_[Summary: Children of Promise: Little Sapling is a non-government organization that, along with its Christian friends, serves in the rehabilitation of children with disabilities. They see the small children with disabilities as the young seedlings that, although requiring extra good care, can grow into trees of wisdom. The following is a recent update on Little Sapling’s involvement in the lives of the children. Go here to find out more about the organization.] On November 12, 2011, volunteers from Little Sapling zestfully prepared for Happy Gathering Day. Although only four children were coming due to the outpour of rain and dismal weather, the volunteers still decided to hold a party for the few who were attending. The party began with a surprising but exciting introduction of the kids to the compere, who was dressed as the cartoon character Arale. With Momoko Dancers (other popular cartoons in China) and the volunteers, Arale performed entertaining dances, in which he invited two children to join him on stage. The two girls were smart and determined to work hard to learn the dance. _[Summary: the following is a short reflection written by a teacher about the importance of education in the home. This teacher works for RCEF, which seeks to empower rural students through education. For more information on the organization, please go here.]
Zhang Long transferred to our class in the third grade. In the beginning, it was really hard to get a word out of him. I brought him a book Journey to the West, but he was too shy to open the it. When I opened to a page for him, he was too shy to go on, only using the tip of a pen to flip the pages for a peek. Later, I found that he couldn’t jump with both feet in PE class. After class, he only played with his old friends. With all those observations, I visited his home. I found that his parents were normal and hospitable. While looking around, I saw that floor was covered with so much cotton peels that there was no room to place my feet. A table at the corner of the house had a cooker on it. A heat-able brick bed displayed a messy cotton-padded mattress. After finding out more about his family, I learned that the economic situation was not too bad. So what led to the child’s current condition? [China Weekly 1-5-12] The only prerequisite for grassroots NGOs to receive free assistance from the Transparent Fish Lab is that they must play by its rules. NGOs must make public all their funding and expenditures, becoming financially transparent. The five staffers of the Transparent Fish Lab sit on the floor cross-legged during a meeting. Taken by reporter for China Weekly/ Pan Wang.
Yi Yang’s job is to “chat” with grassroots NGOs everyday. “We hope to provide you with free assistance, including a free texting platform, web promotion, marketing, staff training, and funding etc.” On the other end of the line, a hesitant voice carefully repeats the same question, “it’s really for free?” “Yes, but, you must promise to make your finances transparent, organizing and publishing your accounts online every month.” At this point, Yang gets a little nervous. In her experience, when the conversation gets this far, the other party may remain silent for a while, hang up the phone abruptly, or ask her “what do you really want?” She must patiently explain: she is not investigating them; if the NGOs accomplish financial transparency, it will improve their credibility, allowing them to garner more funding and support, why not? Yi Yang is a member of the Transparent Fish Lab. The man who founded and currently funds this organization is named Ping Chao. This condition (of financial transparency) to receive assistance is instigated by Chao. Chao told a reporter from China Weekly that he hopes to make the Transparent Fish Lab website a school for Chinese grassroots NGOs, helping them to form the habit of transparency through three years of training. As someone who funds more than a dozen NGOs in China, Chao does not care about other people’s opinions on his “conditional aid.” Some have asked him, is conditional aid still truly public service? He says, of course, transparent mechanisms allow the money to be delivered to those who need it most, “this is what’s most lacking in Chinese NGOs, and the most important.” |
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