Wokai is an organization that allows people to contribute directly to microfinance institutions in China which in turn lend the money to entrepreneurs in rural China. Wokai is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Oakland, with core operations in Beijing, supported by individual donors, corporate sponsorships, fundraising events and grants.
Website: www.wokai.org Email: info@wokai.orgMedia Coverage
Casey Wilson talks about using Art to End Poverty in Agenda Magazine.
Recognizing the beauty and dignity of each and every individual person, China Little Flower works to build a culture of life by reaching out to those who are rejected, abandoned, deemed as useless, and who have no voice. Little Flower Projects is an outreach of China Little Flower, Inc., a 501c(3) nonprofit organization registered in the USA. Since 1995, these grassroots, small-scale, very effective, and cost-efficient projects in China have helped countless children in need. They focus on providing specialized care to abandoned infants and nurturing the growth and education of older disabled orphans. They operate in Beijing and Taiyuan, Shanxi, but the children come from all over China. Their projects include hospice care, group educational foster care for children ages four to 18, special care for infants, longterm care for severely disabled children and special causes. At the moment they take care of 45 infants and 40 older kids.
Website: www. littleflowerprojects.org Blog: littleflowerprojects.blogspot.com Address: Little Flower Projects, China Little Flower, Inc, PO Box 1235, Kearney, NE 68848
Media Coverage
Agenda Magazine’s Interview with Malaika Hahne, Executive Director
EGRC was founded in 2005 and is a Registered Canadian Charity. In 7 years EGRC has raised funds in Canada and Hong Kong; sponsored 286 young women from impoverished rural areas of Gansu Province in Northwest China to receive university education. There are currently 170 students in EGRC’s sponsorship program, studying in 96 different universities in over 30 cities throughout China. 116 of the students graduated since 2009.
Website: http://www.egrc.ca/ Email: info@egrc.ca Telephone Number: 604-732-9370 Address: 4326 Dunbar Street, PO Box 45098, Vancouver, BC Canada V6S 2M8 donate online at https://Website: http://www.canadahelps.org/DonationDetails.aspx?cookieCheck=trueMedia Coverage
From China Daily.
BEIJING – A new 1-million-yuan annual donation threshold for a national charitable award has aroused criticism among media commentators, stating that the requirement may discourage small-scale philanthropy.
The annual donation threshold for the China Charity Award, the country’s biggest award for philanthropists, has been raised to 1 million yuan ($159,000), award committee organizers announced on Dec 30, 2011.
Commentator Wei Mingyan responded to the announcement with a commentary in the Beijing News, stating that the restriction may disqualify grassroots philanthropists and small-sized enterprises.
Commentator Yin Jianguang wrote a commentary for a local Chinese news website iqilu.com, saying that meager donations from a low-income farmer may rank much higher in social impact than 1 million yuan from a wealthy man.
He urged attaching importance to the sincerity and social impact of donors, rather than solely considering the sum of donations, in issuing the award.
As the highest award given by the Chinese government for philanthropy, the award was established by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 2005 to honor those who have made prominent contributions toward Chinese philanthropy. Candidates for this year’s award may apply online from January 10 to February 24.
From China Daily.
BEIJING – The Chinese government believes its newly introduced auditing protocol for domestic foundations may help the country’s charity organizations regain public trust through enhanced transparency.
Donors and the public have experienced increasing anxiety over the transparency of charity foundations in recent years, according to a press release posted on the central government’s official website on Thursday.
However, the previous rule was unclear on several issues, including the scope of auditing, publication of reports, qualification of auditing agencies and the payment of auditing fees, the report said.
The absence of such provisions led to shortcomings in the auditing system, it added.
The new rule, jointly promoted by the the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, went into effect on January 1 this year.
It stated that domestic foundations’ annual financial reports and the details of foundations’ financial situations during management reshuffling periods must be subjected to an audit by an accounting firm and be made public.
Previously, audits were required only for foundations’ annual financial reports.
It also introduced a new auditing requirement for certain donation programs, such as those accounting for more than 10 percent of the foundation’s received annual donations or those pertaining to natural disaster relief.
A series of embezzlement scandals hit the country’s charity sector last year, leading to a decline in public donations.
