Supporting Rural Education in China

Hello gorgeous readers!
Today, I’ve got a special guest blog post by one of my bestest friends, Irene!
You may have seen her in a few of my posts (most recently when we were being ‘fancy in Ikea’) and she has just recently started up an awesome new group about helping education for children in Rural China! So please read on!

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Hello there! My name is Irene and I am an occasional blogger and a friend of Melody’s who occasionally appears in photos on this blog. I’m usually making weird faces or thinking about food, but today I’d like to tell you about a new group I recently started with some friends: the China Rural Education Initiative.

Credits: http://www.flickr.com/people/99425225@N00/

So who are we, exactly, and what are we aiming to do?

We are a group of students at the University of Melbourne passionate about improving education opportunities for children from and/or living in rural areas in China. We share a central vision, and that is of helping to realize a China where the most marginalized and vulnerable members of society- children in rural parts of the country- are not deprived of their right to equal opportunities for pursuing their dreams and bettering their lives.

We believe that the key to this lies in education, so our mission is to support the education of children in rural China, financially through direct sponsorship, and emotionally through communication and correspondence. We hope to build a bridge between children in rural China and communities in Australia, and facilitate exchange, friendship and mutual help in its different forms between the two countries.

Credits to: http://pakmed.net/college/forum/?p=25855

Since starting out barely a month ago, we have already grown to enjoy a membership of over 40 members. Each member is dedicated to a specific team, focused on different but interrelated ways of supporting rural education in China.
We are planning to do this in varied but mutually supportive ways, and have already begun partnerships with similarly focused organizations based in China, Norway and the USA, whom we are looking at working with to establish an Australia-based sponsorship program that will provide an opportunity for people here to help sponsor a child in rural China through at least one year of school. In many areas, a little goes a long way- just AUD $150 can see a primary school child through one year of school!

We’re also in touch with a school in rural Yunnan province (and hopefully more schools to come!) and are hoping to send out our first group of students to teach over there by the end of the year. The plan is to run short, enjoyable courses in English, Music and Art, and provide students from both Australia and rural China with the chance to interact and connect with each other. Another project we’re starting is an advocacy centered one that involves running events to raise awareness about rural China and the cause that we’re working for.

Credits: http://www.flickr.com/people/99425225@N00/

The work we’re doing is difficult, and there is no doubt that the difference we can make is small. But we believe that every cent counts, and that every child we support is a child we may be helping to lift out of the poverty cycle.
For us, that counts for a lot.

Your support, too, will be infinitely precious to us.

Having just started a Facebook page for our group, it would be a huge help if you could ‘Like’ it and share it with your friends so that we can find more people passionate in supporting this cause and work together to take some real action in helping real people. And of course, if you’d like to join us, or find out more about us, you are absolutely more than welcome to get in touch!

Thank you for reading this!
– Irene

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How do you feel about this?

I definitely believe that education is highly important and that everyone should be able to gain access to it as easily as we do. So, if you’re looking for more info or wanting to help out, head on over to their Facebook Page!! Like and Share!

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