Visiting the Students

25 April 2022 | Support a Volunteer Teacher Program

Our volunteer teachers do not only spend time with the children in school. They also make time to get to know more about the students and understand their living conditions. Our team recently had the privilege of visiting some of the schools and seeing where some of the students live.

Yihong’s Home

It takes about 15 minutes to walk from school to Yihong’s home. He is 13 years old in the fifth grade. His older brother has just graduated from primary school, and his younger brother is in the second grade. His mother grows corn, beans and buckwheat, and they own a cow and six pigs.

Yihong was very happy to take us to his home and be our translator. When we asked him where his father was, he couldn’t answer and his tears fell down his cheeks. The volunteer teacher explained to us that his father was in jail and proceeded to comfort him by talking with him. He told us that he wanted to be a policeman when he grows up. We saw a little boy who misses his father deeply but who is determined to be strong and create a good future for himself and be able to take care of his mum.

Qubi’s Home

It’s about 2 hours walk from the school to Qubi’s house. She has an older brother in junior high school, an older sister in fifth grade, and another younger sister. Her mother goes to the farm daily and her sister goes to herd cattle.

Qubi brought in a bunch of cornstalks to cook potatoes for us. A very independent and diligent girl, she carries a schoolbag weighing more than ten kilograms to and from school every day along the mountain road. The volunteer teacher told us that she usually can carry about 20 kilograms of corn in the field.

When we were about to leave, her older sister came back with her youngest sister on her back. At the end, we were going to take a group photo. Her grandmother tidied up her clothes and put on her headscarf. The volunteer teacher told us that if the old people here can survive through the winter, they can live another year, since the lowest temperature in winter is more than ten degrees below zero.

Being able to go to school and get an education is important for the future of these children. They live a very simple and basic life and work very hard to support their daily needs. When they have teachers at school who believe in them and help them see their full potential, it makes all the difference.

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Thank you to ZURU for underwriting this project.