Info Session: Summer Service and Learning Program in Rural China

Come to learn about a unique program run by Tsinghua University's Education Poverty Alleviation Project and sponsored by the Tseng Hin Pei Charity Fund. Each summer 300 volunteers from Tsinghua University and other regions and countries go in teams of 10 to work and learn in 30 counties in rural China.

Come to learn about a unique program run by Tsinghua University’s Education Poverty Alleviation Project and sponsored by the Tseng Hin Pei Charity Fund. Each summer 300 volunteers from Tsinghua University and other regions and countries go in teams of 10 to work and learn in 30 counties in rural China. 

The project was begun in 2003 and is based at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The university has so far established more than one thousand distance learning sites in China’s poorest counties. Since then more than 1.3 million people have been trained by the program. In 2004, Tsinghua began sending teachers and students to some of the places served by the distance learning program. In 2006, Wang Foundation support enabled the recruitment of American volunteers for the program. Since 2010, the Tseng Hin Pei Charity Fund has sponsored the program. More than 2,000 volunteers have thus far participated. 

In summer 2014, volunteers will undergo a short training program at Tsinghua University and will then go in teams to the target counties. Teams consist of a Tsinghua teacher, five Tsinghua students, and four non-Tsinghua volunteers. Depending on the needs of the county, the teams teach English, conduct social surveys, or offer lectures and participate in cross-cultural communication activities. The teams help energize young people in the counties and at the same time the students and volunteers have a unique cultural immersion experience. This is a deeper and more profound experience than that afforded by typical tours or study abroad experiences. 

At 11:30 am Friday, March 14 at the USC U.S.-China Institute, you can meet program supporters Felix Tseng and James Wu and learn about applying to participate in this program. Write to uschina@usc.edu to save your seat at the info session. 

The program runs from July 9 to July 29. There is an optional week-long Cultural Learning and Communication Program between July 2-9 (the optional program fee is $800 and covers tuition, accommodations and a food subsidy).

Volunteers pay a program registration fee of $490 and cover their own air travel to and from Beijing and their own health insurance. Most other costs are covered by the program, though costs above the subsidized food and lodging are the volunteers’ responsibility.

For additional details and dates, please download and read this guide to the 2014 program.  Information is also available at the program website.

http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/publish/then/7342/  A Chinese language website offers still more information as well as photos and stories from previous years. 

Light refreshments will be provided.