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Delegation
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Education
Service
Oblate China Education Service _______________________________________________________________________
The Oblate China Education Service, under the organizational umbrella of Hong Kong Caritas, supports students in remote areas with educational allowances and sometimes with funding for basic projects, if the local people provide the labor.Due in large part to the great work Fr. Julian Rut did in setting it up, the Chinese Education Fund is going strong. After Fr. Julian returned to Poland, Fr. David Ullrich, O.M.I. continues his work with the group. The group consists of a good number of dedicated volunteers of various faith backgrounds who are concerned about helping disadvantaged students in impoverished schools in China.
Funding
Each year the group has subsidized from one to two hundred students (403 students for year 07-08), enabling them to continue their primary and secondary education, and aims to continue supporting them till they complete secondary school.The China Education Service also provides salaries for two teachers in the education center of Fr. John Wotherspoon among the poor immigrant children in Zhaoqing. To finance these projects the group runs sales at bazaars, negotiating months before with companies, organizations, and individuals who donate first-rate products for the sale.
A Bird’s Eye View of our work (in 2007)
The following excerpts from an article by Fr. David in 2007 give an idea of how the Oblate China Education Service works and the needs and what it strives to do.“I , three members of the group and a staff person from Caritas just got back from a trip visiting 21 schools in 9 days in Xishuang Banna (西湘版納) prefecture in the Yunnan (雲南) province, near the “golden triangle” of Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.
“We worked mainly out of Jinghong (景洪市) in the extreme southwest part of China. We traveled over often muddy and usually mountainous bumpy roads--generally for four to five hours a day-- to get to places with strange sounding names. We visited school principals, students, teachers, and homes to check out school applications for assistance and evaluate old ones. Most of the schools are so remote that the students have to live there all week. Some schools have four hundred boarders or even a thousand, packed dozens to a room.
The conditions are quite poor. But school principals pointed out that things are better than what the students have at home. Several asked OCES’s help with materials to bring water to the schools. Some schools nearest water is hundred of meters away --one was even three kilometers away. The requests cost minimal amounts of money by western standards and yet have a major impact on the life of the students and teachers.
“The lay people on our team are professional and compassionate at the same time. They are also aware of the need for proper procedures. The visits help the principals and teachers see that we follow up on things and will check into how the funding is used. They also seem quite pleased to have people come and listen to their situation.
The most rewarding part of the trip was meeting the students who receive the educational allowances. One girl broke in to tears. When asked why, she said, she was so happy to have people come all the way from Hong Kong to help her.”
Waiting for Help
We have received many applications from Yunnan, Xishang Banna since we first visit them in 2004. Due to our limited funding, we can only help a few. Recently we have good news from Oblate Mission Development Office, 6532 euros has been approved for water facilities of Mansao Primary School.However, there are still many applications waiting for help: Water tank/pipes; classroom bldg; fences, walls/gates; playground and courts; renovation of teacher's quarter;blackboard; books for library, etc. Cost of ach application varies from RMB3, 000 to 300,000.
Fr. David Ullrich OMI
