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JANUARY 27 will mark the 120th birthday of Soong Ching Ling, one of China’s greatest philanthropists. As the wife of the father of the modern Chinese nation, Soong was also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen. She made many significant contributions to China’s social and welfare causes in her lifetime. Though she passed away in 1981, her legacy lives on in a number of grass-roots charitable organizations that continue to help the underprivileged.
Soong at one stage headed the People Relief Administration of China (PRAC), the Red Cross Association of China and the China Welfare Institute. In her commitment to public service, she was very much the “first lady”of early modern China. Zhou Enlai, the first premier of the People’s Republic of China, once described China’s welfare cause as “Madame Sun’s cause.”
Soong remains a symbol of courage in China and has inspired people from all walks of life to take up charitable causes. On her 120th birthday, we are happy to say that the first “first lady’s” lifelong work continues to make a difference to people’s lives.
An Example for All to Follow
Soong Ching Ling was born to a business and missionary family in Shanghai on January 27, 1893. She studied at Wesleyan College for Women in the U.S. State of Georgia before meeting Sun Yat-sen, the leader of China’s 1911 Revolution and founder of Kuomintang (KMT or Nation-alist Party). The two were married on October 25, 1915.
Sun Yat-sen passed away in 1925. As a widow, Soong’s importance in China’s social and political landscape grew even stronger.
Japan launched an all-out war on China and full-scale invasion in 1937. In June the following year, Soong Ching Ling established the China Defense League in Hong Kong, which drummed up support for China’s fight against Japan and provided help to children in war-affected areas. When the war ended the China Defense League was renamed the China Welfare Fund (CWF). A child welfare center and a children’s theater of the arts were set up to provide children with cultural activities and educational and health services.
In August 1950 the CWF was renamed the China Welfare Institute (CWI). Since then it has emphasized studying social causes and implementing new initiatives in maternal and child hygiene, healthcare services and children’s education. It set up the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital and has opened nurseries, kindergartens, a children’s palace and children’s theater. It founded the magazines Children’s Epoch and China Reconstructs (later renamed China Today). The CWI has also maintained a variety of exchanges and cooperative relationships with foundations and organizations around the world. After China began its reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, the CWI set up a television production center for children’s education, the Soong Ching Ling kindergarten, a research and information center, the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation, the Camphor Tree Award(given to individuals who make outstanding contributions to improving maternity care and children’s education and health) and the Soong Ching Ling Scholarships.
In recent years the CWI has expanded the scope of its activities. It established an experimental school to explore a new approach to the nine-year compulsory education model and promote all-round education. It has also set up an experimental nursing home in Shanghai that offers a broad range of in-house activities for seniors to live healthy lifestyles.
Soon after the establishment of the CWI Soong Ching Ling stated that its purpose was not to replace government, but rather set an example for the government to follow. The CWI exists in harmony with government facilities and complements national policy. It is a role model that has, among other things, pioneered the country’s approach to education and imported teachers from the West. Some of its initiatives have been experimental, such as appointing a doctorate degree holder in child psychology from the United States as principal of its kindergarten. In taking a micro approach to the challenges facing Chinese society, the CWI has made a difference on the macro scale.
In the early 1980s, many leaders of foreign governments and political parties came to China to visit. Among the places they saw were CWI Children’s Palace, the site of the Chinese Communist Party’s first national congress and the City of God Temple in Shanghai’s old concession neighborhood. Leaders expressed their support for the philanthropic activities of the CWI.
All for the Children
Care for children had been Madame Sun Yat-sen’s key concern during her lifetime, and this focus has been maintained by the CWI.
In its kindergartens and schools the CWI emphasizes equal opportunity and gives priority to the needs of individual children. In this sense, the schools CWI runs are not dissimilar from the Maria Montessori schools of the West. The learning process in CWI kindergartens and schools is designed to be as interactive as possible. For instance, every child is encouraged to participate in performances at kindergarten music festivals. At each stage, the unique talents of individual children – whether they be in art, science or music – are nurtured in order to build selfconfidence. The number of organizations founded by Soong Ching Ling that target the needs of children is not large. Nevertheless, they occupy a distinct position in childhood education in China. The CWI’s schools are pioneers in many areas of education.
