The Migrant School Project - Shanghai China
Mission Statement:
In Spring 2012, a group of middle school students from Europe travelled to Shanghai China to help renovate parts of the Zhulin Primary Migrant School in Pudong. Marcello Rossi, a middle school student, initiated the project after having taught English at this migrant school for a number of years, with the vision to help improve the educational environment and resources for this primary school of 800 students. The students attending Zhulin Primary School are primarily children of migrant workers, who are not allowed access to the public schooling system in Shanghai because they do not have Shanghai "hukou" (a residency permit) granted to only official residents of the City. Therefore, through the support of private funding and minimal government support, the children of these migrant workers attend Migrant Schools. The migrant schools are in need of more resources to maintain the school as well as support educational resources.
Hence, during the academic school year 2011-2012, Marcello and his school friends at the European School of Brussels worked collectively to raise money and awareness about the Zhulin Primary Migrant School through bake sales, fried rice sales, t-shirts sales, and letter writing campaigns. The team of 10 students successfully raised 12,000 USD, which was used to paint a facade of the school as well as to renovate the bathrooms for these 800 students with running water and a solid infrastructure. The students, who each privately funded their own "mission" to China, dedicated their Easter holidays to re-painting the main facade of the school, alongside Chinese students from the migrant school and local Shanghai public schools.
This project was pursued in the spirit of "non sibi" (not for self) to work together with students from very different cultural backgrounds toward a common goal as well as to promote friendship, cultural exchange and betterment for a community.
The news broadcaster EURONEWS decided to document the migrant school project, airing the story on live TV broadcasted throughout Europe and other parts of the world- please see the video below.
Marcello intends to continue developing this project to improve the educational environment for the Zhulin Primary School, and would welcome more students from China, Europe and the US (Marcello is now a 9th grader at Phillips Andover Academy in the US), to get involved a make a difference.
The next project planned with the Zhulin Primary Migrant School is technology-focused - to equip 12 classrooms with computer equipment and technology to access teaching resources from the internet, and thereby raising the quality of education with teaching materials and information not otherwise available nor affordable to this school.
With the expansion of this project, we appreciate your support through donations (see donation info page). Read through the following pages of our website and see what we have accomplished, and stay tuned for the next project.
Contact info if you want more information and/or are interested to participate:
Marcello Rossi - [email protected]
EURONEWS BROADCAST - Video of our renovation project completed in April 2012
PHOTOS OF THE ZHULIN MIGRANT SCHOOL - PUDONG, CHINA (PRIOR TO RENOVATION)
For more detailed information on the background of the Renovation of the Zhulin Primary Migrant School Project, please click onto the YouTube videos below explaining our project in more detail.
Part 1 of the Initiation Presentation Speech by Marcello Rossi is to the left.
Part 2 of the Initiation Presentation Speech by Marcello Rossi is to the right.
Part 1 of the Initiation Presentation Speech by Marcello Rossi is to the left.
Part 2 of the Initiation Presentation Speech by Marcello Rossi is to the right.
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