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.
Lasso China 