Soong had a personal hand in the founding of many CWI schools and institutions. In 1947, she set up the CWF Children’s Art Theater. In 1949, she established Shanghai’s first boarding nursery. In 1950, she set up New China’s first periodical for children, Children’s Epoch. In 1952, Soong set up New China’s first maternal and infant health hospital, the CWI International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, with 100,000 roubles she received as part of a peace prize from the USSR. In 1953, she personally chose the site for New China’s first comprehensive youth center for extracurricular activities, known as the CWI Children’s Palace.
The CWI has also taken on the task of training kindergarten teachers from around the country. Training falls into three categories. The first involves budding teachers from poorer families. Tuition costs are covered by the CWI through charitable donations. More than 8,700 people have benefited from this program. The second category is advanced training in teaching theory and practice; 1,000 people have graduated from this course since its inception. The third training stream is sponsored by the Ministry of Education and aims to attract the best-performing kindergarten teachers in the country. To date, 400 outstanding educators have gone through this program and headed back to their home provinces, where they are responsible for both instructing children and spreading their knowledge and skills to other teachers.
The CWI has six decades of experiences in running kindergartens and schools. Its accumulated expertise is invaluable as China seeks to raise the overall standards of education across the country. CWI’s Shanghai schools in particular are at the forefront of China’s education.
Every summer for the past decade, teachers working in CWI kindergartens have been sent to those in less developed regions such as Xinjiang, Ningxia, and Tibet. In this way the CWI is taking tangible steps to improve the educational level of these regions.
Helping Those in Need
The CWI and the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation are separate entities, but they have cooperated extensively throughout their existence. In total, they have jointly raised and spent RMB 10 million in povertystricken areas of China. A portion of this money was used to reduce infant mortality in the countryside. Due to poor transportation, low income and traditional birth customs, only about 10 percent of pregnant women give birth in hospitals in some rural areas. This leads to higher mortality rates, not just for infants, but for mothers also. To tackle this issue, the CWI initiated its Mother and Infant Safety Project, which aims to raise women’s awareness of the benefits of hospital birth, train local midwives and set up maternity and infant healthcare centers. The project has already made a difference in China’s western regions.
In recent times, the CWI has also supported the educational needs of the Yi ethnic minority in Sichuan Province’s Daliang Mountain Range. Some villages there consist of as few as 10 families, and the teachers are scarce because of the harsh environment, remoteness and low pay. Children have to walk from the mountains to school, some up to seven hours a day. CWI staff visited the area, and spent several days with locals conducting an investigation into their specific needs. The suggestions they subsequently drafted were adopted by the Ministry of Education, and have improved children’s’ access to teachers in the area.
Soong Ching Ling once remarked that the essence of meaningful charity is seeing where help is needed and then going to that place. In recent years, seniors have been in need of assistance. China is aging faster than ever before. Seniors, many of whom live on meager pensions, struggle to make ends meet. The country is growing wealthier and its social welfare system is improving, but some seniors still fall through the cracks. CWI, seeing this problem, has begun running nursing homes for seniors.
Some are perplexed at the CWI’s move to include nursing homes in its activities. Its traditional focus has always been women and children, and it has earned a good reputation for its work with those groups. But there is no reason why the plight of seniors should not also be addressed by the CWI.
In traditional Chinese social philosophy, children are deemed the most important generation – even more so than seniors. Therefore the traditional focus of families, society and elders is on protecting and supporting the young. The CWI thinks it is time to reassess. As Soong said, see where help is needed and go to that place. And right now in China, it’s seniors who are in need of help.
The CWI’s first nursing home was set up as an experimental center to look at ways to improve residents’lives. The emphasis is on a scientific understanding of the needs of the retired. The home employed sociology graduates from Fudan University and the Shanghai University of Science and Technology.
The CWI’s first nursing home has been in operation for four years now, and has built itself a reputation as one of the country’s leading homes in terms of seniors’ quality of life.
