From June 16th to June 22nd, 2024, the Equity Education Association (EEA) and other charitable organizations in Hong Kong formed a group of volunteer clubs, including high school students from Hong Kong, to conduct a summer camp activity with the theme of "sustainable development" at Tian Jiabing Minzhong in Yulong, Yunnan.
The only Naxi ethnic middle school in the country was established in 1981 and received funding from the Tian Jiabing Foundation in 2007. It was renamed from Yulong Naxi Autonomous County Ethnic Middle School to Yulong Naxi Autonomous County Tianjiabing Ethnic Middle School. Since receiving assistance, Mr. Tian Jiabing's entrepreneurial spirit and charitable donations to support education have inspired all teachers and students in the school to strive for progress, learn and inspire. The Tian Jiabing Foundation was established in 1982 by Mr. Tian Jiabing, a renowned entrepreneur and philanthropist in Hong Kong, who donated over 1 billion yuan in assets specifically for charitable purposes. The foundation has wholly-owned and donated funds to build charitable enterprises throughout the country; Up to now, Tian Jiabing has donated more than 200 schools nationwide with the educational philosophy of "cultivating noble and sound personality". In order to practice Mr. Tian Jiabing's educational philosophy and promote fair education, volunteers have come to this ethnic school, which is forever illuminated by the "Tian Jiabing Star", to participate in a one week summer camp activity with local elementary school students. This activity aims to promote mutual learning among students, provide diverse learning perspectives and knowledge.
During the one week event, nine volunteers from the Hong Kong EEA, with the aim of "dedicating themselves to educational equity; providing students with unique and interesting learning experiences, creating a relaxed and intuitive learning environment, helping students comprehensively grasp course content, and achieving true educational equality," provided 24-hour teaching activities for more than 150 students. The volunteers combined the environmental characteristics of the school's ethnic culture to design diverse courses for students: using critical thinking as a starting point to consider important concepts related to sustainable development from the perspective of students, guiding students to solve problems on their own. The purpose is not only to provide diverse learning perspectives and knowledge for ethnic minority students, but also to cultivate the global perspective that these students must possess in the rapidly developing world, in order to inspire students to discover their own potential and future goals.
The volunteers also deeply understood the local children's thirst for knowledge and their longing for the outside world, and realized the true importance of education for children of various ethnic minorities through practice. After experiencing the experience of being a teacher and working closely with school teachers, volunteers have come to appreciate the hardships and difficulties of being a teacher; I also realized the need to use the favorable educational environment I am in to help children in need of infection, and to educate them without discrimination.
After a week of communication, volunteers formed an unbreakable bond with local students; Many students even made promises of "catching up with the teacher's footsteps" and "goodbye in the future" during the last night's whispering activity, hoping that the two could meet again on their respective dreams.
The motto of EEA is' Never forget your original intention, only then can you stay true ', and the successful conclusion of this summer camp has also fulfilled the dream that the EEA club has been dreaming of for four years! After the closing ceremony, volunteers gained a deeper understanding of the educational inequality caused by differences in educational resources, as well as the sense of mission of fair education without discrimination, which is an eternal will passed down from generation to generation!