Impact

Impact of Teach for Rural China Programs：
Feedback from students, parents, schools and non-profit organizations 

Over the years, we have been extensively recruiting volunteers from all over the country to carry out teaching programs in rural schools in Hainan to promote educational equity. We encourage young people to pay attention to rural education, and we are very happy that ASDAN has recruited thousands of volunteer teachers with us to bring interesting extracurricular activities to areas with backward educational resources, such as picture book reading, music, art, calligraphy, dancing, science experiments, poetry, plays, debates, etc. These courses have enriched the vision and knowledge of primary school students, and have been unanimously recognized and loved by primary school students and parents. This kind of project does not end once, but volunteer teachers come to our school every winter and summer vacation to continue to relay, so that our rural children can continue to benefit, which is a very valuable form of activity.

—Feedback from Mr. Wang, who is in charge of the “Beautiful Soul” Volunteer Teacher Association

Thanks to the volunteer teachers, many primary school students in our school have been participating in the teaching support project for three consecutive years: participating offline during the winter and summer vacations, and participating online on weekends during the semester. The children thought the class was very interesting, and they especially liked music, poetry, interesting English and other content. The novel teaching form and rich teaching content have made our students more interested in learning English and other knowledge, and the overall English score of the class has improved significantly. For children, sometimes knowledge is important, but company is also important.Thank you very much for the volunteer teachers, we will encourage everyone to continue to participate, accumulate over time, and have better growth! Thank you on behalf of the children! Thanks!

—Principal Feng of Qionghai Rural Primary School

Thanks to our lecturer and assistant teacher, thank you for your company and dedication! The child dares to speak English sentences now, much better than before!

—Feedback from Lin Zishan’s mother, Grade 3, Mazhai Primary School

Thank you, teacher! Every teacher's contribution should be affirmed.It has been more than two years since the public welfare teaching course entered our campus, our children have been taking it, and they like it very much. As a parent, I am very grateful to the teachers, you have worked hard, thank you! I hope everyone will make progress together, come on!

—Feedback from Dad of Fu Yuantong, Grade 6, Tayang Central School

Teacher Xia, I am amazed by your beauty. Your beautiful long hair is like Sleeping Beauty. If you can reach the past, you will definitely be a queen. i love you forever.

—Feedback from student Wang in Dali Rural Primary School

Teacher Mo, you are very beautiful. When you came into our class, I felt that you are very suitable to be a teacher. I feel that you are very kind to us. I am very happy these days. I am still thinking about it when I get home. If only you were my teacher all the time. It is my happiness to meet you. You can have so much fun with us these days. Teacher Mo, my greatest wish is that you will always follow us and lead us to learn.

—Feedback from Wang Huiting, Dongpo Primary School

The real influence of Community Support Programs：
Feedback from Alzheimer's patient and NGO

Jinmei, as a non-profit organization specializing in serving the elderly with dementia, has been increasing the public's understanding, prevention and intervention of dementia through various methods. It is really happy to see these young volunteers pay attention to dementia and accompany the elderly online and offline. When I was explaining to them how to get along with the elderly and what to pay attention to when designing activities, they listened attentively and took notes. Many volunteers said that such voluntary experience allowed them to break their prejudice against the elderly with dementia. They were deeply moved and shed tears, which is enough to show their sincerity. When I was in the workshop, I could clearly feel that the old people were slowly getting involved. From the beginning of non-cooperation and understanding to the end of reluctance, I could really feel their current happiness. Even some grandparents never talked to us so much. Although there are challenges in communicating across ages, sincerity is enough to move everything.

—Social Worker Mr. Wang from Jinmei Elderly Service Center

Grandma Lou: I came to this workshop with my granddaughter today. The granddaughter stuck some cartoon stickers on the white paper. I was very happy to see a movie poster from the 1980s. It reminded me of when I was young. It was great. I posted it, adjusted it to the best angle, watched it for a long time, and then told my granddaughter.

Grandpa Tu: These children are so kind and patient. My eyesight is not very good, but the paint colors prepared on the table today are very easy to distinguish. At first, I didn't know what to do, but a little girl took my hand and accompanied me. I did it slowly, and I couldn't catch up with my other friends. This little girl took a small drawing paper and held it in front of me, chatting with me. I talked a lot.

—Alzheimer's patient

Through the learning of the mental health art practice project for high school students, the group proposed the idea of creating a worry-free grocery box and implemented it after the project. Together with the school's psychological teachers, our student team provides help to school students with their troubles and doubts about family, studies, and life through the official account, and has won awards in the national leadership competition. More than 100 questions have been received so far, and the official account is still actively operating.

Feedback from students in the school: I really like the grocery box! I experienced a school transition. Although the new high school is good, it still lacks a sense of belonging. Without a sense of belonging, I tend to feel insecure. Thank you for giving me a sense of security and belonging in the grocery box!

—Students of the Experimental Middle School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University

The real influence of Cultural Heritage Conservation Programs：

Feedback from inheritors of programs

Inheriting intangible culture is our duty. Chinese puppetry has become a form of entertainment three thousand years ago. It takes many years of practice to master puppetry. The talents passed down to us by our ancestors must not be lost. We must work hard to protect our intangible cultural heritage and history. Groups of young volunteer students have come here to let more people understand our culture through documentaries, which is a very good way to spread. Our cultural center also often shows the documentaries of our volunteers to tourists. Only in this way, our future generations will not forget where they came from. Thanks to young volunteers, every effort counts.

