In September 2002 Waisiu Law, CTEF Board Member, visited Qinghai and Yunnan Provinces in order to see first hand the conditions of the schools we have supported and those under consideration for support.The schools we are helping are definitely not the poorest around the country, but they are still very poor.Our assistance has made quite an impact on the students’ lives. CTEF looks forward to continuing our mission to assist the poorer schools in the countryside of China.You will find Waisiu’s observations of each of the schools under their school name here in the website.

Qinghai Province

Waisiu Law visited eight schools in the Qinghai Province; three schools that CTEF has previously supported (Diergou, Yangjian, and Hongpo); one pending support (Jiangwan); and four potential schools (Liujia, Shenwan, Changtai and Zhongling).His guide throughout Qinghai Province was Mr. Liu Zhemei, a teacher in a secondary school under the Provincial Education Department.The schools Mr. Liu identified to us as needing assistance are located in a different school district.Along with Mr. Liu, Mr. Wei, a former principal, accompanied us, as did the Superintendent of the School District.

Elsa Tang and Suifun Law had together donated $600 USD for small gifts to the students. Yingqing Tsang also sent in some gifts for the students and teacher in Yanyangdong.In Qinghai Mr. Liu used the gift money to buy fancy pencil boxes for the students. Children Without Borders had donated about 160 new T shirts/shorts, which was given to the students in Diergou and Hongpo.Judging from the children’s response after they received the gifts, it is apparent that the money was very well spent. In Qinghai starting this year, the schools are starting to accept pre-school students. Next year, they will start accepting 6th grade.

Ledou, Qinghai:The school buildings in Ledou, Qinghai are in good shape now. The government had spent quite a bit of money in the last year or so to improve or rebuild the school buildings. However, they do not provide funding for the interior. So Liujia, Shenwan, and Chengtai all have new buildings but still using very old table/chairs. They don’t have much teaching equipment either. Worse yet in Liujia, which is a 1st to 9th grade boarding school, the student dormitory has no heating stove at all.

All schools visited in Qinghai have dirt roads that are accessible with a vehicle. There are private busses running between these villages and Ledou, the county capital.

The government’s nine year “free education” only covers teachers’ salary. Building funding comes from local government or villagers. The operating expense comes from the $30 to $40 RMB a year collected from the students. This covers EVERYTHING from coal (for heating), electricity, chalk, to repairing broken windows.? Books cost about $65RMB per semester.

Diergou: They request to add two classrooms (for pre-school and 6th grade). Right now they borrow a room from the village government for the pre-school kids.

Yangjian: after we donated $20,000RMB, the local village government received $40,000 land compensation from the provincial government (for building Qinghai Tibet Highway). They decided to follow our example and gave the whole sum to the school. Thus the school building is in very good shape. Our money bought all the interior hardware. They now ask for money to build three new classrooms: two for pre-school, and one for 6th grade.

Hongpo: This school is in the poorest village I had visited. Agriculture is non-productive due to lack of water facility. The school now has only 55 students because half of the village population was moved away to north shore along Qinghai Lake. About 26 students cannot pay the full fees ($160RMB annually). The teachers are paying for them so no child misses school because of money. I walked through the village and did not see many young people. They all went out to work in the cities. I visited an old couple (randomly picked as I walk thru the village), they told me their three sons are all working in the cities. None of them are married (30’s) because they have no money. I also found that even though we gave them the TV and VCD player, they don’t have the money to buy the VCD. The complete set made by the Education Department costs about $2,000RMB and is beyond their reach. The duster is a stick with a small cloth nailed on. The blackboard is just the wall with black paint. The playground is dirt while all other schools use local mud bricks.

Jiangwan: The satellite dish seen in their pictures actually belong to the village government. The TV reception was bad and so the local guys set up a clandestine operation to re-transmit the TV signals. It was placed in the school for convenience. The school does not get any benefit out of it, not even a TV. Condition for the school is same as others: decent building but not much to write about for the interiors

Liujia, Shenwan, Chengtai: Three schools that have new buildings but not much else. They don’t even have heating stoves in the classrooms or dorm.

