Li Hao
LEARNING to be grateful was a way to become mature, said Pan Hao, a 24-year-old Shenzhen native, at yesterday s farewell ceremony for him and 55 other volunteers leaving to teach in rural schools in four provinces for six months.
The volunteer teaching program, the 10th of its kind, is the work of Shenzhen Project Care which helps impoverished families and disadvantaged groups.
Teaching at rural schools gives me a chance to use my knowledge to help society, said Pan, a computer graduate from Shenzhen University.
Born to a well-off family in Bao an District, Pan has rarely been outside Guangdong Province.
Teaching in rural areas will surely be challenging but will make us strong and bring happiness, said Pan, who delivered a speech on behalf of the volunteers.
Pan said that as a child, he had dreamed of becoming a teacher like his mother.
Pan s decision to be a volunteer teacher was supported by his mother. It is prejudicial to think people growing up in economically developed Shenzhen are spoiled and cannot shoulder any hardship, said Pan.
The 56 volunteers from 20 cities and provinces, all with college degrees, will teach at rural schools in Sichuan, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Hunan provinces.
The average age of the volunteers is 25, with the youngest just 20.
At least 20 have been involved in voluntary teaching at least twice.
The volunteer teachers are a great help to education in rural areas in Jinggangshan where education facilities are under-developed and there is a shortage of teachers, particularly English teachers, said Deng Hong, vice mayor of Jinggangshan City in Jiangxi Province.
The director of the Shenzhen Project Care office, Huang Yanglue, said at the farewell ceremony that the volunteer teaching program should involve more people and the office was considering extending the existing six-month period to one year to be more effective.
Huang also encouraged the volunteers to learn from people in rural areas.
Shenzhen initiated the publicly funded teaching program in February 2006, and 407 volunteers from across the city have been sent to teach at rural schools in 11 provinces.
AVIC International Shenzhen Co. Ltd. (AVIC Shenzhen) donated 1 million yuan (US$152,200) to this year s volunteer program.
AVIC Shenzhen has donated a total of 5 million yuan to the program for four consecutive years.
The city government has called on citizens to learn from Sun Ying, a national model volunteer who has gone to teach in rural Guizhou Province nine times in the past four years.
In addition, Sun has helped seek subsidies or donations for more than 300 impoverished students.