The CWI nursing home aims to follow the example set by the institute’s schools and share their expertise with the government and other centers for aged care. It is also looking further afield to other countries in order to learn from their experiences.
Soong at one stage headed the People Relief Administration of China (PRAC), the Red Cross Association of China and the China Welfare Institute. In her commitment to public service, she was very much the “first lady”of early modern China. Zhou Enlai, the first premier of the People’s Republic of China, once described China’s welfare cause as “Madame Sun’s cause.”
Soong remains a symbol of courage in China and has inspired people from all walks of life to take up charitable causes. On her 120th birthday, we are happy to say that the first “first lady’s” lifelong work continues to make a difference to people’s lives.
An Example for All to Follow
Soong Ching Ling was born to a business and missionary family in Shanghai on January 27, 1893. She studied at Wesleyan College for Women in the U.S. State of Georgia before meeting Sun Yat-sen, the leader of China’s 1911 Revolution and founder of Kuomintang (KMT or Nation-alist Party). The two were married on October 25, 1915.
Sun Yat-sen passed away in 1925. As a widow, Soong’s importance in China’s social and political landscape grew even stronger.
Japan launched an all-out war on China and full-scale invasion in 1937. In June the following year, Soong Ching Ling established the China Defense League in Hong Kong, which drummed up support for China’s fight against Japan and provided help to children in war-affected areas. When the war ended the China Defense League was renamed the China Welfare Fund (CWF). A child welfare center and a children’s theater of the arts were set up to provide children with cultural activities and educational and health services.
In August 1950 the CWF was renamed the China Welfare Institute (CWI). Since then it has emphasized studying social causes and implementing new initiatives in maternal and child hygiene, healthcare services and children’s education. It set up the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital and has opened nurseries, kindergartens, a children’s palace and children’s theater. It founded the magazines Children’s Epoch and China Reconstructs (later renamed China Today). The CWI has also maintained a variety of exchanges and cooperative relationships with foundations and organizations around the world. After China began its reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, the CWI set up a television production center for children’s education, the Soong Ching Ling kindergarten, a research and information center, the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation, the Camphor Tree Award(given to individuals who make outstanding contributions to improving maternity care and children’s education and health) and the Soong Ching Ling Scholarships.
In recent years the CWI has expanded the scope of its activities. It established an experimental school to explore a new approach to the nine-year compulsory education model and promote all-round education. It has also set up an experimental nursing home in Shanghai that offers a broad range of in-house activities for seniors to live healthy lifestyles.
Soon after the establishment of the CWI Soong Ching Ling stated that its purpose was not to replace government, but rather set an example for the government to follow. The CWI exists in harmony with government facilities and complements national policy. It is a role model that has, among other things, pioneered the country’s approach to education and imported teachers from the West. Some of its initiatives have been experimental, such as appointing a doctorate degree holder in child psychology from the United States as principal of its kindergarten. In taking a micro approach to the challenges facing Chinese society, the CWI has made a difference on the macro scale.
In the early 1980s, many leaders of foreign governments and political parties came to China to visit. Among the places they saw were CWI Children’s Palace, the site of the Chinese Communist Party’s first national congress and the City of God Temple in Shanghai’s old concession neighborhood. Leaders expressed their support for the philanthropic activities of the CWI.
All for the Children
Care for children had been Madame Sun Yat-sen’s key concern during her lifetime, and this focus has been maintained by the CWI.
In its kindergartens and schools the CWI emphasizes equal opportunity and gives priority to the needs of individual children. In this sense, the schools CWI runs are not dissimilar from the Maria Montessori schools of the West. The learning process in CWI kindergartens and schools is designed to be as interactive as possible. For instance, every child is encouraged to participate in performances at kindergarten music festivals. At each stage, the unique talents of individual children – whether they be in art, science or music – are nurtured in order to build selfconfidence. The number of organizations founded by Soong Ching Ling that target the needs of children is not large. Nevertheless, they occupy a distinct position in childhood education in China. The CWI’s schools are pioneers in many areas of education.
