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Mr. Huang is 61 years old and lives in rural Yunnan with his wife. Their 4-year-old granddaughter also lives with them as her mother has gone out to find work in the capital city of Kunming and is only able to come back to visit from time to time. Huang said this situation is quite normal in their village now; young people prefer to go out for migrant work because of the community’s lack of reliable water and income sources. The elders in the village need to take care of their grandchildren when their parents go out for work.

In past couple of years, Huang and his wife have had to carry water every day from the village’s only drinking water source, a ditch at the center of the village. The water flow was very low in the dry season, so they needed get up early in the morning to wait in line to collect water. This was their routine around 5 times each day. In the rainy season, the water they collected was muddy. This unsafe open water source exposed the Huang family and all of their neighbors to a greater risk of illness and disease.

Huang told us that their village committee has been applying to the local government to build a new drinking water system for a long time. They were so happy when they heard that CWEF would help their community build a drinking water system. The Huang family raised 400 RMB and contributed labor work for the project, which was completed in July 2014. Huang and his family have benefited significantly from the water project. They no longer need to get up early in the morning to wait in line to carry water, and they’ve saved a lot of time to focus on farm work. They have more time to rest, and now they can take a shower after finishing work every day, improving their hygiene and overall health. They plan to grow more vegetables and raise more livestock. They believe they will not only be able to save more money, but they will also be able to improve their granddaughter’s nutrition. As their financial situation gets better and better, they hope their daughter won’t need to go out for migrant work anymore, and their family can all live together again.

They didn’t know how to express their appreciation for CWEF’s help, but they promised to conserve water and try their best to protect the system. They hope everyone in the village can remember this gift they have received, and do more things to help others.

For more information on this exciting event to support education for young women in Guangdong province, please visit the event’s Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/amazingracehongkong

“It doesn’t have to be this way.” Those are words from the new song, Circle the Sun, released by the Hong Kong band, Alter Ego. The band recorded the song and music video this spring in order to support the cause of education for young women in China. …

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When suggesting that someone should get in touch with Dolphin to find out more about CWEF programs in China, it is not unusual for someone new to CWEF to say, “Dolphin? Is that a person?” …

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196 high school students in China learned about planning for the future and setting goals during the REACH activities at their school this year. After graduation, each student will pursue his or her own opportunities for the future. Powerful social networking tools, like QQ in China, help our CWEF team keep in touch with these women as they continue their education into university or find employment and start their family.

This year, CWEF invited seven previous graduates of the program to serve with us and with our program partners, including the American International School in Guangzhou (AISG), Target Foundation, and EMBER, as they give back to support the education of the next group of young women striving for the future. Summer, shown above, is a Year 1 university student studying towards a social work degree. She volunteered alongside AISG volunteers two times this year. Afterwards she told us, “As a girl who was helped by the CWEF programs, I always feel happy and satisfied taking part in the activities that are planned. I hope CWEF continues to develop in the future.”

We love to see the young people from the REACH program living out the value of community and collaboration in their lives, even after they have graduated from the program. Congratulations Summer, and congratulations to all of the students graduating this summer!

The dislocation and disruption of families during the extreme programs of the Khmer Rouge almost 40 years ago continues to leave ripple effects in Cambodia. For many families, they lost elder family members who were the ones to equip the next generation with important skills in child care and development. The Khmer people care deeply for their precious children and young parents are eager for opportunities to learn how to plan for their families and care for their well-being, safety, and education. CWEF began offering a series of parenting sessions in communities around Cambodia in 2009.

Phai Lina, a participant in a recent parenting training session, shares her story:

“I am 29 years old. I am married with two children now. My family lives in Phnom Penh. My husband drives a tuktuk (motorcycle taxi) and I stay at home to care for our children. My parents are poor. They were not able to support me to go to school, so I quit school during grade 7. I did not stay in school long enough to gain education about preparing for my family. After I married my husband in 2006 we moved together to live with my mother-in-law.

I was really happy to join the CWEF training on parenting. The whole training helped me gain knowledge about how to care for children. I look forward to being a part of the next training session, too, because I gain the knowledge I need to raise healthy and good children. I am putting the lessons I learned into practice in my home, and I can already see good results. I am so thankful to CWEF for leading these trainings.

I also like to share with my neighbors and friends about the lessons I learned in these activities. When I have time to talk with someone that I know, I always share these lessons. It has become my habit to share this joy with other people I know. I want my children to grow up knowing these lessons so they can make good plans for their family in the future.”

