As the Spring Festival approaches, we reflect on the past year — a journey marked by learning, collaboration, innovation, and success. We want to take a moment to celebrate the milestones we achieved in 2024.
Empowering under-served students with essential 21st-century skills across China
In 2024, our interventions have continued to focus on three main areas: English, Digital Literacy, and Social-emotional Learning. Across all our online and offline interventions, more than 1,000 volunteers and teachers delivered an impressive total of 9,342 lessons to 7,761 beneficiaries.
Thanks to the commitment and resilience of our volunteers, partners, and sponsors, we are pleased to report that the average number of lessons received by each beneficiary has increased significantly from 16.3 lessons in 2023 to 21.2 lessons in 2024, enabling them to acquire more knowledge and make progress in their language, emotional, and digital skills.
Enhancing digital literary skills
In 2024, our Digital Literacy program experienced significant growth in volunteer and student enrollment, setting new records regarding students reached (2,204) and lessons provided (1,565). Compared with 2023, we have increased our number of students by 49.12% and our number of lessons by 20.38 %. We have also expanded the reach of our program to children located in rural, remote, and deprived communities in several provinces (Henan, Anhui, and Fujian), especially through online teaching and short-term volunteer placements.
Our teaching approach in 2024 continued to combine project-based learning with engaging group activities, focusing on several digital competencies. While our basic courses provided our students with essential digital skills and concepts (e.g., online searching, Microsoft Office, and coding), advanced and innovative courses, such as 3D printing, AI, C++, and embedded systems design, were offered to our second and third-year students to enhance their knowledge and learning experience.
Helping to understand & manage emotions
To respond to a growing demand in the community, we have increased our social-emotional learning interventions in 2024, reaching 1,064 students in Shanghai, Shaanxi, Henan, and Fujian. Our teachers and volunteers conducted 709 lessons focused on developing children’s ability to recognise, identify, regulate, or express their emotions, whether positive or negative. Particular attention was given to the most negative emotions as many children mistakenly learn that they should avoid, hide, or withhold those emotions. The lessons’ activities were designed to foster a safe space for expression, where vulnerability was respected.
In 2024, by following a holistic approach to social-emotional learning, we have also offered training sessions to 25 parents to help them better understand and foster emotional development in their children.
Elevating English learning experiences
In 2024, for the 19th year in a row, we have helped disadvantaged students in China to improve their English proficiency. Throughout the year, we have provided English education to a total of 6,391 students located in several Chinese provinces (Shanghai, Hunan, Ningxia, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Fujian, Yunnan, Gansu, Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Shaanxi). Our volunteers and teachers delivered to them a total of 6,090 online or offline lessons.
Our curriculum centred around using interactive activities, stories, picture books, and songs to provide students with the opportunity to practice vocabulary, sentences, and dialogues. Many learning games were also incorporated into each class to make the students’ language learning more colourful, and so they could more confidently use English to express themselves. Phonics learning materials were also used by many volunteers to help students improve their oral English.
Winter & Summer Camps
Another highlight of 2024 is our winter and summer holiday camps that we have organized for 286 children in Huacao Township (Shanghai), in collaboration with the Youth League. As well as delivering our regular English, social-emotional learning, and digital literacy lessons to the children, the camps offered a whole range of other activities, including dance, music, painting, reading, finance, science, history, environmental protection, plants, nutrition, handicrafts, sports, movie appreciation, Silk Road (history & culture), chess, providing an enriching experience for these children.
We especially want to thank all of you, our volunteers, donors, and other supporters. We need your support more than ever to keep our programs running sustainably in 2025. If you would like to help, please click here to donate. All contributions of any size are always very gratefully received!
We sincerely thank all of you, and wish everyone good health, good luck, and much happiness! We look forward to working with you in the Year of the Snake!