Graduate students from Nanjing Normal University have been hailed for their volunteer teaching service in southwest China’s Guizhou Province over the past years. Let’s take a close look.
Dushan County High School, Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou
Yin Luchang, a 10th grader at Dushan County High School, would not have been able to imagine that she could have obtained the top score in the politics test recently.
Merely one year ago, she could only obtain 30 scores on the politics test. Due to her family dilemma, she had thought of quitting school, let alone building up her dream about the future.
Yin Luchang, a student of Dushan County High Schoo
The volunteer students are just like sunflower in my life. Each time I see them I will feel empowered with courage and filled with sunshine.
It was the graduate students from Nanjing Normal University who have brought tremendous changes to the students in the high school.
Feng Jiaming, one of the graduate students from Nanjing Normal University, gave up the chance of going abroad for further studies in August 2018 and signed up for the volunteer teaching program in Guizhou alongside with his ten fellow students.
Feng Jiaming, a graduate student of Nanjing Normal University
I was about to sit for IELTS before preparing to go abroad for further studies when I signed up for the volunteer teaching program. My family gave me the support. My grandparents were from east China but they were assigned to work in west China’s Qinghai province for 30 years. I believe this is a tradition of my family.
Wang Cheng, a graduate student of Nanjing Normal University
I have a well-paid job in Wuxi but I think I am young and should place dedication before interests. This is why I chose to come here.
By giving up their well-paid job and overcoming the discomforts in a strange place, the graduate students became the 6th volunteer teaching group in Dushan County sent by Nanjing Normal University.
Dushan County is a national poverty-stricken county. Many children like Yin Luchang used to have the idea of dropping out of school to earn money so as to reduce their family burden. Feng Jiaming and his fellow students worked together to help the children establish their ambitions to become talented by writing letters, talking, and counseling.
Feng Jiaming, a graduate student of Nanjing Normal University
Intellectual poverty alleviation is what really matters for the children there.
Zhou Weiwei, one of the graduate students, was assigned to teach the Chinese language for the 10th graders. He hopes that reading can broaden the children’s horizons and increase their knowledge of students. What he had not expected was that many children could not afford a two-yuan library card though it could be used for three years.
Zhou Weiwei, a graduate student of Nanjing Normal University
I found that more than half of them are from poor families. I was worried that they would give up their schooling simply because they couldn’t pay for the 2-yuan expense. This is a very regrettable thing, but I can’t say in the classroom that those who cannot afford the card please raise your hands. This will make them hurt.
Zhou arranged for the library card distributed to the 70 students at his own expense. He earned merely over 1000 yuan a month.
Zhou Weiwei, a graduate student of Nanjing Normal University
Each time when class begins, the students would say hello teacher. But on that day when they sat down, they said thank-you to me very sincerely. This is the most affectionate greeting to me as a teacher and I think just a thank-you is worth all the efforts.
The volunteers have also given full play to their knowledge of psychology, sports and other disciplines to help the school establish extracurricular clubs and enrich the students' after-school life.
Yang Yunsen, headmaster of Dushan County High School
During these six years, we have felt the kind of hard work and positive energy given to us by the graduate students from Nanjing Normal University. We have seen a full positive energy from the contemporary young college students.
For more than a decade, 192 volunteers from Nanjing Normal University have been engaged in volunteer teaching services in Zhaoshu in Xinjiang, Tianshui in Gansu, Dushan in Guizhou, Mianzhu in Sichuan, and Dazu in Chongqing.
In Dazu County of Chongqing, the volunteers have helped raise 150, 000 yuan in charity fund, organized a dream art troupe for 108 mentally handicapped children, taken golden wedding photos for 300 elderly couples and helped with the establishment of a library and a student aid program.
At the opening ceremony for the 2019 freshmen of Nanjing Normal University, Zhang Yanyu spoke on behalf of all the freshmen. She comes from Dazu County High School where the graduate students from Nanjing Normal University have been engaged in volunteer teaching.
Zhang Yanyu, a new student of Nanjing Normal University
The graduate students taught me a lot during their one-year service in my high school and they also exerted influence on my growth. I am indebted to them from the bottom of my heart.
Cai Bingfeng, a graduate student who taught in Xinjiang in 2005
General Secretary Xi Jinping mentioned in his speech that Chinese youth in the new era must be brave in their struggles. As a former postgraduate student, we are now actively encouraging young college students to go to the grassroots and go to where they are most needed to actively participate in volunteer service and strive to write the most beautiful chapter of the youth generation.
（source：ourjiangsu.com）
