Fund 1000 Scholarships in Rural China for a Year

It has been a long time SOAR tradition for the volunteers to visit students in China every other year. This year, 16 SOAR volunteers visited three high schools and two middle schools in Hunan and Guizhou provinces in southern China. During the trip, they interacted with about 100 students and also visited a dozen students at their homes.

Huaihua County in Hunan Province has been cooperating with SOAR as partners for 22 years. In 1995, SOAR selected a local teacher Ms. Wu, winner of a prestigious national teaching award, as the Scholarship Nominator there, and she has always acted with highest integrity and moral standards when selecting the most qualified students ever since. For 22 years, she helped more than one hundred excellent students from underprivileged low income families to apply and receive SOAR Scholarships. At the age of 79, she still visits students in person and is not afraid of walking on the unpaved mountain roads. She also mentored Ms. Liu, who is the Principle of the school, to become the next SOAR Scholarship Nominator. Ms. Liu was also born and raised in a very poor family locally, and returned to her home town to teach after college.

A volunteer Liwen wrote about a SOAR student Yuewen. Yuewen’s family is very poor, but she is very diligent. Her home is very clean and tidy, with walls covered by Yuewen’s academic awards. The grapefruits her family grew are so tasty. Her grandma is good at making bamboo hats, which sells for 11 RMB, or 1.5 dollars, per hat. Their entire family members are optimistic and welcoming.

After visiting students’ families, volunteers had a meeting with the students at a local high school. One of our volunteers, Lisa, wrote, “I felt delighted to finally meet Shengsen from Huaitie No.1 High School, who came a long way to meet us. He was one of the students that caught my eyes when reviewing students’ applications last year. After Shengsen’s parents passed away from a tragic car accident, he and his younger sister became orphans. Later their aunt adopted them, but her own family also suffered from financial difficulties. He studied very hard and was admitted to the top-ranked high school locally. During our conversation, he was relatively shy just like most of our SOAR students, but he is hopeful about his future“.

Although the Chinese government works very hard to support poor students in rural areas with high quality school buildings and facilities, the study materials, boarding, food, and other costs are still huge burden for the extremely poor families like Shengsen’s and Yuewen’s. From one school, there are so many students need help, not to mention the vast mountainous rural areas! Professor Scott Rozelle of Stanford University is a development economist who devoted more than 30 years of his career in researching Chinese economic development. In a November 2014 study he wrote, ”only 37 out of 100 rural students who begin junior high school will graduate from secondary schooling (14 from vocational; 23 from academic high).” In 2017, He pointed out - 63% of rural children unable to attend high school, impacting the future development of China. He cautioned that even as the second largest economy in the world, China has still been suffering from the Middle-Income Trap, the fundamental problem is the very low education level in China’s rural areas. Therefore, SOAR’s work is still urgently needed in China! As SOAR volunteers, we will work diligently to help poor Chinese students in rural areas to go back to school.

As donors to SOAR, you can help us to achieve that mission. Our next fundraising engagement will be GlobalGiving's #GivingTuesday event this year on Tuesday, November 28th, 2017, when there will be potentially $75,000 proportional match and $25,000 bonus available for all participating charity organizations in the 24 hour period. Stay tuned for our year-end SOAR donation appeal by email and donate to SOAR on November 28th on GlobalGiving!

SOAR is like a warm hearted angel and I grew up under her protective wings. My name is Yapeng. I was born in 1990 in Huaihua, Hunan Province. When I was only three, my parents got divorced. The court appointed my father to be my legal guardian and my mother returned to her hometown in Henan alone. In 1998, my father was laid off from work. Given his age, he couldn’t find another decent job and our family had to suffer below the poverty line.

In 2002, my teacher introduced me to Ms. Wu, a volunteer from SOAR. Ms. Wu visited me at school and did thorough research on my background including my family’s financial hardship and talked to people who knew me well. Ms. Wu confirmed that I met all the requirements, and then I was approved for the SOAR scholarship. After that day, my father and I no longer worried about my school tuition and fees. I deeply appreciated the care and consideration of our overseas Chinese to our mainland children. Thus, I set an even higher goal for myself, more optimistic and study harder. With the support of the SOAR scholarships and mentorship, I completed my middle school and high school studies.

In 2008, I graduated from high school and enrolled in Liaoning Art Vocational College to study graphic design. In college, I continued to study hard and aimed to contribute back to society for what SOAR provided. All my monthly and semester assignments and projects were graded as A+. The college kept my graduation design project for exhibition. It was at that moment when I knew I was determined to become a professional designer.

In 2010, I went to Beijing for an internship at Beijing Bahua Visual Design Company. I received high recognition from my boss and colleagues. Because of my excellent performance, my boss offered to hire me as a designer after graduation. So in 2011, I returned to Beijing and joined the company. I participated in designs for clients like the CITIC Group, World Wide Fund for Nature, Space China, Minerals and Metals Group, State Forestry Administration of the PR. China, the 21st Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, China Calligraphers Association, China Film Association, and others. I gained plenty of design experience and successfully completed multiple design cases.

In 2013, after spending three years in Beijing alone, I decided to work on my own startup, Core Brand Studio, back in my hometown. The original investment was merely 30,000 RMB that I saved over the years in Beijing, so I decided to invest it wisely and frugally. I rented an office of 40 square meters, and bought a computer. There were no employees, other than me and my partner who was in charge of business development while I worked on the design. In the beginning, we did not have any clients. But with excellent quality of our design products and our keen due diligence throughout the three years, we have developed the market, built up our client base and brand. Our long term clients include local large enterprise and chain stores, and other companies from nearby cities. Now we are a team of five, and have clients from Guangzhou, Sichuan and Guizhou. In addition, we plan to move to a bigger office at the end of this year. Our startup journey is full of difficulties and happiness. We have accumulated experience such as client communication, marketing research and internal operations. Although we have been quite busy and exhausted, it is rewarding and meaningful.

In August 2015, I married my beloved and now we have a lovely daughter. I grew up from a kid to a father, with more responsibilities. While I enjoy the happiness and success, I will always remember SOAR volunteers. They are like my family. I would not have anything today without their contribution. Without SOAR, I could not go back to school, become a designer, or have my own design company.

Gradually, I started to contribute to the local charitable activities. Although I’m not a millionaire, I want to try my best to help students in poverty like SOAR. I participated in rural areas educational events, organized visits to senior homes, and volunteered to design for some local charity organizations. Whenever I join these events, I always hope that my humble effort would change people’s lives just like SOAR did for me. When those kids grow up and fulfill their dreams, they will also pass the care, love and empathy down by helping other students in poverty.

All in all, plain words are not enough to show my appreciation to SOAR, sincerely and with all my heart. I wish SOAR becomes stronger and better over the years.