Sue Chu

Academy Capstone-7
Greene
September 15, 2016
Summer Track Hours
I had been there the summer before through church. It is a mission trip but we were not
there to spread the Gospel, instead, there was an interview selection process and we attended
mandatory trainings/ teambuilding from March till May in preparation for the trip.
This is service learning over the summer from June 7th to June 18th. I was in the position
of a volunteer teacher at BoAi school in Fengcun village in Shanxi, China. The school is
managed by Mrs. Christine Chan, the founder of BoAi, where she stays there all the time.
While China has greatly improved the condition of its citizens over the years, the remote
villages of rural China continues to be impoverished and a major recipient of international aid.
An example is the organization that formed the school I volunteered with called Overseas
Helping Hands, a strictly non-profit group where its administrations and volunteers go to the
school at their own expenses. On the two weeks trip, I saw the inner workings of the successful
implementation of a form of project based developmental aid. The school has the support of the
local government who believe it is a great improvement for the life of the students as well as the
locals. With the start of building the school, OHH was able to use its overseas donations to help
with both education of the entire village and surrounding areas and with improving the
infrastructure of the village. The organization used its donation precisely with careful planning
and strict management. With the building of the school, the entire village got basic infrastructure
like electricity and running water in their households. Within ten years, the school transformed
from a few classrooms into dormitories, an elementary, and a middle school building. The school
also offers free daycare for the locals/women to be able to work rather than stay at home
stimulating growth and activity. This made me believe and see the availability of change through
developmental aid and how successful it can be with making an impact.
I worked as an English teacher and taught 3rd and 9th grade there and taught with the
local teachers who were hired based on at least a college degree. The work I did was a form of
technical assistance in foreign aid which gives human resources to the school. The volunteers

functions, aside from education, involved the changing their mentality and way of life in a
positive way. Examples are like teaching students to not smoke.
But, there are also many issues with limited resources and staff. Now, the school and the
surrounding village are relatively better off than a lot of other places in need. The organization is
too specialized in a local area and it is not able to influence and help other places because of the
lack of resources and staff.
The school began with a single person who envisioned change for the developing world.
The school gives me an idea for my Spring Action where I want to start a local initiative for
developmental aid.