Danay Mao joined CWEF in 2012, serving as a translator and program staff in Cambodia. Danay grew up in Sihanoukville. Prior to joining CWEF she served internships with both the Cambodia Center for Human Rights and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia. Danay graduated from the Royal University of Law and Economics in 2011 with a law degree and, at the same time, from the Royal University of Phnom Penh with her bachelor’s degree in English for Professional Communication. Danay ’s passion for education and care for the Khmer people is well served by her studies and her internship experiences.

CWEF benefits from Danay’s knowledge as well as her deep-felt desire to serve her country and a healthy sense of curiosity. She has a strong sense of humor and her favorite television show is “The Amazing World of Gumble”. She appreciates the show’s mixture of humor with important life lessons for both children and adults. Danay looks forward to continuing to develop her speaking skills so that she can be a catalyst to inspire hope in others.

Good habits are much easier to establish in the lives of young people. That is why CWEF’s HEAL (Health Education: Advocacy and Literacy) program intentionally includes primary schools in its health education outreach. Research also indicates that receiving good health messages from peers is an effective method for improving knowledge of healthy living and increasing self-esteem.

CWEF’s Yunnan Health Director, Soniya Zhao, trained 10 HEAL student advocates in Lufeng County during December 10-12, 2013. These student advocates will participate in three of these “training of trainer” (TOT) events. The first event focused on the correct method of washing hands and brushing teeth, communication, and skills of advocacy.

After each TOT event, the student advocates lead health promotion activities throughout their primary school population so that all 155 of the students in their primary school are introduced to information about hygiene, sanitation, nutrition, germ-transmission, and other important health topics. Their first activity in the school was on December 17, 2013.

We are so proud of these young students who care about the health of their classmates and families. In addition to the important health learning, it is awesome to see how they develop teaching and confidence skills as well as a passion for service in their new roles!

Ratanakiri province in Cambodia is located in the northeast corner of the country, bordering Laos to the north and Vietnam to the east.

Child mortality rates in Ratanakiri are extremely high (22.9% for children under age 5), as identified by the World Food Programme.[1] Malnutrition is a common contributing cause. 92% of households in the province do not have a sanitary toilet, and 60% of households do not have access to a safe source of drinking water.

CWEF began developing relationships with villagers in Ratanakiri in 2011 to better understand the local situation and to identify communities that wanted to partner with CWEF in improving local health.

In December 2013, CWEF’s Cambodia Health Director, Kanhchana Thoy, facilitated the second TOT (training of trainers) in Community Health Education (CHE) in Banlung. 14 participants joined the training from 7 different villages.

This training focuses on equipping the advocates to be comfortable facilitating change and discussions in their home communities. Topics focused on baseline data collecting, educational principles, objective setting, planning, building community ownership, community mapping, and problem solving. In the training feedback, the participants shared that they especially appreciated being taught tools for planning, which were unfamiliar to them previously.

We look forward to continuing to support these advocates as they start conversations in their villages about how to make changes to improve health!

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” ― Albert Schweitzer

The Yunnan Education Project (YEP) at Concordia International School Shanghai (CISS) was started by three Concordia students in 2002, following 10 students’ school service trip to the Yunnan province with CWEF’s predecessor organization, CWES. YEP sponsors programs that are implemented by CWEF in China.

Each fall every CISS high school student spends a week participating in the school’s “interim” curricular activity. In keeping with tradition, this year CISS and CWEF continued partnership with four YEP interim service activities: English teaching, drinking water project, and health education (HEAL) in Yunnan province and a sports camp in Guangdong province. In total, 93 people served at four CWEF sites during the last week of September. The experience was a fruitful bridge-building experience with learning by both the participants from Shanghai and the local villagers and students.

The following are quotes written by Shanghai participants at the end of the trip.

“I think the best thing about this project, compared to any other, is interaction. I loved how I was able to meet and communicate with people that I have never met before. It was fun getting to know each other. I learned a lot from it.” – YEP English interim, 2013 

“It felt really good and was proud of myself seeing the kids learn and remember what we taught them.” – YEP HEAL interim, 2013

“Leaders were excellent, easy-going, and made sure all participants were comfortable. Time with the school children was amazing and eye-opening.” –- YEP Sports Camp interim, 2013

 “This interim was a great experience for me, giving me an opportunity to discover service and appreciate Yunnan for all its beauty. This trip gave me an inside look at the real agricultural lifestyle that a great number of people in China live. All in all, once in a lifetime opportunity.” — YEP drinking water interim, 2013