Earlier in 2011, a young woman calling herself “Guo Meimei” claimed online that she was the general manager of “Red Cross Commerce” – a group the Red Cross Society of China has said does not exist. She posted pictures on her microblog detailing her lavish lifestyle, provoking the ire of netizens who speculated that she might have funded her purchases by embezzling money from the Red Cross.
Last September, media outlets reported that the Soong Ching Ling Foundation in central Henan province had embezzled charitable donations and lent large amounts of money to real estate companies for the construction of luxury apartments.
During the January to October period of 2011, the country’s civil affairs authorities received a total of 4.36 billion yuan ($685.53 million) in public donations, less than one-third of that for the same period of 2010, according to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Statistics on donations collected by domestic foundations are not available.
Educating Girls of Rural China is a non-profit organization established to help girls from impoverished rural areas of China receive an education. EGRC operates under the philosophy that “educated women will have educated children.” This encompasses the belief that educating women is the key to changing a family, a village and even a society. With great support from Canadian and Chinese individuals and corporations, EGRC is planning to launch a high school sponsorship program in 2012 and to expand its university program to other rural regions of China.
Tell us about yourself and EGRC.
Though born in Beijing, I lived in Gansu province as a child after my father was imprisoned and my mother was sent there for re-education as part of the Cultural Revolution.
When I was a young teenager, even though I was attending the best school in Beijing together with Mao’s, Deng’s and many other high ranking communist leaders’ daughters, my mother and I were exiled to Gansu. My mother was a pediatrician, so as an educated woman she was considered bourgeoisie and in need of re-education. My father was a pilot who had flown with the American Flying Tigers against the Japanese in the Second World War, and he was put in prison because he was deemed politically suspect, having fought under Mao’s great rival, Chiang Kai-shek.
Once in Gansu, I befriended orphaned children whose parents had starved to death as the province had gotten little rain and could raise only corn and potatoes. Gansu is a place where being dirt-poor was almost middle class and where girls were usually married off to other families by the time they were 12 because their parents couldn’t afford to feed them.
I was forced to work in a factory for eight years instead of going to school, and this is what inspired my committment to helping women from this devastated and impoverished region.
Since my father was in prison, I had a big shadow over my head throughout my child- hood and into young adulthood. At the time, the only way to measure a person’s worth in China was what family she was from and who her father was. After years of struggling of getting back to Beijing from Gansu in order to finish her education, my family background, was a monster which blocked every possible way to advancement. I was depressed and totally disappointed, and so I decided to leave in 1983.
I did not choose Canada, Canada chose me. I just wanted to leave China. I was born in the wrong place at the wrong time; there was no future for me there. I would have gone anywhere that was not a communist country, but I was very fortunate to arrive in Canada. It is a country that respects everyone’s rights and gives everyone equal opportunities. I remember feeling for the first time since I was a child that I could raise up my head without any shame and fear.
When I returned 22 years later as a successful Vancouver businesswoman, it was to help others receive what I’d been denied. I owned the Omega Art Gallery in Vancouver, Canada, and had founded the non-profit British Columbia Society for Educating Girls in Rural China.
“Educating women is the key to changing a family, a village, and even a society”
How did you get the idea for EGRC?
The idea to help girls from rural families get an education arose in 2004 when my daughter Kate was singing with the Vancouver Children’s Choir for a UNICEF fundraiser called Go Girls, which helped send African girls to school. Someone from UNICEF said that if a woman is educated, then all her children will be educated, and that planted the seed in my heart.
The program was started in 2005 and has since supported almost 300 students studying in 30 cities in China. Most of the funding for EGRC comes from Canada and Hong Kong, and most of the young women are from impoverished rural areas of Gansu Province in Northwest China. 116 students have graduated through the program so far, 15 percent of which have gone on to a Master’s program.
Approximately 20 percent are now employed by the local Gansu government, working as school teachers and government workers. The rest of the graduates are working in various professional industries such as engineering, finance, the pharmaceutical industry, tourism, real estate and journalism in various cities throughout China.
Seven of the successful graduates have even donated money back to EGRC that was sufficient to fund three additional scholarships. Other graduates have taken on leadership and mentoring roles to help other young rural women achieve an education. It is truly rewarding to see the domino effect. I am sure in the future there will be more students supported by the graduates.
“Seven of the successful graduates have even donated money back to EGRC”
How do you choose the candidates for the scholarships?
