School

A couple weeks ago some ACC students volunteered to go a school established for migrant workers' kids. Because most migrant workers are not official residents of Beijing, their kids are not eligible for Beijing's public schools. Thus, this school was established with private funds.

We really did not do much, other than observe and play with the kids. I bought Curious George in Chinese and attempted to read it to some 5-year-olds, but there were many points where I replaced certain details with my own because I didn't recognize the characters. But I think they were all just more interested in hearing me speak Chinese than the curious little monkey.

The conditions at the school are definitely poor by any standards. We ate the lunch that the kids were having and besides the taste being barely paletteable, there was almost no nutritional value. It was all rice, potatoes, and cabbage.

But the kids that Caroline and I are reading to in this video were truly amazing. The little 10-year-old boy knew EVERY SINGLE country's capital. Everything from Australia (who's capital, I was surprised to discover, is not Sydney nor Melobourne) to Venezuela, this little guy knew them ALL.

It's an interesting dilemma. These migrant workers are literally the entire force behind Beijing's rapid development and beautification, but they are forced to throw down their own money to educate their kids. And even this money is not enough to provide adequate conditions.