December 2019, I accompanied our volunteers to visit our partner schools in rural Jiangxi and Henan Provinces, and was very struck by what I saw.
At a rural boarding school in Henan, the children’s eyes sparkled with excitement as they surrounded us in the playground, eager for an opportunity to practise their English skills. The children at a central primary school in rural Jiangxi confidently answered most of our volunteers’ questions. But at a village school not far from that central primary school, the students hardly dared to look at us, never mind open their mouths to speak to us.
We have been sending volunteers to the first two schools for some years now, and our online volunteers are even offering weekly English lessons to the children in Henan through videolink.
Sadly, there are many more rural schools, like those village schools we visited, where we have not yet been able to offer those great learning opportunities.
That is why we are launching a fundraising campaign through Alipay, to allow us to send more volunteers to teach English to children in rural schools. A donation of just RMB225 allows a volunteer to teach 4 English lessons in a rural school in one day.
Please donate generously to give the precious gift of education to more rural school students in the new year. Help us to put smiles on the faces of those children!
By Stepping Stones Founder: Corinne Hua
If you are unable to donate through Alipay but would like to contribute, please e-mail fundraising@steppingstoneschina.net to find out different ways to support our programs.