Travels in China 2007
Final Episode
I hope you have enjoyed my travelogues from China and have a better understanding of the commitment that Yun, his parents, and the Golden Courage staff and community have to the growth and development of the Golden Courage children. The Cultural Revolution created such a traumatic experience for a generation of men, women, and children of every class and ethnic group that a great healing is underway in China. Golden Courage is leading the way in providing a model for that healing in its unique non-profit structure that spans the globe and brings people together from every sector within China and from the world's two most powerful countries.
Through patience, perseverance, and a far-reaching vision of human possibilities, Yun has created a number of programs that speak to the deep needs of homeless and desperate children, helping them to find a way out of their seemingly hopeless situation. I want to be very specific as to the programs Golden Courage has created, the numbers of children served, and the results we have seen as a result of these programs.
The Great Expectations Program helps high-school-age youth from extreme poverty who have shown academic promise earn high-school diplomas. The Chinese public-education system guarantees only nine years of schooling for all children. As a result, youth living in extreme poverty, regardless of their potential or past school performance, are typically forced into a life of hard labor, and they often join the high-risk floating population. Great Expectations allows these children to escape that fate and continue learning. From 2006 until the present, Golden Courage has supported our first 80 students at Yan Zing High School #2, 32 males and 48 females. In this program, we have developed a unique collaborative arrangement with different levels of the Chinese government, which provides in-kind support as well as a matching grant to double the number of children served.
This is a picture of the GCI children in the Great Expectations Program when the Newton family visited China at the beginning of the summer. Roger Newton, Chairman of the Board of Golden Courage, his wife, Coco, and children Russell, Kerri, and Alex all participated in an "Honoring Ceremony" and were entertained by the talented children anxious to show their appreciation for the opportunities given to them.
In this picture, Roger, Russell and Alex Newton give one of the GCI children a gift after the Honoring Ceremony at her school outside of Beijing.
Another of the groundbreaking Golden Courage programs is the One-on-One Help Program, which provides holistic assistance to children, their families, and their communities. In many poverty-ridden and AIDS-affected areas of China, children are forced to quit school to become caregivers and bread-winners for their families. One-on-One Help allows these children, ages 6 to 14, to continue their education and helps their families access resources that enable them to become self-sufficient. Each year we serve approximately 350 children and their families in customized service, and the numbers continue to grow. We hope to serve a minimum of 500 children and their families per year with a whole range of services from providing seeds for farming to appropriate job training, enrollment in government disability and social relief programs, and appropriate medical care.
Another critical component of these programs is the Children's Hotline & Rescue Service, a toll-free, 24-hour telephone hotline that allows all young people to call for counseling anytime. This program helps restore hope among children and youth caught in Beijing's floating population. Children and youth who call are offered an opportunity to be safely rescued from their high-risk environments and transported to safe locations. After they are rescued, the children and youth are placed in the homes of approved care providers until Golden Courage finds a more permanent healthy situation for them. Since our inception, we have rescued 21 girls and 7 boys from the sex trade.
Furthermore, Golden Courage is in the process of creating a learning program involving a sustainable farm, the International Summer Camp, where children will learn social, educational, and technical skills while also discovering the healing qualities of working with nature and with each other.
In the past 3-5 years, Golden Courage has provided support for nearly 1,500 children and families in Beijing and in the central part of China. We have operated an emergency shelter that served 200 children orphaned by AIDS, organized collaborative efforts that provided free HIV testing for more than 1,000 rural Chinese citizens, facilitated 16 adoptions, and launched an aggressive public awareness campaign that resulted in 10,000 signatures, which helped influence national policies affecting persons with HIV and AIDS.
I hope in sharing with you this more specific information about the work of Golden Courage that you can understand the scope and intent of our work. In the next e-mail, I want to choose a few children and tell you about the changes in their lives as a result of their association with Golden Courage and the huge impact Golden Courage programs and people are having on their health and well-being.