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Public Services Bolster Youthful Growth

China Today by Zhou Lin, November 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

Letting Love and Trust Flow

In early 2016, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) released its 2015 report on an investigation into college students’ participation in social welfare. It stated that 90 percent of students participated in public services from making donations of cash, goods and blood, to voluntary services. Volunteering is the top choice of most students among all available social welfare works. Fifty-eight percent of students agreed that China’s public welfare undertaking is on the rise, and 35 percent hoped to work in social welfare organizations.

“When we graduate, juniors can follow up. We are also considering market financing to sustain our program.” Xie Feixun remarked that the importance of public services lies in perseverance, and hence advocates encouraging students to accept their responsibilities and let their love and trust flow.

When talking about the program’s future, Xie Feixun spoke of a plan to connect more social resources. For example, they would like to improve the system of foreign volunteer recruitment and voluntary services to give volunteers feedback. They also wish to cooperate with educational organizations, which are expected to inject more funds, or put their courses online for fixed fees. Both business models are accessible only if they generate social values.

Two 19-year-old German boys left a deep impression on the team. They hope to work as full time volunteers in China during their gap year. “We all admire their courage in suspending their life script to pursue the meaning of life. We are deeply moved by their strong will and persistence, the like of which we have never before encountered.”

To realize one’s personal value is a piece of cake, but shouldering social responsibility is not that easy. The ultimate goal of the EGE program is to tempt Chinese young people out of their comfort zones to participate in caring for other peoples of the world. They may thus better understand themselves and the world, and eventually grow up alongside great social changes, Xie Feixun said.

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