Thursday, June 10, 2004

Thu, 10 Jun 2004 06:33:25 GMT

Education is luxury that many of us take for granted. However for many children in China even a primary school education is hard to come by especially for those living in the North West and South West of China. Project Hope is a charitable organisation founded in 1989 that works to raise funds to give children in poverty stricken areas of China a chance for education. I recently went to an event organised by Project Hope in which over 900 "Hope Students" came to Beijing for a weekend sports event. Afterwards I was asked to write a short review of the meeting, a copy of which I have included below

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May 30^th, 2004 saw the auspicious opening of the All China Hope Schools?Mini Olympics. To the sounds of a marching band, children dressed in a fanfare of colourful ethnic costumes and sponsored sports clothes filled the Beijing Jiao Tong University Sports Stadium in a carefully rehearsed opening ceremony.

For some children a sports day may represent nothing more than an opportunity to have a day off school. However, for these children, some of whom travelled over 60 hours to Beijing and may have never been out of their village, this was nothing short of a surreal experience.

Over 900 students from 37 Hope Schools and representing over 32 provinces in China came to the event organised by Project Hope. During the three day event children, aged between 8-12 years, competed in variety of sports and dance performances. In particular the dance performances captured the audiences?attention offering both a visual crash course in ethnic minority culture and spectacular sequences. However, from the 60 metre dash to the Wu-Shu performances and the Celebrity football match, each event reflected the passion and perseverance of children who had grown up where education and opportunity are scarce.

On the third day the students were taken to see the flag raising ceremony in Tian An Men square and to the Great Wall of China. The day ended with a reception hosted by the China Youth Development Foundation and Beijing TV to celebrate both Children Day and the conclusion of the event.

The event was the culmination of six months planning by Project Hope staff, partner organisations and University students. However it would not have been possible without the generous support received from a number of sponsors. The lead sponsor for the event was the ong Qing?group who donated RMB 200,000. The railway authority helped by offering special half price tickets for travelling students. Beijing Jiao Tong University not only contributed by offering its sports ground but also supported the event by lending staff, equipment and food. Shenzhen New Era Water Company bought insurance to cover all the children. Coca Cola, KFC, San Yuan Foods, Hunan Sunchime were among the sponsors who contributed free drinks, snacks and souvenirs

While vivid images of Mongolian and Xin Jiang costumes remain the fun and dance of the event belie a deeper message to all those present. For the children, the event was a chance to see the opportunities that lie beyond the limits of their hometown. As for the spectators we should remember that although many of us took events such as this for granted, for the children it was the experience of a lifetime.

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Thursday, June 10, 2004