Miss Becky's Blog

Foreign Teachers Seeded SUN PROJECT

SUNSHINE Project visit to Gao Chun Long Xiao School for deaf children, March 13, 2004:

This Nanjing University journalism student, holds a flower made by the deaf students which was presented to her and the name tags that we used ... note the "smiley face". She wrote the following article about the SUNSHINE Project and our visit for a Chinese Newspaper. She also did the English translation for us, which follows:

Foreign Teachers Seeded “Sun Project”

The Gaochun Special Education School was in the sunshine on Mar. 13th. The students were welcoming the “Sunshine Deputies”, including American teachers Ken Mitchell, Becky Mitchell, Mr. Nielson, Mrs. Claton, and the staff and students from Nanjing University and Nanjing Foreign Language School. People gathered and held a party in the school hall. On the stage, children were singing Seed A Sun by sign language: “I have a wonderful wish, wish I could seed a sun.” Off the stage, the “Sunshine Project” has seeded the sun of love and hope here.

“Sunshine Project” was initiated on Christmas Day, 2002. Associates of “China Teachers Program” of “David M. Kennnedy Center for International Studies” Mr. Ken Mitchell and his wife Becky Mitchell, Mr. Richard Criddle and his wife JoAn Criddle with their Chinese students discussed about doing something for the Chinese children. They raised an amount of money and donated it to the Gaochun Special Education School with the help of NJU teachers Hua Weina, Yang Jinhong, Jin Jian and Gao Fenghua. This benevolence was named “Sunshine Project”. Thanks to the project, over 50 thousand Yuan and some educational devices such as projector, copier, and scanter have been donated to the school; a little Reading Corner has been built up to facilitate the students’ study; 18 students who were initially too poor to go to school could go back to the classroom again. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, Mr. and Mrs. Criddle also called for help from their relatives and friends after they went back to U.S.A last year. And now more and more warm-hearted people gathered into the “sunshine”. Liu Cui’er, a Hong Kong doctor and many students of Nanjing University and Nanjing Foreign Language School have participated into this activity.

Li Xin, a student majoring in Business Administration at Nanjing University, drew 200 yuan from the National Scholarship she has won and contributed it to the “Sunshine Project”. Zhu Guang, from the Mathematics Department at Nanjing University, has come to the school for the third time. He and his classmate Kong Linhong helped the students set up ADSL to facilitate their surfing the Internet. The students in Class 10, Grade 2 at the Nanjing Foreign Language School has brought lots of books and 400 yuan, and also with their well prepared entertainment programs.

In the hall, every student was wearing a card printed a smiling face and a smiling face ring, which were both made by Miss Becky. She hoped the students could communicate by smiling. Beginning with smile, “Sunshine Deputies” brought out their gifts such as candies and books; their partners presented their self-made Lucky Stars and Paper Roses. When the party reached its peak, Miss Becky played snowballs with the children. The children were so happy, smile on their checks, and sunshine in the hall.

“I love children very much,” said Miss Becky with a smile, a colorful hand made necklace around her neck and several paintings and calligraphic works in her hands. Those were all gifts the disabled students made for her. Miss Beck said, “I will continue to help them till they graduate and become a person useful to the society.” She showed the photos of her family to the students Yang Hui and Lv Xiaohong and said, “I have seven grandchildren, and now I have the eighth and the ninth child. You are the members of our family.” Yang Hui and Lv Xiaohong received the photos and happily took photos with their “foreign grandmother”. Yang Hui expressed “Thank you” and “I love you” by sigh languages. Yang Hui, 20, once wanted to enter the high school but quitted because of financial problems. Now she fortunately became one of the objects of the “Sunshine Project”. She smiled and told her wish, “I want to enter the Nanjing Special Education college to major in designing.” Her dream is to become a fashion designer.

The “Sunshine Project” not only sent sunshine to the disabled students, but left sunshine in the heart of the participators. Zhou Yin, a Politics major at Nanjing University who’s kept in touch with Yang Hui for almost a year, said, “They seldom communicate with the outside world and lack confidence. I hope to spend more time with them and help to build up their confidence.” Wang Jianni, from the Nanjing Foreign Language School said, “I think this activity is meaningful. It makes you learn to help others when you live under a relatively normal condition.”

Mr. Ken also expressed his admiration to the students, “If I could not speak and listen, I would not know what I should do. But they are all so happy and active. I truly admire them.” He expected more people to participate into this project, “I’m happy to see so many students come this year. Maybe there will be more next year. It’s true that every city and every place have this kind of need and we can’t help everyone, but it’s better to help one than to do nothing.”

The “Sunshine Project” has seeded a sun in the Gaochun Special Education School, more care and help from the society are expected, as was sung by the children in the Seed A Sun, “It’s enough to seed one sun, one sun is enough; it will grow many, many suns. And every corner of the world will become warm and bright.”