Margaret Liu
Margaret Liu is a teacher in Beijing. She volunteered at the Chungba Primary School in August 2007.
“…As a volunteer, I worked for only about three weeks, but a lot of things I will remember forever. I would like to go to there every year if I can. This trip last August 2007 was my first time in a rural Tibetan area – I never thought it would take me three days on the road from Beijing to Chungba. My job in Chungba was to help young Chinese-language teachers to improve their teaching. We worked together on making their pronunciation perfect, learning new teaching methods, new words and other aspects of teaching. I also had the opportunity to help the primary school students work on their Chinese. In the classroom, I could feel the enthusiasm of the Chungba teachers, and the students enjoyed their lessons. The dedication of the teachers was so impressive; they were open to suggestions to improve their skills in teaching. They had new questions every week!
Reflecting on Chungba many months later, I often find myself looking at the pictures; the students in Chungba are always on my mind. One of the things that left the greatest impression on me was a girl who was accompanied by her father to school. The girl leaned against the door of a classroom, looking at the teacher and students admiringly. When the teacher wrote words on the blackboard, the girl wrote words on the wall using her finger. In the big cities of Beijing and Shanghai, lots of kids waste time in school, but in Chungba students are really eager to learn. Even though they were born into poor families, in a remote mountain village like Chungba, they work so hard in their studies.
There is one thing I felt bad about when I stayed in Chungba – I am a small, poor Chinese teacher. My strength is limited and there is only so much I can do to help. At the beginning there were 200 students, but nowadays there are over 400 students. Something that surprised me is the success of the school, the benefit to the kids in Chungba, and the praise from local education department!
I want to say the Chungba Schools need more people to help and more money for its operations. I hope I can get more people involved.
In Chungba, local people and Machik are working together and you too can help in many ways. You can volunteer, you can give money, you can talk to your friends and family about the school and Machik’s work.
My contribution in Chungba was so small, but my experiences there helped me to grow. I gained so much in spirit from the people who work for Chungba school, like Losang, Tashi, Uncle Taja, Mother and Father. They don’t get anything from the school, but they really work so hard for all the kids in Chungba.
God bless them!”
I want to say the Chungba Schools need more people to help and more money for its operations. I hope I can get more people involved.
In Chungba, local people and Machik are working together and you too can help in many ways. You can volunteer, you can give money, you can talk to your friends and family about the school and Machik’s work.
My contribution in Chungba was so small, but my experiences there helped me to grow. I gained so much in spirit from the people who work for Chungba school, like Losang, Tashi, Uncle Taja, Mother and Father. They don’t get anything from the school, but they really work so hard for all the kids in Chungba.
God bless them!”