Or that's what some people would say. This afternoon marks the start of Spring Break for most Yalies, heading off to adventures of all kinds all around the world. Instead of debauchery on the beach, though, I'm going on a Reach Out Trip trip to Beijing, China.
The spring break and summer service-learning Reach Out trips provide a unique means for integrating academic learning about international development issues with first-hand experience in developing countries. These trips facilitate hands-on participation with organizations abroad attempting to combat the problems faced by people in the developing world, including poverty, environmental degradation, inadequate health care and education services and others.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics' Studies on Chinese Migrant Quality of Life, 49.2% of migrant parents who brought children with them to the cities "had to pay an average registration fee of 1,226 yuan in addition to regular tuition fees." These fees are usually required by urban public schools that accept non-residents. Since rural migrant workers do not have a Beijing hu kou (户口), they are asked to pay fees that they cannot afford. In addition to educational costs, migrant children also face severe discrimination once they enter a Beijing city school. The discomfort that arises from this discrimination, as well as from the difference in income, influences the parents' decision to send their children into the city's school system.
As a result, migrant workers usually send their children to local migrant schools. However, migrant schools are often primitive and lack the resources city school systems have. Poor salaries, nonexistent work benefits and grim career prospects make it difficult for migrant schools to hire and maintain qualified teachers.
My group is volunteering in conjunction with a group from Peking University in Beijing to teach at a migrant school and raise money for their academic supplies. We're both leading simple lectures that we can handle ourselves as non-Chinese speakers (science demos, English tutorials, etc) and leading more in-depth discussions with the translation help of our Peking University partners.
So, it's an adventure--I speak no Chinese and have little idea of what to really expect. It's funny to think that this is supposedly within my realm of expertise (East Asian Studies) but still so far out of my actual body of Japan-centric knowledge.
I'll update you all with how the trip turns out when I get back - here's hoping my intestines survive street vendors. :D
P.S. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that as soon as I get back Stateside I'll be headed to Albany, NY, where the men's hockey team may have progressed to the national play-offs after dominating the ECACHL this season. I'll be conducting the YPMB to cheer them to victory. WAY PUMPED.
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