Many students in rural China live in dorms at their schools because their home villages are too remote for a daily commute. Xiaohong, a high school student you support through CWEF’s “Concordia Hope Class” program, is only able to visit home a few times each year. To reach her village, she travels four hours by public transportation and then walks another hour along rugged mountain roads.
Though the journey is long and demanding, she sometimes brings small gifts back to her family. On one trip, she delighted her mother with a traditional Lisu bag she had always wanted. Despite facing many obstacles, students in the Concordia Hope Class have shown remarkable perseverance and academic promise.
Nujiang Prefecture, on the northwestern border of Yunnan
The Concordia Hope Class is located in the remote Nujiang region of western Yunnan Province in China. The class was designed for high school students who showed strong academic potential despite facing difficult circumstances, such as being orphaned, living with guardians affected by chronic illness, coming from families in crisis, experiencing multigenerational poverty, or growing up in remote villages.
Scenes from Nujiang during Executive Director Josh Lange’s visit
Interviewing students for admission to the Concordia Hope Class
Because of your generosity, fifty students have received three years of instruction from some of the region’s top teachers. The students come from more than nine ethnic minority groups across Nujiang, including the Lisu, Nu, Bai, Pumi, and Tibetan peoples. Your generous giving also provided a monthly living allowance for students, teacher incentive awards, and funding for extracurricular activities. Students participated in enrichment programs, educational travel experiences, and leadership development opportunities alongside a rigorous academic curriculum.
Concordia Hope Class in session
The Concordia Hope Class began in 2023, and I’m thrilled to share that our first cohort of students will graduate later this month! More than 90% of these students have identified clear career goals, with most aspiring to work in education, healthcare, public service, or technology. Their ambitions reflect not only academic growth, but also a strong desire to use their skills and talents to serve and strengthen their communities. If you’ve supported CWEF’s China programs, you made it possible for these hardworking students to participate in this intensive class! For many of these students, graduation represents educational and economic opportunities their families have never had before.
Nujiang Prefecture Ethnic Middle School Affiliated to Yunnan Normal University
Thank you for your generous support of CWEF and for making academic opportunities like these possible for Chinese students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Your generosity has been a tangible expression of God’s love and provision. As we celebrate the accomplishments of this graduating class, we are also looking ahead. There are many more students like Xiaohong who need access to the same opportunities.
Concordia Hope Class group photo
To continue serving talented young people from underserved communities, we are aiming to raise an additional $25,000 USD this summer. Without your generous support, our ability to sustain educational opportunities like the Concordia Hope Class will be limited. Would you prayerfully consider making a generous donation today to help students from challenging circumstances like Xiaohong and her classmates?
Thank you for your partnership with CWEF as we continue working together to equip young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to become leaders in their own communities!
Since 2024, 3M has proudly supported CWEF through the “Cultivating Minds” program, which provides underprivileged children with free access to hands-on STEM learning opportunities — helping to bridge the resource gap and spark curiosity in young minds.
On the afternoon of June 5th, a team of 17 3M colleagues visited Cheong Wong Wai Primary School in Tai Wai to engage with students in a meaningful volunteer activity. Each volunteer was paired with a child in a one-on-one format, creating a supportive environment where every student could learn at their own pace and experience the joy of discovery through direct participation.
The activity featured two interactive sessions — Parachute Making and 3D Pen Creation — with students rotating between the two stations.
In the parachute-making session, 3M volunteers patiently guided the children through cutting, assembling, and securing the strings. Once completed, everyone headed to a higher floor for a test drop. The children’s faces lit up with excitement as they watched their parachutes float gently down. Throughout the process, our volunteers explained the underlying scientific principles in simple, relatable terms, encouraging the children to think about how these concepts connect to everyday life.
In the 3D Pen session, students worked step by step on templates, gradually mastering the technique under the volunteers’ patient guidance. Though time was limited, the activity effectively enhanced hand-eye coordination and nurtured creative thinking — laying a solid foundation for future exploration in 3D design and creation.
Overall, the activity successfully sparked students’ interest in STEM and provided them with positive, encouraging learning experiences. Through companionship, encouragement, and thoughtful guidance, our 3M team helped these children build not only practical skills but also greater self-confidence and problem-solving abilities.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to every colleague who participated. Your dedication, patience, and kindness are the most tangible and meaningful support these children could receive. Thank you for making a difference — one small experiment, one encouraging word, and one bright smile at a time.
