Friday November 21st
Today, Friday, Club President John Barnes took us to see a school where the Rotary Club of Beijing has provided funds and spent time working with the school to improve conditions. Xingxing Yu - Stars and Rain is not a typical school, but an institution that helps autistic children and their parents by teaching them management technqiues. Parents take part in an 11-week structured program with their autistic child (ages 2 to 6), being taught how to manage behaviours and understand this condition. The program is run in-house, meaning the families leave their homes and stay at the school for the duration of the course. I am sure you can imagine how amazing it is to see this type of program being run in China, with the implications of one child policy, misunderstanding of disabilities, poverty of rural families needing this support. The program that they run is unlike anything any of us had seen before, and very humbling to see the professionalism of the people running this program under very difficult conditions, with little funding and limited resources.
We also took a short walk to see the group home the school runs. This is a home for autistic teenagers. There are currently 6 people who stay at the home Monday to Tuesday, with staff to help them develop skills to independent living. The group home is fantastic in its ideals and goals, but again, a home with very few resources and in need of support.
The Rotary Club of Beijing supports Xingxing Yu through donated funds to upgrade school facilities and equipment, including play equipment for children, and time spent at the school painting and renovating the building.
This has been one of the better things we have witnessed in terms of the role of Rotary in China, and to see the impact that a few people can have on social reform and acceptance of disabilities within a community.
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- 1. Our First Few Days in Shanghai
- 2. Language, History and Food
- 3. The Out Of Towners
- 4. Final Days in Shanghai
- 5. Beijing - We Have Arrived
- 6. I Can See Clearly Now The Snow Has Gone - Almost
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- 8. But Wait, There's More ...
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- 10. TCM
- 11. A Very Special Day
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- 13. Our Last Day Together
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GSE offers a unique opportunity to develop leadership skills, work on team building, and increase self-confidence. The program is designed to have an invaluable impact on the career of a young professional in the increasingly global workplace by creating networking opportunities and lifelong friendships.
A Rotarian Team Leader and four non-Rotarian Team Members are selected to participate in an exchange to another District in another country to experience social, economic, business and cultural conditions and to observe their own professions in action.
Individuals who participate in this rewarding, once-in-a-lifetime experience will return home with a broadened cultural perspective and new understanding of a nation’s history, language, commerce, and government.
A Rotarian Team Leader and four non-Rotarian Team Members are selected to participate in an exchange to another District in another country to experience social, economic, business and cultural conditions and to observe their own professions in action.
Individuals who participate in this rewarding, once-in-a-lifetime experience will return home with a broadened cultural perspective and new understanding of a nation’s history, language, commerce, and government.
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