Travels in China 2007
Golden Courage Staff
Now that I am nearing the end of my trip to China, I want to share with you in the last few e-mail messages, my experience of the outstanding staff, the well conceived Golden Courage programs, and most importantly the amazingly resilient and committed children we serve. I have spent much time with Zhou Yan, the energetic and outgoing Golden Courage Office Manager and Liu Wei, the more quiet and talented lawyer turned Golden Courage Director of Programs. I interviewed them both about their background, interests and responsibilities with Golden Courage, and experience of the children with whom they work. I just sat in silence after each interview, grateful to have such dedicated and thoughtful counterparts to work with half a world away.
Zhou Yan, a 29-year-old university graduate with a degree in resource development and accounting, has a wide diversity of skills that makes her an ideal "get things done" person for Yun. In one day she could be meeting with various ministers in the central government to get the necessary permissions to move forward with a program, calculating program costs and keeping track of accounts, and working directly with the children to learn how Golden Courage can best support them in their development.
Here you see Zhou Yan with Kong Ling Zhou at the Hiang Cun He Elementary School. Helping the children is beyond doubt the most meaningful part of her job. From a strong Buddhist family, she was taught the importance of creating a good life for herself as well as for others and is grateful to be part of the Golden Courage family, where she looks forward to the almost never ending stream of work with "joy." Her father and husband are also Golden Courage volunteers, and the whole family is proud to be focusing their lives around this challenging but rewarding endeavor.
Lui Wei, 25, a bright, legally trained technology wizard, has finally found his calling in Golden Courage. Like Zhou Yan, his Buddhist upbringing also influenced his choice of this work and he passed up many opportunities to work in more lucrative positions for the "great satisfaction of seeing the children find themselves." He states: "I have found much happiness because this is my mission and purpose in life." Lui Wei spends his days in the schools checking on the progress of the children, working with community partners to ensure that the programs are running smoothly, and visiting the children and families in their homes to help create healthy and nurturing environments through the Golden Courage One-on-One Help Program.
In this picture, we see Liu Wei and Winter Plum at school, where Winter Plum is enrolled in the Golden Courage Great Expectations Program. More to come about Winter Plum in one of the next e-mails.
Both Lui Wei and Zhou Yan were volunteers first for Golden Courage before they started their more than full-time work, exhibiting a commitment to a larger vision and a desire to give of themselves for something in which they believe. It is important to have young people like these as leaders and role models for the younger children in the GCI programs. There is an integrity of purpose that is embodied by each person working with these very special Golden Courage children from Yun, Dr.Pang, and Dr. Lu to these young staff members. I am leaving Beijing soon knowing that the Golden Courage programs are running smoothly and in very capable and loving hands.