Liu Beibei, Han Ximin
EIGHTY volunteers selected from more than 400 applicants for a charity teaching program in the earthquake-devastated Gansu Province left Shenzhen on Thursday.
They will teach at Wenxian and Kangxian counties in Longnan City for a year.
The program was launched jointly by two Shenzhen companies. CATIC gave 2 million yuan (US$) while Shenzhen Aeolus Motor Trade Co. Ltd. gave 263,000 yuan to cover the cost of the program. The recruitment of volunteers started nationwide July 18.
The volunteers, mostly in their 20s and from more than 10 provinces, were selected after taking part in tests and interviews. Most of them possess bachelor’s degrees and some have master’s degrees with international educational backgrounds.
Xiao Na, a volunteer from Hubei Province, has taught in a primary school in Wuhan. Xiao’s younger sisters went to see her off at a send-off ceremony at the Citizens’ Center on Thursday.
“My family didn’t agree with my sister’s decision at first because Longnan is remote and destitute, but we are very proud of her now after seeing so many volunteers are taking part in the program to help reconstruct the quake area,” said one of Xiao’s sisters.
Peng Yuanfeng, a fresh graduate from Shenzhen University, spoke at the ceremony on behalf all volunteers. He said they were determined to “construct a better homeland” in the quake area.
He Xinglin, vice mayor of Longnan City, hoped the teachers would bring advanced teaching methods and innovative ideas to the city.
This is the sixth group of volunteer teachers to go to less-developed western regions since the program was started in 2006. Previously 162 volunteers had gone to teach in eight counties in Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Jianxi and Shaanxi.
In another development, trucks carrying 42,000 cartons of stationery and sports equipment weighing a total of 20 tons left Shenzhen on Wednesday for Longnan City. The goods will be distributed to students on the eve of the opening of the new school year. All the stationery were donated by the Shenzhen Lions’ Club, Shajing Stationery Wholesale Market in Bao’an District and a number of department stores in Shenzhen.
To help more students go back to school, the Shenzhen Charity Association had sent to Longnan around 1.52 million yuan from a student-aid program, which was initiated in June. More than 600 students will benefit from the aid. The city had raised more than 11 million yuan in a special fund to help build hospitals and schools in the quake-affected counties.