The Hope Scholarship Fund is a United States non-profit organization whose mission is to "remove barriers inherent in poverty and to provide hope and opportunities for a better quality of life through education to children in developing countries." The organization, which is involved with schools in China and Kenya, sponsors students and leads service projects to ensure that children in poverty-stricken areas have the opportunity to receive a proper education.
Video Hope Scholarship Fund
Origin
In the summer of 2005, the organization's founder, Ted Mooncai, went on a trip to teach English to students at the Pang Liu Elementary School, a rural school near Xi'an, China. His experiences on this trip inspired him to take action to fight against the widespread poverty he saw:
The living conditions and extreme poverty were shocking. Meeting children who only get to eat one meal a day is an eye-opening experience for an affluent, well-sheltered sophomore attending a private high school in the States. Soon, I grew fond of the kids and wanted to give them what they hoped for in life--opportunities I took for granted. Their excitement towards their ambitions was contagious. It was distressing to me that their goals would be unobtainable--without additional help.
As I got further invested in helping, I learned about the problem with migrant students in China. Over 20 million school age children, 40% of whom are living under the poverty line, have been relocated from their rural villages to the outskirts of cities so their parents can find jobs in the city. Since public schools in China only enroll students with urban residential permits, these kids are excluded. As a result, the children face the threat of illiteracy and continued deprivation of opportunities. I founded The Hope Scholarship Fund to give children of families caught in the cycle of poverty the opportunity to pursue the life they wish to live. The student's drive and natural abilities, rather than their poverty, will be what determines the career path they can take.
Maps Hope Scholarship Fund
Schools and Projects
One of the Hope Scholarship Fund's goals "is to connect students in America with students in developing countries around the world." As such, the organization has established clubs in several American High Schools, each of which is actively involved in activities to benefit the Fund's students.
Wheeler School, RI
Students from the Wheeler School founded the club in 2005. Since then, the club has raised over $5,000 through quarterly fundraising sales of dumplings. In addition, the Wheeler club has written pen pal letters, donated hand-knit scarves, and held calculator and book drives.
Andover High School, MA
Andover High School students organized the club in November 2008 after going on a trip to China organized by the Hope Scholarship Fund. Since then, the club has quickly grown, and raised money to help students in need. The club is aiming to spread awareness of the Fund's goals in addition to continuing its fundraising success. The club also helps local students in need, with club members tutoring at Andover High School as well as at the local middle school. Any money raised from the tutoring is donated straight to the Hope Scholarship Fund, which in turn goes towards tuition for students at the Dandelion Middle School for migrant children near Beijing, China.
Winchester High School, MA
The Winchester High School club headed a scarf project in the school and other parts of the community, including the local youth group. This project, which was run in collaboration with the Wheeler School club, raised over 225 hand-knit scarves, which were sent to students in Beijing, China.
Sponsored Schools
The Hope Scholarship Fund sponsors students in four schools:
- Dandelion Middle School for migrant children near Beijing, China
- Mwea Primary School in Kenya, Africa
- Pang Liu Village Primary School near Xi'an, China
- Kerogoya Boys High School near Mt. Kenya, Africa
Stories of Success
The following are stories of a few of the Hope Scholarship Fund's sponsored students:
Liu Jing Dong
Abandoned by his parents at birth, Liu Jing Dong was raised by his grandparents. His grandfather continues to work to feed the family despite the fact that he is in his late seventies. In the year that he has been sponsored by the Fund, Liu Jing Dong rose from the bottom of his class in the Dandelion School to third.
Francis Ndukui
Francis, the youngest of three sons of a farmer and carpenter, is a multi-talented and driven student. Not only is he in the football and basketball teams, but he has joined the math and debate clubs as well. In a letter to the Hope Scholarship Fund, he wrote, "Debate club helps me to improve on my English speaking and how to express myself...I am working hard in school in order to achieve my goals and brighten my future. In future I would like to become a lawyer, I am interested with this career because I like its career subjects and I would also like to fight for justice in the country in future."
Xu Yujing
The Hope Scholarship Fund started sponsoring Xu Yujing when she was in middle school. In 2008, she became the first Fund student enrolled in college when she was admitted to Shi Hezi University in Xin Jiang. As the Fund's website states, "We were able to give her the initial boost she needed and now she is the one carrying the torch, lighting the path of her own future."
High School Entrants
In June 2007, 86 migrant students from the Dandelion School took the high school entrance exam. This was unprecedented for migrant students, who had previously been excluded. Two of the Fund's scholarship recipients, He Wen-wen and Xin Su-mei, passed the exam and were the first scholarship recipients to enroll in high school. Making their feat even more impressive was that these students passed when they had only attended school for two years. He Wen-wen and Xin Su-mei's accomplishments were covered in the Beijing Times.
The Hope Scholarship Fund's success grew the following year. In June 2008, seven scholarship recipients passed the exam and went on to high school. The Fund continues to sponsor these students throughout high school and hopes to expand upon the Dandelion School's success.
Dandelion School Trip
Although the Fund sponsors a select number of students, it remains active with all students in these schools, setting up American high school students as pen pals with students at these schools and forming trips to the Dandelion School to teach English. The organization strives to maximize the number of Dandelion students who take annual high school entrance exams and works to ensure that these students will pass. Founder Ted Mooncai wrote of the trip on the organization's website:
It has long been a goal of ours to bring American students on a cultural learning exchange. [In 2008], it was finally realized.
Twelve students from New England took the two-week trip consisting of two parts, touring and teaching. During the first week, we experienced the culture and saw the historic sights in Beijing, Xian, and Luoyang--three different capitals of China's past and present. After visiting the tourist attractions, our group taught English at The Dandelion School and while doing so saw a part of China most travelers rarely experience.
Our time at Dandelion was the focus of the trip, with the underlying mission to teach, and be taught. I was confident that despite going to teach, our group would learn a lot about life from their students, and from trip reflections it is very clear that they did. Brendan Wang (Andover High School '11) said, "The experience there is something I will never forget. The kids there are so motivated to learn that if you don't give it your all you feel as if you'd let them down. Staying in their dormitories really gave me a taste of what it was like to live their lives. To them the school dormitory was heaven on earth, and to a lot of us it was just about the worst place we've ever stayed in."
It's easy enough to say that over 20% of the Chinese population is living below the poverty line, but it's something entirely more moving to see, feel, and understand what that poverty means. Through our week at Dandelion, the group got to live next to the worst of conditions and is more globally aware and appreciative as a result. One of my students, Jim, let us visit his home to give us a better understanding. From a distance it looked like little more than a pile of bricks covered by branches and tin shingling.
Poverty is one of those things you cannot be taught, but must experience to understand.
As a pioneering group, I feel the trip was a great success. We had an amazing time experiencing China's culture and successfully prepared 160 Dandelion students for the upcoming school year. It was sad having to leave, and many of our students cried because of how close we had all gotten. Hopefully we will all be able to go back someday soon.
Notes
External links
- The Hope Scholarship Fund Home Page
- Facebook Group Page
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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