Book donation for Kuangou village in Gansu

As a follow-up to Thin & High’s voluntary teaching activities at Kuangou Elementary School in 2012 and 2014, Thin & High volunteers visited Kuangou village again in August 2015 to donate over 500 books and reading materials to the children living there.

Kuangou village in China’s northwestern Gansu province is comprised mainly of children and older people as the majority of able-bodied adults have already left the village in search of work in the urban areas where incomes are invariably higher.  Due to the remote location of and poverty faced by the village, the “left-behind” children are unable to purchase books; the school also does not have a library.  These factors had hampered students in their further acquisition of knowledge.

The book donation project was initiated by Thin & High volunteer Han Shuling, a teacher working in Shandong province’s Qingdao city.  A former Thin & High aid recipient mentioned in our Henan AIDS Village webpage, Shuling wanted to help those less fortunate than her and contribute positively to society.  Through her personal and extended networks of friends, students, parents and teachers, Shuling called on those around her to donate books and reading materials.  She accomplished this by highlighting the harsh living environment of Kuangou village and the plight faced by students there, all of whom did not have access to books and reading materials other than their school textbooks.  The books collected by Shuling are also serving as supplementary teaching materials for teachers at the local school.

A simple ceremony was held at the village school before the event; it was attended by the village head, school teachers, as well as villagers and students.

Through this activity, Thin & High hopes to broaden the knowledge, perspectives and horizons of children in rural areas, which will help narrow the learning gaps and reduce the disparities between rural and urban children.