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CHINA: Amity Teachers Conference & Summer Tutoring Programme

3rd February 2009

Amity Reports ...

The Amity Teachers Winter Conference 2009 was held from 12th to 17th January in Lanzhou, Gansu Province.

January in Lanzhou presented us with chilly but friendly sunny days, so we were able to keep a traditional but always welcome part of our Winter Conference: Our group made a one-day field trip to Dingxi, a neighbouring city to Lanzhou, to visit Amity’s community-based projects.

The two project sites we went to this year were Yaochuan Village and Zhaojiaobu Village, where, since 2002, Amity has been running micro credit and biogas and solar stove projects for local farmers. Changes brought about for families supported through these projects were obvious. For instance, our group were very pleased to learn that, with Amity’s support, the number of local beneficiary families in the micro credit programme increased from 67 families in 2003 to 145 families in 2008, while the amount of credit circulating within this programme has increased from CNY 160,000 to CNY450,000.

The second highlight was that Amity introduced the Amity Chinese Students Summer Tutoring Programme to our teachers group. This programme started three years ago when one Amity teacher made a small personal donation to buy text books for 10 of her Chinese students, who then used these to help tutor young children back in their rural home villages during the summer holidays.

Since that time, this programme has grown and been judged helpful by the students who have participated in it. Over the past two summers, three more Amity teachers at another two teacher training colleges also ran this programme for their students. More than 100 students have participated and gained first-hand teaching experience, while some 500 village children have received support in their English learning.

Below are some reflections from the students of Wuwei Occupational College who attended the Amity Chinese Students Summer Tutoring Programme in summer 2008:

“First, we learned how to improve our teaching abilities and become a good teacher. For example, how to help students in a friendly and patient way and how to put our knowledge into practice. Second, we learned how to help other people. Third it improved our English abilities”
“First, (we learned) knowledge is important. Second, we must continue to develop ourselves. Third, we learned how to deal with the relationship between teachers and students, and students and other students.”

This programme can be adapted by other interested Amity teachers for the Chinese students at their colleges and universities, and we hope more Amity teachers will participate in this program in the future.