On June 3rd, your generous giving through CWEF supported a unique lecture for students on coping with the physical and emotional changes of adolescence. The presentation aimed to help adolescent girls understand themselves as well as improve their mental health and life skills.
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Time: June 3rd, 2025
Venue: Wumeng Township Central School
Participants: 100 girls in Grades 4-6, Teacher Shao Jiafang, Principal Li of Wumeng Township Central School, and the teaching team
Main Events
1. Principal’s Speech – The principal emphasized the significance of mental health in adolescence. He encouraged students to actively participate in solving the problems they face, and to approach adolescent changes with a confident and healthy attitude.
2. Teacher’s Lecture – kindly explained common changes in adolescence:
Physical changes like breast development, appearance of pubic and armpit hair, the patterns of a menstrual cycle etc.
Psychological changes like causes of emotional fluctuations, developing a positive self-image etc.
3. Interactive Q&A: students overcame their shyness and became eager to ask questions.
4. Guided simulations: students practiced coping skills through simulated conversations / scenarios
5. Growth Oath: Students participated in an oath to accept physical and emotional changes and strengthen their self-identity.
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Results
Questions that were previously too embarrassing to ask were answered. Students learned how to cope with adolescent changes. As one student mentioned, “After the lecture, I know how to face physical changes, and the stone in my heart has finally dropped.”
Students gained a more scientific understanding of adolescent physical and psychological changes, reducing ther fear and confusion and teaching them how to have the right attitude when coping with challenges.
Summary
This lecture provided valuable knowledge and reflections to girls at Wumeng Township Central School in Yunnan, China. The activity not only provided scientific knowledge but also emotional care. Students will face the changes of adolescence more confidently.
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When I was a child, I often felt scared. The other people in my village didn’t like me. They didn’t like me because of my father: he would often get drunk and do violent things. When I was 4 or 5 years old, my mom and dad decided to divorce. In my dad’s absence, my mom worked the land as a subsistence farmer, took care of the household chores, and raised me and my four sisters all by herself. Then many years later when I was 17 years old, my dad died.
Pov recently reading in his university-level English class!
My mom worked as a subsistence farmer; so she did not earn money like other people do from their jobs. Therefore, it was challenging for her to fund the education of me and my four sisters. The financial situation caused me and my sisters to miss classes. We also didn’t have the money to buy study materials. Like books. Or backpacks. Or other materials.
Pov and his friends showcasing some products that they made to sell for a class!
The next concern for my family was that we didn’t have enough money to pay for university. When Concordia Welfare & Education Foundation (CWEF) awarded me a scholarship, my situation got a lot better. It relieved the burden on my family to pay for my school. CWEF pays for my school fees and school supplies every year from the first year until now.
When Concordia Welfare & Education Foundation (CWEF) awarded me a scholarship, my situation got a lot better. It relieved the burden on my family to pay for my school. -Pov, a Cambodian college student
Pov making an ‘S’ statuefor a visual design course
Pov speaking at church
Finally, I am so grateful to CWEF for providing me with a scholarship to help me purchase my study materials and pay for college tuition. I appreciate that the donors support my university education. It is so helpful to all the students that need knowledge who come from impoverished communities or other places where people do not have enough support.
Pov and his classmates discussing various class assignments
Today, I am 22 years old, and I’m in my 3rd year at Phnom Penh University of Arts (PPUA) studying visual communication.
Thank you!
– Pov
THANK YOU for your willingness to help a young Cambodian in need go to college! And thank you to each of you that sacrificially gives to pay for his college expenses so that he can leave a life of poverty behind him!
Are you new to CWEF? Would you like to help more young Cambodian men like Pov attend college? $1500 sends one student to college in Cambodia for a year but any amount helps! Click here to donate today!
How common is school bullying? Over half of the 36,000 participants in a school-bullying survey conducted by Tencent reported being bullied at school. Whereas one-fourth of survey participants admitted to bullying others.
Because of the generosity of people like you who donate to our programs, CWEF and its nonprofit partners can host mental health classes for students in the Chinese province of Yunnan. In the hopes of protecting more students from the distress and dangers of bullying, the teachers of our mental health courses taught students all about this important issue!
The instructors shared real and heart-breaking stories about children that had been so badly bullied at school that they considered killing themselves. Through these stories, students could feel the deep and sometimes irreparable pain their actions can bring to someone else.
