program attracted diverse and talented committee volunteers who continue to perform indispensable roles in RCEF. Thanks to the hard work of volunteers and the foundation we've laid through the Summer Volunteer Program, RCEF is now in a better position to address fundamental problems in rural education. This means running long-term programs within the regular curriculum rather than short-term extracurricular programs. It also means relying more on local teachers and focusing on their professional development rather than relying heavily on outside volunteers. Therefore, we have decided not to organize the Summer Volunteer Program this year. Instead, we will make use of the school holidays to hold a training program for local teachers. We are recruiting a small number of trainers for the training program. If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering as a trainer, please see our Summer Teacher Training 2009 page (Editor's note: now closed) for more information about how to apply.  Thank you very much for you support throughout the years. We hope
that you continue to stay involved in RCEF by serving on committees, fundraising, reading the blog and newsletters, and spreading the word about RCEF. Best, Sara Lam |
| "After RCEF came to our school, I felt happier and more confident to really try things. Before when I had ideas, I would usually stay quiet because I was afraid no one would understand. Now I have RCEF to talk to and discuss things with and it feels really good." – Sun Huimiao, Fourth Grade Teacher, Guan Ai Primary School, Shanxi Province |
| "When I’m older, I would also like to become a volunteer and teach at a rural school. The volunteers showed me the outside world and passed on their knowledge to us; I would also like to pass on my knowledge to other children in rural areas." - 6th grade student, Dayang Primary School, Henan Province |
| "After the summer camp, my relationships with my friends got stronger. Through all the group activities,, I became closer with my classmates and started to understand them better. I now know that two are better than one." - Summer Camp student, Dayang Primary School, Henan Province |
| "The reason I joined RCEF is that I believe everybody deserves a chance." - Xuejing Chen, interviewed in World Journal Magazine 2006 |
