Education for children in Ningxia province, China

As some of you may know, Ma Yan, the schoolgirl whose diary moved thousands of readers the world over, has been studying at the Sorbonne for the last two years. In fact, she just successfully passed the exams allowing her to continue her studies for another two years. She then plans to go back to China with a prestigious diploma in French Language! If you have not yet read The Diary of Ma Yan (HarperCollins), please don't hesitate! It was awarded the "Outstanding International Book for 2006" by the United States Board on Books for Young People and the Children's Book Council.  It was re-edited in the US in June of 2009 with a postface by Pierre Haski and Ma Yan and remains a heart-wrenching account of the hardships of life in rural China for a girl deprived of schooling.

In our last report, we had promised an update about our teacher training program in computer skills, but regretfully must tell you that it had to be postponed. Working with the local authorities in China can bring unexpected ups and downs, and this time, our China coordinator, Laurent Peyrot, was thwarted in his attempts to organize this second edition. We will try again to repeat this program as the first one seemed to be much appreciated by the participants.

Our good news is that the Areva Foundation has agreed to support 2 of our female university students, Hu Yufeng and Ma Dongmei, for a period of 3 years. We extend our sincere thanks to Areva for this vote of confidence. You will find the profiles of the selected students below.

Other good news is that the French International School in Hong Kong has outlined another year of dynamic fund-raising events including the Swimathon on November 13th, a loto-bingo night at the end of February and two evenings of performances at mid-May, the proceeds of which will pay for the LI-HK's (Lycée International - Hong Kong) trip to Ningxia at the beginning of June 2011 as well as provide material support to two selected schools. As in previous years, any surplus will go directly to our scholarship program. This collaboration with the Lycée International is very dear to us as it accomplishes so many of our objectives: providing scholarships to children and young adults from Ningxia province for school and university, promoting international exchange between young people and improving the educational environment by bringing material aid.

We are also happy to announce that our relationship with Earthpulse Foundation in Hong Kong who organized the beautiful "Mothers and Daughters" photo exhibition and gala event last May to support three different associations including ours, continues to thrive.  Our on-going collaboration will include more art exhibits as well as support of specific university students. 

Until our next report in three months, we extend our thanks to you once again for your support and wish you a happy school year!

• Hu_Yufeng__supported_by_Areva.doc (DOC)
• Ma_Dongmei__supported_by_Areva.doc (DOC)

Every year since 2004, a group of students from the French International School in Hong Kong has travelled to Ningxia to spend a long weekend with the children of Ningxia (among whom are our scholarship students). They stay with families in order to get a feel for how people live in Ningxia, to ask questions and share their views of the world! And very importantly, they bring much needed school material bought with funds raised throughout the year from game nights, school plays, etc. The experience is always a rich one for both sides. The kids from FIS-HK recognize the importance of going to school in good conditions when they see how the other half lives. And the children of Ningxia are thrilled to have this visit which opens them up to another world. Thus a library was established several years ago in a school that had no books. Last year, the group brought a printer for one of the primary schools we support as well as sporting material, 5 stoves and again, books to constitute a library. This year 22 tenth grade students took the trip to Ningxia from May 25th to 30th and with great emotion brought equipment to the two designated schools: a middle school in the town of Wu Zhong and a primary school in the village of Bai Yin Wa. These schools received, directly from the hands of the students, notebooks, school uniforms, sports equipment as well as two computers and a printer. The FIS-HK will donate the rest of the money raised this year to scholarships for the neediest students (to be chosen with the association). One of the FIS-HK's 5th grade classes had read The Diary of Ma Yan this year and had tons of questions about the schools and life in general in Ningxia province. So the 10th graders acted like reporters bringing back the answers to these questions and a lively exchange took place between the two classes when they got back to Hong Kong. Also in Hong Kong this May, Children of Ningxia participated in a beautiful exhibition called 'Mothers and Daughters: Impressions and Voices from Remote Villages in China' to raise awareness of marginalized women and girls in China. This mobile exhibition opened Mother's Day weekend (8th-9th May) at Hong Kong Arts Centre. It has now travelled to Shanghai and back to Hong Kong (at the French International School - see poster attached) with additional stops planned in Beijing and Yunnan (see Tatler article below). The exhibition is sponsored by the Earthpulse Foundation and proceeds from a gala dinner and auction will benefit the Orochen Foundation, Association Femmes du Ningxia and Association Enfants du Ningxia (Children of Ningxia). Children of Ningxia contributed photos by our friend, Cisko (6co), 5 marvellous triptychs showing the scholarship student, her family and their house. You can view them below along with the compelling portraits of the girls and young women chosen for this exhibition. In our next report in September, we will be able to tell you about our Summer Training Camp for primary school teachers in Ningxia (computer skills and English). Stay tuned!

• Scholarship_student_BIO__English_version.doc (DOC)