Silvia Lu, G9, RDF International School

During my last summer vacation, on July 14, I embarked on a voluntary teaching journey to an underdeveloped area in Guizhou and was shocked by the poor living conditions and lack of daily necessities that the local pupils faced.

It became apparent to me that education was the only solution to end poverty in the area. However, due to the children’s urgent need to maintain their living standards, they often chose housework over homework. There was a prevalent lack of understanding of the value of education by the children and their parents.

To tackle this issue, our program provided not only resources such as food, stationery, and books but also an opportunity to enlighten the children about their future and the importance of education. As the hope of the future generation, every child, regardless of their socioeconomic status, deserves a chance to succeed. It was heartening to see how much the children cherished our program and how enthusiastic they were to learn.

As volunteer teachers, we tailored our teaching methods to each student’s aptitude, connecting with the more introverted children through drawing and storytelling, while teaching public speaking and performance skills to the more outgoing students. We divided the students into groups based on their interests and taught them subjects such as English, basketball, and singing.

The government has also taken measures such as increasing the number of boarding schools and providing free school bus services to reduce the burden on parents. However, as parental cooperation is essential to the success of education in the area, more efforts are needed to persuade the parents to send their children to school, for example, by means of lectures that raise the awareness to this issue.

My participation in this program deepened my understanding of the status quo of the underdeveloped area in Guizhou, and reaffirmed my belief in the transformative power of education. I hope to be part of this worthy cause and return to teach rural children in the future.