From there, the teachers talked about all the types of bullying: physical, verbal, social, and gender-based; and they gave the students clear examples of what these different types of bullying look like. Finally, they educated the students on how to protect themselves by avoiding playing alone far from other people, for example, or by telling someone in authority about the bullying when it occurs.
In all of this, the teachers emphasized how watching someone get bullied but doing nothing to stop it is just as harmful as being a bully yourself. Students were admonished to take courage, do the right thing, and stand up for others in need! Through this course, students gained a deeper understanding of school bullying, grasped concrete ways to protect themselves, and realized that they should not ignore bullying but stand up against it.
THANK YOU for caring so deeply for the children of China! And THANK YOU for demonstrating that heart by giving generously through CWEF to make life-changing classes like these possible for children from rural areas. You are equipping young people to become strong servant leaders in their own communities!
Dyna, a Cambodian teenager, dreamed of having a stable job as a banker. She wanted a wide range of professional opportunities. In order to fulfill this dream, she began studying accounting at a university in the city. But now…not far into her studies…she struggled with whether or not she should continue.
Her father had served God as a pastor for almost thirty years in Cambodia where they live; and during those years, his income was irregular and unpredictable. Because of the irregular income, he had to take out loans which he then struggled to pay off completely. Because of her family’s debt, Dyna’s family could not pay her school fees or support her life in the city where she studied. Dyna saw that whenever she needed money to pay for tuition or buy school supplies or just pay for life in the city itself, it all increased the heavy financial burden on her parents. Should she continue to study when it would put so much stress on her family? “But,” Dyna says, “the whole time God never forgot me.”
Singing at church
At this point, Dyna got connected to CWEF. After completing the application and interview process, she was eventually selected to receive a university scholarship. This would allow her to continue pursuing her accounting degree!! In addition to the scholarship, Dyna also found a Christian dormitory where she lived for the beginning of college.
Dyna says:
“The faith that I have in God has helped me a lot in my life and my living…without God, I also wouldn’t be here.”
I’d like to thank my scholarship donor because if I didn’t have the scholarship to support me, I wouldn’t be able to study here because we don’t have enough money to study; and we’d also have to spend a lot of money on school fees, textbooks, and other expenses. That is hard for me. Without the donor who gave me my scholarship, my life after 12th grade may have beeen uncertain. I may have found a random job to do. Studying at university is very important. After finishing grade 12, I don’t know what (marketable) skills I would have had.”
Dyna volunteers her time teaching English and Khmer at her church and also teaching math to children. Someday she wants to educate people in her community about how to budget and invest wisely as well as how to resolve financial hardships and avoid money-related scams.
Dyna prays:
“Thank you, God. I prayed to you for my future plan. Thank you for answering my prayers and my family with support by giving me a scholarship from CWEF. I am excited and very happy…The fact that I received a scholarship from CWEF was a blessing in disguise as it helped me to continue my studies at the school I wanted to attend and helped ease my family’s burden of paying for school fees and school supplies…I truly thank CWEF and the staff for helping me continue my studies at the university, and God bless CWEF and all the staff.”
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THANK YOU to each of you that has sacrificially given to bridge the gap for young people like Dyna! Without your help, she may have never been able to finish pursuing her dream of becoming an accountant. But now, her education will be a blessing not only to her but also to her family and community! It’s exciting to see the ripple effect of kindness, isn’t it?
Check out our Facebook page to catch the latest news of your university scholarship recipients!
Hello! THANK YOU for your generous support of education for girls from rural China!
Please enjoy letter excerpts from Dan, a CWEF high school scholarship recipient:
Working for a better life. “At home, grandma and mom and dad tell me to study hard; so that I can get into a good university. It is only after I graduate that there will be more employment opportunities for me. I know this because my parents have struggled to earn a living and have often not qualified for job interviews because of their limited education. Since I started going to school, I always remember my parents’ expectation has been for me to enter the best school in our county, and I have been fighting for it.
I’m more of a home body. During my 14 days of summer vacation, I busily study and work on the farm. I have little free time; but for hobbies, I like to sing – not only Chinese-style songs, but also some English songs. I like that, in the song, I can experience a different world, feel the singer’s emotions, and expand my English vocabulary.
