Give Hope Through Education: Become a Sponsor at New Life Centre Today
The New Life Centre, a residential learning center for underprivileged youth, is now urgently seeking sponsors. We spoke with founder Ginny Bai about giving migrant children hope through education.
Why is New Life Center’s work necessary?
Marginalized and migrant children living in Beijing are not allowed admission to city schools. The New Life Centre Project bridges this gap and makes it possible for those displaced children to receive a proper education and complete primary and middle school education at the very least, as well as get access to higher education, gain self-confidence and become employable.
How many children do you currently house?
We currently have 38 boys and girls, youngest being 7 and eldest 20. Nowadays we are usually introduced to new cases through previous beneficiaries – children who’ve gone through our programs and now have hope. We estimate that over the years we have helped over 350 children.
What programs do you offer?
Our “Back to School” program offers poor youngsters a chance to complete primary and middle school education, while our “Teen Education Projects” program sponsors poor teenagers to attend technical vocational schools or universities, attain a skill and get the best start in life. As students’ talents are identified, they are encouraged to take specialized courses at local vocational/technical colleges. This training also includes internships in companies and introduction to future employers. In addition we offer music enrichment classes, which encourage children to create and appreciate beautiful tunes.
What’s the biggest misconception the public has about access to education in China?
It appears that basic education in China is free, but after doing a lot of research I found that this is not the case everywhere. Without the necessary funds, some children are not able to take advantage of what is available.
What vocations are well suited to the children you’ve worked with?
Many of the children are very talented with computers and accounting. One girl with good English enjoyed a course in Hotel Management & Tourism while another loved her Animation Technology course. Two other boys chose Law and Engineering. All these children need is a chance to get a proper education and find sponsors who believe in them and are willing to pay for their annual college expenses.
What do your kids struggle most with?
One could say that it is loving learning. They tend to lack concentration when learning and only have short attention spans because they have not been to school and learned those essential disciplines. This is the first and most important hurdle to overcome in order to succeed. The large majority come from illiterate backgrounds without books in the house. We need to constantly encourage them to concentrate on their studies as only this will guarantee advancement to higher education and ultimately to worthy employment.
What would happen to the kids if New Life Centre suddenly had to close?
A large majority will end up on the street somewhere in their provinces as these are uncared for, and would be very disappointed having lost a chance of education and hope for future employment. Now we have started serving such children we really do not intend to close. We are committed to them.
Tell us one of your favorite success stories.
Frank's parents are poor farmers and their income was not enough to support the whole family of five. When he was twelve, Frank was told to go to the big city to try and earn a living. Life was very hard and Frank regularly got into trouble for working on the streets. Eventually Frank joined other children collecting recyclable waste and scavenging for food. One day Frank had an unusual dream, that a lady would give him a home and help him to obtain some education and a skill. Soon afterwards Frank badly scalded his foot with boiling water whilst working in a restaurant kitchen. Instead of caring for him, his boss threw him out on the streets.
Shortly after Frank met our worker who offered to take him and his friend to a Centre where other poor children were being cared for. Frank was overjoyed to be able to have a shower, clean clothes, a hot meal and a warm bed. At the Centre, teachers are hired to instruct the children to middle school level, and Frank eagerly joined in on the lessons. Thanks to kind sponsors, Frank has had the opportunity to go onto to college and study IT successfully. Frank has since graduated and is now employed.
How can we help?
The best way for any program to run is to have regular funding, i.e. sponsors, to cover our school house rents, staff wages, utilities, food supplies, etc. The NLC can offer sponsorship opportunities and give regular reports so the donor knows how their funds are being used and what impact they are having.
What do you need most urgently at this moment?
- New housing, as we are currently in three village buildings not adjacent to each other which is not practical and increases costs and numbers of staff needed. We need the opportunity to relocate to ideally a single building in the right environment with public transport since we own no vehicle.
- Electric fans (air conditioning units would divert funds to pay for electricity)
- A new laptop (the Center’s only computer’s screen has been damaged)
- A photocopier to reproduce teaching materials
- A printer for same as above
- A scanner
- Two music keyboards
Sign up to be a sponsor at http://thenewlifecentre.wix.com/thenewlifecentre.