—Mr. Shao, inheritor of Zhangye puppet show

We love the novel ideas that volunteers come up with, and there are two proposals that I think are very good:
We can open up a space in the village to do a DIY studio. The market research done by volunteers is also very useful for us. Imagine that when tourists visit the village, they can come to our embroidery studio and stay more time doing embroidery handwork. Our embroiderers can take turns as mentors, so that more intangible cultural heritage embroidery can be seen. It can also bring us more income to continue doing this.

We agree that young people nowadays are more willing to wear simple pullovers and short sleeves, and young people in the village also like to wear them like this. We are willing to try the design of the group, and we can try to make small earrings first. If there are ready-made clothes in the future, we will give you feedback.

—Sister Zebra, the inheritor of Jiarong Tibetan Intangible Cultural Heritage

I have been making handmade paper for 35 years. I usually get up at 6 o'clock every day to make paper. It takes about 20 days to make a batch of paper. In the past when the situation was good, every household here had its own small paper mill. Most of our paper is sold to some domestic art colleges, and sometimes foreign countries like Singapore and Malaysia also order paper from us. We have a lot of different products from hand-made paper, and notebooks are the most old-fashioned kind, without any decorative patterns. The new sketches and slogans designed by the volunteers are very creative, in line with the aesthetics of young people, and opened up our minds.

—Ms He, a craftsman from Tengchong Xuan Paper Village

The real influence of Wildlife & Environment Conservation Programs:
Feedback from reserves and NGOs

We have been committed to exploring the possibility of marine environmental education in marine protection and in the growth of young people, so that more student groups can participate as volunteers, feel the charm of the ocean, meet different marine animals and promote awareness of the ocean.

In the summer vacation of 2022, we set foot on the West Island of Sanya with more than 80 volunteers, combined the knowledge we have learned with the actual environment, conducted real interviews with fishermen, and investigated the status of marine illegal trade. Volunteers also learned the concept of ecological catching up, which means recruiting tourists from West Island to form a "Binhai Tour" and advocating intertidal observation instead of fishing-style catching up. Volunteers also held a roadshow themed on coral reef ecosystem science popularization on West Island, sold DIY tourist souvenirs, and donated the proceeds from the charity sale to the coral protection project team. Thank you to the volunteers who have participated in the protection of coral reefs with us!

—Ms. Liu, Executive Director of Marine Public Welfare Conservation Organization

In the Crested Ibis Population Rejuvenation Project, volunteers walked into the hinterland of the Qinba Mountains, followed in the footsteps of animal protection workers, traced the exploration stories of 40 years ago, practiced scientific investigations, research methods, and academic reports, and focused on the protection of endangered animals. The starting point is to explore the balance between nature protection and social and economic development under the maintenance of ecological diversity.

Four groups, each group shared about 15-minute summary reports which cited SCI papers. Everyone brought back stories about the protection of crested ibis and the dedication and persistence of scientific and technological workers to schools and communities. One of the volunteers who loves birds impressed me deeply. After listening to Professor Lu, one of our four people who discovered the crested ibis, he ran out and roared to the sky with the greatest strength. This scene is so real and natural. The students participated in the great work of the world's endangered animal protection. Such volunteer spirit and voluntary actions are worthy of being widely promoted! The arrival of volunteers has added youthful vitality to the protection work, thank you!

—Mr Wang, the government officer of Yangxian County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province

The Tropical Rainforest Return Program has been carried out in Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve for more than 5 years. Volunteers who participated in each phase have left their actions and footprints in the reserve. When they first arrived in the rainforest, the volunteers thought that the rubber tree was a part of the tropical rainforest, and they were unfamiliar with the relationship between rubber and the rainforest, land, and environment. With in-depth study, sampling, practice, and recording, more and more volunteers are willing to participate in the issue of how to balance economic crops and tropical rainforest environmental protection. They went into the rainforest to monitor, make sample records, investigate the status of rubber tree planting by villagers around the protected area. They search for information and related scientific materials to draw their own conclusions and put forward many good and practical suggestions for the reserve.

I am very grateful to the volunteers for their full participation and active voluntary attitude, which has injected a lot of fresh strength and youthful thinking into the protection work of the reserve! What impressed me deeply was that a group made a documentary on rainforest protection. This high-quality promotional film was also used by the protected area for future science promotion and promotion. I hope that such a good work can be seen by more people. Let’s take part in the real action of returning to the tropical rainforest, and hope that more volunteers are willing to walk with us and become practitioners of returning to the rainforest!

—Director Tian of Xishuangbanna Tropical Rainforest Nature Reserve

The Siberian Tiger Reserve that we work in is located in Hunchun, the junction of China, Russia and North Korea. 100 year ago, there were 9 subspecies of tigers in the world, 3 of which are now extinct! At present, there are only 500 wild Siberian tigers in the world and only about 50 in my country. Today, big cats are no longer so afraid of human harm, frequent haunts, this status comes not easily. The protection and research of wild Siberian tigers not only require professional staff and researchers, but also the attention and support of the whole society. We are very supportive of the arrival of young volunteers to learn about the habitat of the protected area and the protection status of wild Siberian tigers and leopards. It is hoped that after the volunteers return to their communities, they will be able to advocate the protection of Siberian tigers with more real feelings. Let us work together, keep calm and carry on!

—Mr. Liu, a member of the Siberian tiger protection staff of the Tiger and Leopard National Park

Thank you for sharing your story.
Your shared thoughts has strengthened our faith in young people's potential.
We believe step by step, we can make a change!