Kids helping kids: Building schools in China

Local hero
Qi Yuntian, 32, is the director for FTC in China. Originally from a poverty-stricken area in the northeast, he now lives in a high-rise condo in downtown Beijing. Although he has never visited Canada, he has close ties: his parents and sister and her family immigrated several years ago and now live in Markham, Ont., not far from Michaela's family.

Every few weeks Qi takes an 18-hour overnight train ride to Gansu province to meet with school officials, parents and students to plan the building of more FTC schools like the one Lu now attends. So far 15 have been completed. Qi is a welcome visitor to the region. Wherever he goes, people are eager to talk about when their new school might be built. "The parents here see education as their children's hope of a better life," he says. With such a small tax base, local school boards don't have the funds to repair, let alone build, schools, so parents and teachers often work together on their own time to repair the buildings as best as they can. And wherever FTC builds a new safe school, parents respond by sending children they may have been keeping at home.

FTC also encourages parents to send their children to the newly built school by offering a unique incentive: a baby pig. Once grown, the pigs become a source of food and income for the family. The program also has the desired effect of increasing the number of girls who attend class. Often if a family can't afford the school fees for their children, it is a girl who is kept at home, says Qi.

Feng Yao, 22, a first-year teacher at Lu's school and former student at the old school, recalls that her mother wanted her to stay home for safety reasons. Feng shudders at the memory of the dark, windowless building she attended, with a roof in constant danger of collapse. "If there was a heavy rain outside, there was a light rain inside," she says. "My parents always worried."

Feng's face breaks into a broad grin when she talks about the new school, with its sturdy roof, large windows and wall-to-wall blackboards. "I am so glad to come here as a teacher," she says. "Every day when I come to work I have good feelings."

Shared dreams
When his school day is done, Lu heads back home along the dirt road to his tiny mud-brick house. He trots through the front courtyard filled with yellow chrysanthemums and enters the dim main room. He drops his book bag and then steps outside again and into the attached kitchen. Inside, a skinned rabbit sits in a pot of water on the dirt floor. Lu kneels to light the coal in the little potbelly stove so it will be hot when his mom gets home to cook the rabbit for dinner. His parents will keep working in the fields until the last light fades. While Lu waits, he uses the remaining daylight to do his homework.

On the other side of the world, Michaela rushes out to the parking lot where her mother waits for her at the end of the school day. While Angela goes to pick up her older sister, Michaela listens to music on her iPod as she chops vegetables for dinner and starts up the electric rice cooker. She gets in an hour of homework before the family sits down for the evening meal.

While their material worlds are far apart, Michaela's and Lu's hopes and dreams aren't all that different. Lu knows his parents want him to do well in school so he can get a good job, maybe even find work in the city. He proudly points to the certificate of school achievement that hangs in the house. He says he's working hard so "maybe I will win another one this year." Michaela gets good marks, too, and talks about "professional" options. "Education opens doors," she says.

Lu is a child of few words, but when asked if he likes school, he nods yes. And does he like his new school? Another nod. And does he know that children in Canada helped to build his new school? He nods his head more emphatically this time. "I know that," he says, smiling.

Click here to view more pictures from Christine's trip to China.

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