|
To celebrate Radu's birthday, the whole CAI team got out their biggest smiles for a group pic! A long way from our small team of 3 only a few months ago, our international team now is: Front row: Chloe (Hong Kong), Catherine (US), Judy (US) Second row: Saida (Uzbekistan), Radu (Romania), Eva (Hungary), Ai (Canada), Ana (Portugal), Shelly (China), Xian (Australia), Danielle (US) Third row: Justin (US), Will (US)
Read 1 Comments... >> |
|
|
I worked as an intern for CAI from March through April 2009 and although my tenure was short – too short, as I can say now – this internship proved to be a life-changing experience in the very best sense. Therefore, I would like to share some thoughts on my experience.
Originally from Germany, I had worked and studied in many different European countries before I decided to go to China. Now that I am back in Europe, I start acknowledging the full scale of the impact that the internship with CAI had on my life. Having surmounted all the initial obstacles such as the cultural differences and the language problems, I feel much more self-confident, for my time with CAI provided me a wealth of personal and professional experiences I would not have wanted to miss.
During my internship, I was assigned a wide variety of tasks ranging from internal and external communications and participation in several event fairs to participation in major fundraising projects. I also helped drafting texts and ads and organising the database. Though all these experiences were valuable to me, I benefited most from the communication work and everything that was related to networking. At the beginning it took me a lot of effort to approach people but, with the help of my colleagues, I started feeling more and more confident and in the end I really enjoyed spreading the word about us and getting people to support this worthy cause.
 As far as the personal aspects are concerned, CAI’s contribution to making my stay in Beijing so pleasant is not to be underestimated. Firstly, the wonderful team I worked with, composed of people from many different cultural backgrounds, was always helpful when it came to solving daily-life problems. It was fun sharing time together and exchanging thoughts. Secondly, working for CAI gave me insight into Chinese society to an extent that never would have been possible if I went to China as a tourist. In Europe, many people – just like me before I went there – have a certain tendency to think that China is a rich country. That might be true for some exclusive areas in big cities, but a large number of Chinese people are still facing very tough conditions.
During my internship I also had the chance to visit one the migrant schools CAI is working with and this experience truly made me realize how important it is to find support for CAI’s efforts in helping these cute and inspiring children.
It seems to me that working for a small NGO is much more rewarding than working for a big company because the impact you can make is just so much more tangible. And if you still feel like working for a big company in China, get them to support CAI at least!
I can say now that CAI had the same impact on me as it has on the children it is supporting. It instilled in me the “four C’s”: Courage, Confidence, Comittment and Care. Needless to say that CAI’s impact on my life is much bigger than the other way round.
If you have any questions concerning the internship and my experience, feel free to contact me on patrick26will[at]web.de and I will be happy to answer your questions!
Read 0 Comments... >> |
|
We had a great turnout! Thanks to all the volunteers who lent a hand and to all the people who visited our booth. 
Read 0 Comments... >> |
CHARITY WINE TASTING AND ART AUCTION FOR CAI
Host: LaMarr Irby MC: Elyse Ribbons
Location: Opposite House (No.11 Sanlitun Road)
When: 5pm - 7pm, Saturday, May 16, 2009.
Music: Live Brazilian Bossa Nova Band
Cost: 100 RMB
Wines: Momo Sauvignon Blanc
Little Yering Chardonnay 2007
Mt. Langi Billi Billi Shiraz 2004
Xanadu Cabernet-Merlot 2005
Phone: 13581730100
Please RSVP:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(Very important) Funds raised from this event will be used to support CAI's teacher
training programs this summer in Ningxia.
Read 0 Comments... >> |
|
The
problems facing China's migrant workers are numerous and extremely
difficult to solve. These problems--which CAI attempts to address--are not simply rooted in the
movement of large groups of people from one place to another. Instead,
these problems stem from the fundamental way in which the Chinese
government chooses to look at and organize the Chinese population. For
several thousand years, the governments of China used the hukou
system--a system of registering families--to categorize and govern the
people of China. Families and all of their members were registered at
the place of their birth, and mobility--both geographical and social,
was severely limited. The implementation of a similar policy continues
today, and when examining the current internal migration from the
countryside to the cities, it is essential to understand the way this
system works.
At its most basic level, the modern hukou system uses two categories of registration, rural-dwellers and city-dwellers. When one is born in the countryside, one's hukou is that of a rural worker, if one is born in the city, then one will hold an urban worker's hukou. At the time of it's re-implementation in 1953, the CCP
intended to limit the flow of people from the countryside to the
cities. For this reason, it is extremely difficult to change one's hukou
from that of a rural-dweller to that of a city-dweller. Until the
beginning of economic reforms in the 1980s, this system effectively
curtailed urbanization in China. However, with the opening of the
Chinese market and the increased incentives for former farmers to look
for work in large coastal cities, the restrictions of the hukou system began to influence Chinese people's decisions on where to live less and less.
Currently, there are roughly 150-200 million migrant laborers in China
who have decided to leave their hometowns and head for the cities.
However, very few of them have any hope of changing their hukou to that
of an urban resident. The effects of this situation are not limited to
the workers themselves who leave home; the children who follow their
parents into Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, and others also have little hope of changing their hukou, which is mostly based on hereditary criteria. So, many children who
are born in hospitals in large coastal cities are legally born in the
hometowns their parents left long ago; these children are also saddled
with the burden of holding rural hukou.
This is the cause of some of the greatest problems facing China's migrant laborers' children. One's hukou
is linked to the schools one can attend, the health insurance that one
has access to, and the jobs that one can obtain. In terms of problems
that children face--schooling is obviously of paramount importance .
Despite many attempts by the government, the children of migrant
workers cannot attend the same schools as children who hold a local hukou
. Higher-caliber schools will charge migrants significantly higher
tuition fees in order to prevent what schools view as lower quality
students from attending classes. The result of this is that most
migrants send their children to almost exclusively migrant schools on
the outskirts of major cities. There, the children have limited access
to nearly every resource.
Attempts at reform of the hukou
system in China have stopped far short of solving these problems.
Currently, city governments have many reasons for trying to preserve
the status quo. In the event of the hukou system being abandoned,
cities' official populations would immediately skyrocket, and the
obligations of city governments to implement social programs would
increase considerably. Unfortunately, while reform faces opposition,
the children of migrant workers will continue to attend inferior
schools and lack a positive environment in which to grow up.
One of the few ways for a person to change their own hukou, and by extension every opportunity open to them, is to do well in elementary and middle school and test into a higher-quality public school. By doing so, a child can access better education and, hopefully, one day test into a university. With entrance into a university, a new temporary hukou is given to all students; after successfully graduating students can enter into the competition for higher level jobs in the cities, which bring with them the privileges of urban hukou. For this reason, nothing is more important than providing the children of migrant workers with the tools and encouragement to enter into the urban school system. CAI's sports and arts programs foster confidence and ambition in these children; with a positive environment and much support, these children can finally seize opportunities to improve their own lot.
Read 1 Comments... >> |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 7 of 13 |
|
|
Upcoming Events
CAI Fall 2010 Volunteer Recruitment Has Kicked Off!Looking
for volunteer teachers for our innovative and fun programs. Be a part
of the change and make an impact on a migrant child's life! For more information and to download our application form, please visit our Get Involved page.
Deadline to apply is August 31, 2010.
|
CAI Blog