The exterior of Dan’s home in rural Yunnan
Facing failure. The most impressive thing for me this year was my parents’ response to my academic focus. I initially chose to study science with great anticipation. I listened carefully in class. Afterwards, I rigorously completed the homework. And yet even though I mastered the class material, my grade on the final exam was too low.
One time my grades really dropped. I felt a little scared. When I went home, my parents saw that I was tired of studying and cautiously asked me if I was okay. At that moment, I couldn’t hold back all my stress, and I told them that I couldn’t keep up with my studies. I didn’t know what to do. Dad was silent for a while and then asked me if I was only struggling with physics, chemistry and biology; or if I felt that I couldn’t keep up with the calculations. My father let me switch to the liberal arts, which focus on accumulating knowledge so that learning will be easier for me.
The interior of Dan’s family home
Living a happy life every day. Now my grades are keeping up. In school, I live a happy life every day. Through CWEF, people can give love and help to others. Included in this educational support, there are living supplies, which make the lives of poor families less strenuous; school supplies, which make studying easier for children that can’t afford school supplies; food items, which improve the quality of life in poor families, and charity grants to help people recover that have suffered major accidents.
Doing charity work is a very meaningful thing. I want to join in. And what I can do at the moment is volunteer. I will participate when I have the chance.“
You have provided pivotal support in Dan’s life. Many children from rural areas of China are never able to graduate high school because they cannot afford it. But through Dan’s determination and your generosity, she now has the opportunity to graduate high school and pursue college! Your kindness inspires young Chinese girls like Dan to not only excel academically but also to pass the kindness on to others!
For the children of rural China that attend Luoyan Township Central Kindergarten in Yunnan, standing water often accumulated and surrounded the school grounds. When the kindergartners ran outside playing they would frequently slip and fall on the slick ground, and the standing water interfered with the children’s physical education and playtime activities.
In partnership with CWEF and made possible through your generosity, the Luoyan kindergarten recently constructed beautiful suspended outdoor floors to serve as a physical education space for all the children. It is hoped that through this new space the children will improve their athletic abilities, increase their self-confidence, and develop an enthusiasm for sports.
On March 30th, 2023 the school hosted a kindergarten-wide physical fitness competition called, in part, “Waiting for the Flowers to Bloom.” The children expressed great excitement and anticipation for the competition! Please enjoy the included photos of this event!
Thank you so much for caring and giving generously to the children of rural China! Because of you, these sweet children are able to enjoy these gorgeous new facilities and experience improved physical fitness and overall health.
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Hello, everyone. My name is Chang Die; a student from Yunnan Province; who has been supported by Concordia Welfare & Education Foundation. I would like to share my story with you here, in the hopes of helping other students with similar experiences.
For as long as I can remember, my parents have been busy working hard every day. Planting and harvesting time are the most difficult: getting up before dawn to work and then going to bed close to midnight. Growing up I saw how hard my parents worked, so I felt that I also had to work hard. When I went to school, I always got up early and went to bed late, not willing to waste a minute of learning time. My parents also had too many expectations of me. I couldn’t live up to them.
Unfortunately, I did not get an ideal score on the college entrance exam because of the great emotional and study pressure I was experiencing. However, I am grateful that I was admitted to the major of medicine (medical laboratory technology) at last. Although I am not currently a clinician in a hospital, I can still contribute to the medical cause right now. Because my family and I have also experienced being sick in the hospital, I deeply understand the feelings of every hospital patient; so I perform my patient examinations and write my patient reports meticulously.
INSPIRED BY CWEF
I’m grateful to have been a grantee of CWEF since my first year of high school in 2013. Different from any other funding program at our school, CWEF not only provided financial aid to us but also paid attention to how each student was doing individually every semester. Until I graduated from high school in 2016, CWEF also regularly organized activities and inspirational education for us.
I remember once learning about a physically disabled boy who lost his hands. Instead of complaining about life and clinging to others for help, he used his feet instead of his hands to do everything on his own. After watching a video about him in class, my teacher had us try writing by biting a pen with our mouth. Writing this way, the words came out crooked. The teacher came up behind me to see the name I had written down, and she read it out loud. My heart felt both excited and happy because I am introverted, but the teacher clearly noticed me in that moment. Even though there are many stories out there like this boy’s, this lesson impressed on me how tough the disabled boy was. His example encouraged me that those of us with sound hands and feet have no reason to give up!
