Everything Education
With August drawing to a close, it seems like a great time to reflect on what’s happened this summer. Our Education program has been particularly active the last few months!
From creating new classrooms for orphaned children with special needs children to Life Skills Camp for older teens and young adults, our team has been extremely busy. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been up to:
The Classroom Project
Although special education is not readily available in China, we don’t want that to get in the way of orphanages who want to provide educational opportunities for the children in their care. The goal of our Classroom Project is to help orphanages set up special education classrooms with equipment and supplies and provide training and ongoing resource support for teachers so ultimately the orphanage can run a school on their own.
We helped set up two classrooms this summer in Fuyang, Anhui and Pingliang, Gansu and were thrilled with the results…and so were the kids!
Teacher Training
Continuing education is important for all teachers, and we believe international collaboration can really benefit children. This summer, LWB once again sent a team of education specialists to China to share with teachers in our Believe in Me (BIM) Schools about how to better meet the needs of students with a variety of abilities and challenges. Six teachers from the U.S. traveled to China, and they had wonderful, collaborative experiences with our Believe in Me teachers and the teachers from our Classroom Projects at Fuyang and Pingliang!
Life Skills Camp
In August, fifty-two older orphaned teens and young adults traveled from six provinces to Beijing for a week to attend our inaugural Life Skills Camp.
Sessions on etiquette and social skills, alcohol and drug use, sex education, money management, online safety, self-defense, and more were held, field trips to famous Chinese sites were taken, and friendships and connections were formed between campers and their mentors.
“The World Is Better With Me In It” was this year’s theme, and by the end of the week the confidence and self-esteem of these young adults was tangible. We feel that they truly came to realize how important each person at the camp truly is. We hope to hold this camp again in the future!
Orphaned Student Support
Daniel from Jinjiang
Some orphaned children may attend public school but require financial support for tuition (required prior to first grade), tutoring, and educational materials. This year, we are helping 46 children like Daniel through our Orphaned Student Support Program.
Impoverished Student Support
Carly from Fujian
Currently, we are supporting twenty-two children from impoverished families who need assistance to attend school, either beyond the compulsory level of eighth grade or in a boarding school because of the location of their family home. Carly from Fujian has been part of our program since 2013 and is able to attend a very competitive high school thanks to support from her sponsors!
Believe in Me Schools
At the present time, we have Believe in Me schools in six locations across China to serve special needs children who may not otherwise be able to attend school.
Changzhi, 27 students (three of whom are acting out “The Three Bears”)
Huainan, 30 students (These two friends are Jaylee and Maxie)
Jinjiang, 14 students
Lanzhou, 34 students (this little artist is Christina)
Qingyang, 23 students
Shaoguan, 37 students
Every child who is sponsored allows us to say “yes” to another child in need of enrichment and education.
Because of the help of supporters like you, lives are being changed every day. We are grateful to you for helping break down the barriers of learning to vulnerable kids throughout China.
Want to get involved with all of the exciting things happening in Education? We have lots of sponsorship opportunities available on our website.
