Once again, OCEF grabbed both prizes for the highest donation and the most donors in the GlobalGiving Regional Bonus Day competition on October 16, earning $2,000 in rewards and $3,818 in matching funds, after winning the same prizes during GlobalGiving Open Challenge in September.
Many thanks for the strong support from our donors and volunteers, especially several long-term donors who have been making large donations for years and some 20 donors who participated in the Run4Kids campaign organized by the Northern California Chapter of OCEF. A special thank-you to Xiaoning Zhao and other volunteers of the Northern California Chapter who promoted the event tirelessly on the various forums at Wenxuecity.com, especially the RDZN (midlife) board. The netizens of RDZN contributed almost $5,000 from 64 donors for the Tuba Primary School project in Mabian County, Sichuan Province, which played a crucial role in securing the prize for the most donors.
With the support of our dedicated donors, OCEF will regard the GlobalGiving Regional Bonus Day competitions in March, June and October of each year as an important opportunity to earn prize money and matching funds for the rural children in China. The desires of participating donors regarding specific projects will be fully honored, and progress reports will be provided periodically on their chosen projects.
由于农村在教育资源方面的绝对劣势，绝大多数农村学生都会在初中结业之后，选择中专、职高或直接进入社会从事低端工作。学校传授的应试知识对他们人生的帮助微乎其微，特别是女生。GE 项目的“生活技能课程活动”主要采用联合国和世界银行共同发起的“Education for All Movement”，希望帮助女孩们着重提高沟通、独立决策、批判性思维的能力。
In rural areas of western China, girls are at a particular disadvantage due to poverty, shortage of educational resources and traditional gender disparity. With the Girl's Education (GE) program, OCEF seeks to help improve their quality of life by providing access to outside educational resources to offset the impacts of poverty and gender disparity.
The first GE pilot program was set up in Qingshi Township, Hubei Province, in August 2011, and the second became reality in Chaba Township, Sichuan Province, in June 2013. Chaba High School consists of both junior high school classes and senior high school classes, with a total student body of 2,030. With deep roots in the fundamentals of rural education, the school administrators put much emphasis on the development of vocational skills and character building. They appreciate and support the GE program, which is critical to the program at the current exploration stage.
The GE program is focused above all on girls in junior high school. Based on the yearlong experiment in Qingshi, we have categorized program course work into three main components: adolescence sex education, life skills, and developmental information support. Adolescence sex education is an important component of the GE program because at present there is practically no coverage on the subject in rural schools. Our classes provide a great platform for girls to understand their physical development and to protect themselves from potential abuse. They also help the girls build self-confidence and self-awareness to combat the adverse effect of gender discrimination.
Due to scarcity of available educational resources, the majority of rural children will enroll in vocational schools or start low-level jobs after junior high school. The standard mode in education, geared toward classroom examinations, offers little to their career development, especially for girls. Life skills education in the GE program adopts the approach of the Education for All Movement promoted by the United Nations and the World Bank, and aims at improving their skills in communication, critical thinking and independent decision-making.
Most kids in rural areas lack access to professional assistance in career development. Through the GE program, we hope to provide information on vocational schools and other related subjects to the graduating class in junior high school, so that the kids can make informed decisions about their future development.
My name is______, and I am a graduating student at Kashi Senior High School in Xinjiang. In this letter, I would like to express to you my most sincere appreciation for your continuous support and financial aid in the past, which helped me complete my high school education. More important, with your love and affection, I no longer feel that I am just by myself, which gives me more courage to overcome the challenges in my studies.
I am from a family five, and we live in a small, remote town in the far west. My eldest sister just graduated from college and is looking for a job, my second sister is still in college, and I am going to college soon. My parents have no stable jobs and the whole family depends on a meager and unstable income from their vending booth at a street fair. Your support has greatly relieved my parents' financial burdens and enabled me to focus on my studies.
I'm very grateful of all the selfless help you have given me. I will cherish this forever.
Thank you so much!
October 20, 2013
Dear _____:
Very glad to hear from you! This is Uncle Stone at OCEF. I am sorry for this late reply and I hope this letter finds you well.
I read the simple words in your letter and felt your genuine gratitude, which gives me great encouragement. My family background is very similar to yours. My mom lost her job when I was in primary school and my parents also had great burdens financially. I received a lot of help from relatives, friends and the society over the years and I have decided it is time to pay back with my action. That is the primary reason why I joined OCEF.
For most people, whether they realize it or not, whether they are successful entrepreneurs or happy housewives, there are lot of factors playing into their success beyond their control, and nobody should attribute their success 100% to their own efforts. At this time you are probably not in a position to repay the society materially, but studying hard and taking a positive attitude toward life will be a good way to show your appreciation to OCEF. Only by doing so will you be able to help others in need in the future.
I hope you continue to have a positive attitude, to study hard, be a good person, and get closer to your dream every day, one step at a time.
Take care and keep in touch.
Yours, Uncle Stone OCEF
2013年10月号／October 2013
Overseas China Education Foundation/海外中国教育基金会
Address/地址: P. O. Box 772436, Houston, Texas 77215-2436, USA Telephone/电话: (281) 506-2018 E-mail/电子邮件:
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