Soong had a personal hand in the founding of many CWI schools and institutions. In 1947, she set up the CWF Children’s Art Theater. In 1949, she established Shanghai’s first boarding nursery. In 1950, she set up New China’s first periodical for children, Children’s Epoch. In 1952, Soong set up New China’s first maternal and infant health hospital, the CWI International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, with 100,000 roubles she received as part of a peace prize from the USSR. In 1953, she personally chose the site for New China’s first comprehensive youth center for extracurricular activities, known as the CWI Children’s Palace.
The CWI has also taken on the task of training kindergarten teachers from around the country. Training falls into three categories. The first involves budding teachers from poorer families. Tuition costs are covered by the CWI through charitable donations. More than 8,700 people have benefited from this program. The second category is advanced training in teaching theory and practice; 1,000 people have graduated from this course since its inception. The third training stream is sponsored by the Ministry of Education and aims to attract the best-performing kindergarten teachers in the country. To date, 400 outstanding educators have gone through this program and headed back to their home provinces, where they are responsible for both instructing children and spreading their knowledge and skills to other teachers.
The CWI has six decades of experiences in running kindergartens and schools. Its accumulated expertise is invaluable as China seeks to raise the overall standards of education across the country. CWI’s Shanghai schools in particular are at the forefront of China’s education.
Every summer for the past decade, teachers working in CWI kindergartens have been sent to those in less developed regions such as Xinjiang, Ningxia, and Tibet. In this way the CWI is taking tangible steps to improve the educational level of these regions.
Helping Those in Need
The CWI and the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation are separate entities, but they have cooperated extensively throughout their existence. In total, they have jointly raised and spent RMB 10 million in povertystricken areas of China. A portion of this money was used to reduce infant mortality in the countryside. Due to poor transportation, low income and traditional birth customs, only about 10 percent of pregnant women give birth in hospitals in some rural areas. This leads to higher mortality rates, not just for infants, but for mothers also. To tackle this issue, the CWI initiated its Mother and Infant Safety Project, which aims to raise women’s awareness of the benefits of hospital birth, train local midwives and set up maternity and infant healthcare centers. The project has already made a difference in China’s western regions.
In recent times, the CWI has also supported the educational needs of the Yi ethnic minority in Sichuan Province’s Daliang Mountain Range. Some villages there consist of as few as 10 families, and the teachers are scarce because of the harsh environment, remoteness and low pay. Children have to walk from the mountains to school, some up to seven hours a day. CWI staff visited the area, and spent several days with locals conducting an investigation into their specific needs. The suggestions they subsequently drafted were adopted by the Ministry of Education, and have improved children’s’ access to teachers in the area.
Soong Ching Ling once remarked that the essence of meaningful charity is seeing where help is needed and then going to that place. In recent years, seniors have been in need of assistance. China is aging faster than ever before. Seniors, many of whom live on meager pensions, struggle to make ends meet. The country is growing wealthier and its social welfare system is improving, but some seniors still fall through the cracks. CWI, seeing this problem, has begun running nursing homes for seniors.
Some are perplexed at the CWI’s move to include nursing homes in its activities. Its traditional focus has always been women and children, and it has earned a good reputation for its work with those groups. But there is no reason why the plight of seniors should not also be addressed by the CWI.
In traditional Chinese social philosophy, children are deemed the most important generation – even more so than seniors. Therefore the traditional focus of families, society and elders is on protecting and supporting the young. The CWI thinks it is time to reassess. As Soong said, see where help is needed and go to that place. And right now in China, it’s seniors who are in need of help.
The CWI’s first nursing home was set up as an experimental center to look at ways to improve residents’lives. The emphasis is on a scientific understanding of the needs of the retired. The home employed sociology graduates from Fudan University and the Shanghai University of Science and Technology.
The CWI’s first nursing home has been in operation for four years now, and has built itself a reputation as one of the country’s leading homes in terms of seniors’ quality of life.
The CWI nursing home aims to follow the example set by the institute’s schools and share their expertise with the government and other centers for aged care. It is also looking further afield to other countries in order to learn from their experiences.