Tien Ching founded Educating Girls of Rural China in the belief that educating women is the key to a better society. Xing Wen reports.

Studying abroad was a long-standing dream of Ma Feng, but it seemed unattainable for a girl born in a remote village in Yuzhong county in Northwest China's Gansu province. However, in 2008, after taking her college entrance exam, Ma was recommended to the organization Educating Girls of Rural China by her teacher and received 5,000 yuan ($760; 641 euros; ￡570) annually from the organization for the next four years, enabling her to attend college and get a degree.

In the belief that educating women is the key to creating a better society, Chinese-Canadian Tien Ching founded EGRC in 2005, to help impoverished girls from western China gain higher education.

Generally, EGRC provides grants for students' living expenses. Tien believes that guaranteeing the basic necessities for the students enables them to fully enjoy university life.

"If they rush between classes and part-time jobs to make money to pay for their living expenses, they will be outsiders to the colorful life available on campus, as they will not have any time left to join the student union or participate in clubs. Even worse, they might be distracted from their studies," says 65-year-old Tien.

After graduating from China Women's University in Beijing in 2012, Ma worked at a private equity fund in Shanghai for five years, before applying for a loan from EGRC to fulfill her dream of overseas study by undertaking a postgraduate program in finance and investment management at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom in 2016.

Ma describes EGRC as "a warm family" and Tien as "the head of the family" who tries to use all of the resources she has.

Tien guided Ma to participate in various activities, which helped her "broaden the horizon and become clear about her future".

Giving back

Many beneficiaries of EGRC are now looking for ways to give back to the organization. They actively volunteer in fundraising activities and help with updating its website and official WeChat account.

According to Ma, apart from an annual meeting at which the young women whom EGRC is helping meet Tien and extend their contracts for a year, they also have support groups in each city where those with the same rural background share experiences, report school performances and get advice and even used clothes from older ones.

Around 700 girls have had the chance to receive education through the senior middle school sponsorship and university sponsorship programs of EGRC.

In 2012, EGRC began to sponsor female middle school graduates who cannot afford further studies. At that point, Tien launched a summer volunteer teaching program that attracts dozens of alumnae providing mentorship to young students.

Financial hardship takes priority when selecting candidates, rather than their school performance.

Nearly 85 percent of the senior middle school girls she sponsors failed the college entrance examination, according to Tien.

"The exam score is not the only criterion. I want to find other options for them," she says.

Tien's group now has offers from a restaurant franchise called Wagas, which gives the girls an opportunity to work and live in big cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai.

Many young rural women marry early and stay in their hometowns their whole lives. Tien believes that they should go to big cities, gain useful experience and lead an independent life, even though one day they may return to their hometowns.

She says women's independence has two aspects - the economic and the spiritual. The latter can be reached by widening one's knowledge and deepening one's insights.

Concerned that the women might suffer from self-abasement, a sense of frustration or other negative feelings toward city life, EGRC has an emotional support team of 10 teachers who help the young women deal with daily life and work.

"We spare no effort in ensuring their growth and building up their confidence," says Tien. "We have turned to experts from the Academy of Psychology and Behavior at Tianjing Normal University for professional help."

Over the past three years, volunteers who were born or have studied overseas have also joined Tien's group to provide free English lessons in Gansu and Guizhou provinces.

Liu Xiaochun, a graduate of the University of Queensland, has spent eight days in Yuzhong county, Gansu province, as part of an English program co-organized by EGRC and the Australia-China Youth Association.

"I told the girls how I made the life-changing decision to go to study in Australia, how I struggled to understand people when I first arrived in Australia, how I visited Vietnam, Thailand, the United States and made friends with locals. ... Every time when I shared the emotional moments in my life, I could tell from the girls' eyes that they were empowered, or inspired, and so was I," Liu wrote in a post on the group's WeChat account about her experience in Gansu.

"Far beyond English teaching and learning, we went through a journey of discovering ourselves."

Future leaders

John McCallum, Canadian ambassador to China, applauds EGRC's focus on individual development. "The Chinese government has built up an overall framework for educating rural children, which has been getting better over the years. But there's still room for charity groups," he says.

As one of Tien's supporters, he has visited EGRC girls' families in Gansu and hosted charity dinners at the ambassador's residence.

"We are pursuing closer ties with China in many different ways. This is a part of that," he says.

Tien is now developing a scholarship program for rural girls who have potential to be future leaders.

"I will interview the candidates to assess their personal ability and know their expectations, then give those who are qualified the chance to study abroad."

Tien says she hopes that EGRC can flourish sustainably without her, so she is endeavoring to map out everything for the group and the girls.

Speaking of her 12 years of commitment to helping rural girls with their education, Tien says: "I feel so pleased when I witness their changes through being educated, which is the strongest driving force for me."

Contact the writer at [email protected]

(China Daily Africa Weekly 12/01/2017 page20)