Zhongling: Old but decent buildings. This is the farthest school deep in the mountains where the road ends. This could be our very first Tibetian school.

Yunnan Province:After spending a week in Qinghai, we flew to Kunming, Yunnan, and then took a seven hours bus to Wenshan. Wenshan is the county capital of Wenshan Zhou (county). It is a decent size city. Gumu is a small town 40 minutes away from Wenshan city. The town has no hotel and so we stayed in Mr. Zheng Zhoulun’s father’s house. His father’s house is three stories high. He lives with his two sons and their families. Mrs. Zheng (Xiao Wang) is a teacher in Gumu Central Elementary. Mr. Zheng is the principal there. He actually serves as superintendent for the surrounding villages’ elementary schools. There are 13 of them. Underneath them, there are 10 “one teacher one school” which only provide 1st and 2nd grades. There are still “substitude” teachers in last category. They were either 9th grade graduate, or went thru the middle teacher college but failed the final exam.? Mr. Zheng said in the next two years, they have to either pass the certificate exam or be phased out.

I visited (schools we had helped) Yanyangdong, Changchong, Saka, and Yindong; (school we promise to help) Xiaobaiyan; (new potential schools): Luomuhe.

Yanyangdong:There are 12 students now. Mr. Zheng lets the younger children sit in for the first grade. They can be promoted to 2nd grade or sit in 1st grade again at age 6. I visited the former school site and I have to say that our donation was well spent. The new schoolhouse is the most handsome building in the village: Brick building with white wall, concrete floor, large glass windows, and a nice looking toilet (separate building). This is a Miao village and it took us 30 minutes motorcycle and 45 minutes hike to reach. Agriculture production is low because there is no irrigation. The pond next to the school is enough for human consumption only. Mr. Tsang’s memorial plaque is now placed inside the classroom next to the blackboard. Currently there is just a dirt field in front of the school but a request has been put in to build a small concrete playfield, as well as for musical instruments.? The teacher lives in a mud house nearby in the same village. He has a beautiful wife and two lovely daughters ages 2 and 3. They prepared a lunch for us with a fresh chicken and lots of mushrooms.? The teacher is not certified, and earns about $300RMB a month.? Hopefully he will pass the exam and continue to provide a good living for his family.

Changzhong:This school is situated in a Yi village. Again it is the most handsome building around. This one is more complete with concrete playground and walls. They are in need of some playground equipment.

Yindong:First phase $1,600USD is for replacing the roofs. It’s done and they are waiting for the 2nd phase ($1,6000) to replace the doors and windows.

SaKa:Very beautiful environment. Still have virgin forest. It is a valley surrounded by hills on four sides. Temperature is a couple degrees cooler than outside. From the oldest man in the village, we learned that Sa means spread. God spread their ancestor there. Ka is “keep in”. God put the four hills around to keep the ancestors inside. The first phase $2,000USD was used to buy the building material and lay the foundation for the three room building. This is done. Mr. Zheng had assigned a new teacher to supervise the building quality. He accompanied us in this trip to check out the foundation. Next is to build the brick walls. The whole building will be completed in December.

Xiaobaiyan: “One teacher one school”. They are combining two schools to serve three villages. The new site is donated from the local village. The old site was originally donated from the village also, and will be returned to them. Students have to walk about 30 minutes one way. There would be a certified teacher living in the school.

Luomuhe: They request to add a three room building to accommodate the new pre-school and 5th/6th grade classes. The school as now only serves 1-4 grades. The school collects $40 RMB a year from the students to cover operation cost. The students in “one teacher one school” are exempted. They don’t even have to pay for the books. They are in remote villages and the economic condition is too poor to pay for this. The annual budget for the school district is about $40,000RMB.