At the end of the third year of high school, CWEF teachers brought some foreign friends to visit and talk with us, encouraging us to study English well and have a broader vision for our future. To guide those of us struggling with college applications after the college entrance exam, CWEF also invited high school alumni to share their experiences with us, which was helpful.
Many different details and activities of CWEF not only brightened my whole high school experience but also encouraged me to forge ahead and study further, giving me strength to move forward. It was a time of high motivation and hard work for me. This high school season is still my best memory and has benefited me all my life.
PASS IT ON
During my college years, I seriously studied specialized courses, participated in work-study programs, actively participated in some volunteer activities in the university, and got to know many important people. All these things have led me to grow up, made me always grateful and full of goodwill towards society, and encouraged me to try my best to help the people around me that are in need.
The world is big and wonderful, and there are many things worth hearing, seeing, and trying. I will always remember CWEF’s help and care for me. If there is a suitable opportunity, I am still willing to participate in a public-interest organization. I’d like to pass on the warmth and help I have received to other people in need.
Thank you so much for your sacrificial giving towards young Chinese students like Changyi! Having received love and support through you, she is now eager to give back by spreading goodwill and generosity to others in her sphere of influence.
Imagine for a minute — it’s the dead of winter. Suddenly the hot water and your shower at home both stop working. How long would you be able to make it?
That scenario is still the daily reality for school children all over rural China, including those in tiny Luoyan township — a small and unknown corner of China’s rural and remote southwest region.
In Luoyan township, there are nine primary schools, and many of the students attending these schools are boarding students. They live in dormitories on the school campus during the week because their families live too far away to be able to conveniently travel back and forth to school every morning and evening.
Thanks to your generous support of CWEF’s HEAL program, two of these schools — Tianjing Primary School and Gonghe Primary School — have became the first in the township to be able to offer warm showers to their students!
Inspecting new solar-heated shower rooms
In October 2022, the transformation of current facilities at the two schools into freshly renovated solar-heated shower rooms was completed, and our CWEF team members, along with local nonprofit, government, and school leaders, visited the Tianjing and Gonghe schools to conduct the official inspection and final acceptance of the project.
Prior to HEAL being launched at these two schools in 2022, none of the primary schools in Luoyan county had shower rooms or proper bathing facilities for the boarding students to use in order to keep clean and healthy while living and studying at school.
In addition to solar-heated shower rooms, your generous donations to the HEAL program also made it possible for both schools to receive much-needed upgrades to their dilapidated toilets and aging sewage systems, as well as 16 drinking water filter units to further ensure good health, sanitation, and hygiene for the students.
The HEAL program — which stands for “Health Education, Advocacy & Literacy” — is not just about buildings and health-related infrastructure like water filters, shower rooms, and sanitary toilets.
In conjunction with these upgrades to infrastructure, the CWEF team and our local partners also made important investments in the schools’ students and teachers themselves through the training of local health advocates and organizing health promotion activities.
Evaluation survey before health training
In November 2022, a health education program was initiated with 426 students and 31 teachers at Tianjing and Gonghe schools. Training sessions, demonstrations, and fun competitions were held to encourage healthy habits like washing hands, washing faces, brushing teeth, and keeping their school and dormitory environment clean and tidy.
Preparing for health training at Tianjing schoolHealth training at Gonghe Primary School
In addition, earlier in the year CWEF and our local partners brought in an experienced facilitator to guide 22 teachers from the two schools through a one-day mental health education workshop. The purpose of this course was to help the teachers understand and strengthen their own mental health, to learn to better understand the inner worlds of their young students, and to train the teachers in simple but effective ways to provide guidance and counseling to their students who may be struggling with poor mental health or challenges at home.
In 2022, your generous support of the HEAL program empowered our CWEF team and local partners to make important upgrades in the health-related infrastructure and external environment at Tianjing and Gonghe schools.
Jenny of CWEF with local partners
More importantly, your partnership has made valuable investments in the long-term physical, mental, and emotional health of the students who live and learn there.
With your help, 2023 will be a healthier and happier year for these special young people who are working hard to build a better future for themselves and their communities.
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p.s. — If you’d like to see an overview of all of CWEF’s work in rural China and Cambodia during 2022, you can watch this 3-minute video. Thank you for helping to make all of this good work possible!
This article was written by Joshua Lange – CWEF Executive Director.
Discover other rural Yunnan health initiatives that your giving makes possible here.
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