It is now towards the last week of August, and school is almost starting! This summer could not have been more turbulent, with the continued COVID-19 pandemic and serious flooding in Yangtze River nearby cities. Even recently peaceful Shanghai has been enduring lasting high temperature. However, with the accompaniment of Youdao’s “Happy Summer”, the children had a fun and safe time with the volunteers in various music and arts activity classes.
This is the last activity in Wanwan Community. The children in the senior class are drawing portraits of cartoon characters under the guidance of teachers.
On Wednesday, the children in the junior class are recording a choir performance of the song “Light Chaser” under the organization of teachers and volunteers to finish off the activity series.
On Friday, this was the last activity in the Xiaotang Community. Although the volunteer teacher was sick, he still took care of his students and sent pre-recorded study videos to them. A lot of students have strongly requested to watch a popular film of the time, and the teachers fulfilled their wish for one last fun time before school.
This child was alone in the classroom practicing the flute according to the video recordings from the teacher. We were all so touched by his hard-work, we especially recorded a performance video to send to the teacher on sick leave to show him the result of his patient hard work.
In the last week of August, this was the finale chapter of the “Happy Summer” 2020 Charity Series. In such a special summer and under the influence of the pandemic, Youdao overcame many obstacles and difficulties. With the help of community helpers and volunteers, we have carved out a happy ground for the children. This activity series lasted for 8 weeks, 16 activities in total, and 2 hours for each activity session. There were 78 volunteers in total to provide services for 400 migrant children. In recent years, the migrant children are receiving more and more support from the government and the public. With the urbanization trend in China, more children are coming to the cities with their parents. According to the Department of Education’s 2019 education census, there are about 9.9 million migrant children up to 17 years of age – 35% of all children in this age bracket nationwide.
Out of the migrant children, 3.8 million are urban, and 2.6 million are in rural areas. For these children, because of the lack of education of their parents and poor financial stability in their family, they are in greater need of education opportunities, though most of them cannot afford tuition. Because of this, Youdao believes the summer activity series provides security and accompaniment to these migrant children in an educative and nurturing environment to help them better incorporate into their urban surroundings.
Youdao sincerely appreciates Wanwan Community and Xiaotang Community in Shanghai’s Fengxian District for their help and support in providing activity venues.
We would like to thank Huacaopu Road Shi Qing Teenage Development Center in Minhang District for their participation and provision of English materials.
We would also like to thank the You Dao volunteers for your love and persistence which are the backbone of our growth.
Please accept this tiny gift from us, and also a volunteer service certificate.
Also great thanks to our students who have cooperated with the teachers to make everything go so smoothly. It’s your smiling faces which are the motivation for our continued growth.
And last, a special thanks to the Shanghai Hong Kong Union for providing gifts for the volunteers and children.