As is well known, reading plays an important role in an individual develpment and also the developlemt of a nation. Many social problems arise from lack of common sense, which can otherwise be obtained through reading. However, in poor rural areas of China, there are a lot of kids who have no books to read and don't kow how to read effectively because of their parents and their teachers' limitations. As a result, more and more problems come about, which becomes a big concern of society.
In order to bridge the education gap between the city and rural areas, in the year of 2014, the Education Bureau called for volunteer teachers from cities to go to give lessons to the primary school teachers in Juan County, Heze area. It was then and there that a few teachers found there was a lot to be done besides offering the local English teachers lessons ,therefore they decided that they should do the something more they could to help those kids and parents by leading them to read to enlighten their lives now and in the future; the team can help the teachers besides just doing teaching them English. The team then made their first donation of books to the young kids and teachers, which became very popular.
Shortely after this, the team decided to do something more. Hand-in-Hand Reading-aid Volunteer Group was set up. In the past three years, apart from donating books and setting up libraries in the villages, they went down to the rural schools and villages to conduct research, to teach the kids how to read and give the parents and teachers workshops focused on child rearing, family relationship and teaching skills. As time went by, more and more teachers, university students and even high school students joined the volunteer team. The experienced teachers are in charge of choosing what books to read, what activities to do and train the new volunteers.
Great systematic changes have taken place since the start of the project. Many kids have formed the habit of FVR(Free Voluntary Reading). Moreover, they are becoming more confident, understanding, and knowledgeable. Changes have also taken place in the kid's parents. Before the volunteer team came, many parents didn't know what to do with their kids who had fallen some bad habits such as excessive cellpone-game playing, hating going to school and so on, but now they have changed their ideas about parenting and improved parenting skills, and hence, their family relatiohship has improved too.Another important change we had never thought is that the relationship between teachers and students, and that between villagers have been bettered,
It's estimated that more than 60,000 books have been donated to the kids, parents and teachers. About 120 presentations and workshops have been given to the teachers and parents, with a combined attendence of more than 10,000. More primary schools and villages have applied for the project to take place in their place. So far, this projec has spread to more than 10 schools.
The project was selected for a poster presentation at China Education Innovation Expo held in Beijing in 2016; representatives from the team also gave a sharing session during the Expo to the audience. Besides, the project is widely reported in local and national newspapers and websites. Curerntly, the project team is working on a book to share their experiences.