Every August, I head to China’s most impoverished province, Gansu, with funds raised through the EGRC in hand and interview and award scholarships to young rural women with the intelligence, but without the means to attend university.
There are many worthy nonprofits operating in China. Is it hard to gather enough resources?
After many years of eking out donations from individuals, we attracted our first corporate sponsor in 2011, which enabled us to expand our efforts to Qinghai Province. Eldorado Gold Corporation and EGRC have sponsored five young women from Huangzhong County in Qinghai Province.
I traveled to Qinghai and personally interviewed the students to whom the funds were later transferred to cover their tuition. EGRC will begin actively soliciting support from international companies doing business in China with an interest in making a difference in their local communities. Recently, the Canadian Ambassador to China, David Mulroney, has even gotten involved helping to make introductions to BOLDMOVES China, Eldorado Gold and other Canadian government officials and corporations who recognize that it is essential to be an active part of China’s development.
How have these organizations helped EGRC?
Many have donated money, others have lent their connections, and still others have contributed with their time and expertise. One such example is Cindy Jensen, Managing Director for BOLDMOVES China.
Cindy was so impressed by EGRC that she just knew she needed to become involved. Cindy chose to take a very hands-on approach by offering her skills and expertise in a way that matched the needs of the young women in EGRC as they prepare for university and the workplace. Earlier in the year, the Canadian Ambassador to China hosted a luncheon that she attended where we met, along with one of our recipients. During the luncheon we shared many stories and ideas about EGRC.
Cindy quickly touched upon the need for a leadership program offering basic skills development for the workplace in order to help the students prepare for their first job after university. Practical experience such as public speaking, professional behavior and appearance and networking are skills one is often not exposed to until after they enter the workforce, and by then it is too late to influence the caliber of job they can obtain, how positively they can get started in that job, and so many other components to long term success.
Once the idea was established, Cindy took the lead on setting up the program. She was able to get many highly qualified people to participate in the program in a variety of ways. Initially there were some problems communicating, but Cindy reached out to a number of her good Chinese speaking friends who have strong business experience and facilitation skills. There were four of us who built the program and two terrific corporate supporters. Motorola China sponsored the venue and Lily’s American Diner sponsored the lunch.
The other facilitators who dedicated their time were Lin Gao, Senior director of Information Technology from Asia Pacific Motorola, Hubert Lin, Researcher and Edu-Trainer for Self-Realization, Elaine Luo, Training & Communication Sr. Specialist from Novartis and Cici Zhao from Worley Parsons China. Another good friend, Tyler Jiang, took photos throughout the day which will be transformed into a memento for the girls.
“I am confident that any organization would be proud to hire one of these talented girls”
Tell us a bit about some of your beneficiaries.
Bixia Wang is the first EGRC sponsored student to go to Canada to complete a Masters in Material Chemistry at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Bixia recently recounted her initial feelings once she arrived at SFU: “I need someone to tell me that this is not a dream. I am now in Vancouver, Canada, meeting lots of friendly people. Only six days ago, I was in my rural home village working in the field with my parents. I began to like this place from the first moment I landed after my first airplane trip. I experienced a lot of first things in my life: my first time to see the ocean, to go sailing and to eat western foods. I love all of it! People have been so generous, and I am lucky that I have landed in a beautiful city, with so many caring people to help me.“
When Xiaoling Ma was accepted by the Lanzhou University of Commerce, her mother became extremely upset because she was afraid that her daughter would go through the same experience she had. When she went to university in South China in the 1980’s, she had a nervous breakdown and could not finish school due to the cruel discrimination she experienced due to the fact that she was from a rural village of Gansu Province. Tien recounts, “I assured Xiaoling’s mother that her daughter would not repeat that nightmare. Under the sponsorship of EGRC Xiaoling graduated this year and she was the only one accepted by The Bank of China among 400 applicants in that region! Xiaoling even donated a portion of her first month’s salary to EGRC.”
Wenjing Ma was accepted by Southwest Minzu University which is mainly for ethnic minority students. Her family has lived in a Muslim village in Yuzhong County for generations. Tien shared: “Her grandmother was in tears when she learned that we came from Canada and that many Canadians would help her granddaughter’s education. She told us that her husband died young and she had raised all her children on her own. None of her children had ever gone to school. Ma Wenjing is the first one in the family to go to a university.”
Xueya Wang plays the Guzheng, a Chinese instrument, beautifully. Her major is Music Education at Lanzhou City University. She has been using her own money and time to study this instrument, practicing six hours a day on top of her school work. In just over a year she learned to play at a level equivalent to five years of study. Her dream is to open a music studio in her home town of Longxi. She says “Rural children never have a chance to learn to play musical instruments simply because they cannot afford to buy one; and there are no teaching facilities.” Her future studio will offer music lessons and instrument rentals. She will also offer free instructions to children who love to play, but do not have the financial means to pay. Her plan has already received support from her teachers.
Yan Mo has been studying Medical Biology at Lanzhou University. She has been offered a full scholarship at two different prestigious universities to pursue her Master’s degree. Her dream is to go to Canada to complete her PhD. She talks with deep emotion about being an EGRC sponsorship recipient for her first four years of study, and how the sponsorship made all her achievements possible. In the future she wants to be one of the donors herself to help more students in need.
Lili Huang is an engineering student studying at Changan University. She says: “I have never lived life as a normal university student. I have held at least two or three different jobs every term over the past three years. I can never forget the terrible accident that happened three years ago; it changed my life and my family forever. My father is now paralyzed from his neck down and he has to have a few different operations each year to keep him alive. My mother also had injuries in the same accident and she lost all her hair due to the tremendous stress. She is only 42. I also have a younger brother and sister at home. Without the money I received from EGRC and the encouragement from Madam Tien, I would never dream that I could complete my university studies. EGRC brought light to me in the darkest period of my life. My parents and I are very grateful for all the help we have received.
From China Daily.
BEIJING – The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) on Saturday announced the decision to shut down its subordinate organization in the commercial sector as investigation showed that the latter was run in a way that betrayed its non-profit mission by making money through manipulating philanthropy.
The investigation also showed that Guo Meimei, who claimed herself the “commercial general manager” of the Red Cross on her micro blog, had no connection with the charity organization or its branch in the commercial sector. Guo, 20, showed off her lavish lifestyle online and hit a public nerve in June, which plunged the Red Cross into a scandal for abusing the money given for “doing good”.
The investigation was jointly conducted by five parties including the Ministry of Supervision, the RCSC and the China General Chamber of Commerce in July. The RCSC released both the investigation results and its statement on its official website following the investigation.
The Red Cross branch in the commercial sector had failed to establish a strict management structure, said the statement, as it had never held general assembly or elected its board of directors by vote as required since it was founded in 2001.
The Red Cross branch in the commercial sector proposed to the society to build 20,000 community-based stations nationwide to provide first-aid services to residents in 2006. Two years later, the project was designed and operated by a private company, and both its major shareholder and deputy general managers took important positions in the Red Cross branch in the commercial sector. The company was entitled to make profits from the charity project. However, the project failed before it was carried out nationwide, according to Chinese media.
The RCSC’s statement said this kind of affiliate transaction seriously violated the principle of organizations “dedicated for public welfare” and blamed itself for unsuccessful supervision.
However, the notice stressed that neither the Red Cross nor its branch ever allocated funds raised from the public to invest in the project.
Apart from the efforts to disclose information online, the RCSC vowed to strengthen monitoring of its local branches and said it planned to invite ordinary people from all walks of life to participate in a supervision committee to keep a close eye on donations received and charity projects in the future.
Donation that the RCSC received in 2011 plummeted to 385.53 million yuan ($61.3 million), compared with 3.01 billion yuan in 2010, according to the statistics on its official website.
“The year 2011 was an unforgettable year for the Red Cross Society of China,” said Zhao Baige, executive vice-president of the RCSC, on her new year’s resolution to the public, pledging that the RCSC will work in a more transparent, professional way in 2012.
Wang Zhenyao, dean of One Foundation Philanthropy Research Institute at Beijing Normal University, believed that the Red Cross’s decision to clamp down on a poorly managed branch was necessary but urged a reform on its management mechanism for sustainable development.
A resident surnamed Zou from Dalian city, in Northeast China’s Liaoning province, said the RCSC should release a detailed financial report about its scandal-troubled projects which are related to the commercial sector.
She said such a report will help rebuild the image of the RCSC and encourage people to donate again.
Lasso China 