OUR MISSION
The Lan Cun Education Project will build, staff, and supply a cafeteria and kitchen at the Lan Cun Primary School, an elementary school located in a very poor, rural community in southern China. The school serves a vast community, and many students must spend several hours a day crossing difficult and dangerous terrain between home and school. To make matters worse, the school has no cafeteria place for the students--everyone must leave the school premises during lunch hours--and so many kids do not return for the second half of the day. The poorest students are undernourished and often must walk the farthest, and as a result, they drop out of school. The kids in Lan Cun are among those living in "extreme poverty," meaning that their families are struggling to live on less than US$1 a day.Your donation will provide hot lunches and a safe place for the kids of Lan Cun to learn and grow.
THE SCHOOL
Lan Cun Primary School is a public school. Every morning, more than 300 students, ages 5 to 8, ford rivers, climb over mountains, and hike dirt paths in often rainy weather to get from home to school. Some walk up to three hours each day, and it is often the poorest students who live farthest away.Students start classes at 7:00 in the morning and then break midday for three hours. Because there is no space or adult available to monitor the students during the lunch hours, everyone must leave school premises during this time. This causes problems for about 150 students who live more than 2 km away from school. Many of them walk home and do not return for the second half of the day. Teachers tell us that by the time classes resume in the afternoon at 2:00, many seats are empty.
To make matters worse, many of these children’s families simply do not have enough money to provide them with adequate nutrition. Some children do not eat during lunchtime, and this affects their ability to concentrate and learn. Recent studies in rural China show that lack of food is impairing development in young children, and in turn contributing to the ever-widening gap between the haves and have nots. With stringent tuition and entrance requirements, China's high schools remain the least accessible in the world.
Lan Cun Primary School depends largely on public funds derived from the local area, which being largely agrarian, cannot generate enough money to pay for even the barest necessities such as chalk. Also, because of the school's remote location, most of the teachers live at the school in dormitories which have only very basic cooking facilities. The teachers there earn an average salary of RMB1200 (less than US$170) per month. The teachers agree that there is a real need for a cafeteria at the school, and they support this Project.
WHAT YOUR DONATION PAYS FOR
Our goal with this Project is to make the biggest, long-term impact with each dollar we raise. Your donations will pay for building and furnishing a cafeteria and kitchen for the school. This permanent structure will be used by students and teachers in the school for many years to come and for many purposes outside of serving lunch.Because students come to school hungry, the money will also pay for kitchen staff, cooking equipment, and food. The money will also provide free lunch boxes to the 150 students who need the most help. Every lunch period, the kitchen staff will be onhand to heat the contents of each student's lunch box and supplement every child's meal with freshly made rice. A donation of just $20 pays for one child to have a warm lunch in the cafeteria for three years.
Project Budget (US Dollars)
Cafeteria and kitchen construction and equipment (stove, microwave, steamer, pans and utensils, sterilizer): $5900
Kitchen staff: $2300
Rice, lunch boxes, and utensils: $2800
Additional funding after initial investment: $2,500 per year to continue covering staff costs and providing hot meals
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Funding Goal: $15,000
If we reach this goal, the school will have a permanent cafeteria and equipment, plus enough to pay for staff salaries, supplies, and rice through 2014, and the Project will have directly impacted more than 800 kids and teachers. With your help getting this program off the ground, the school administration and staff aim to take over the Project and continue to provide hot meals to those students most in need.
OUR PROGRESS
LAN CUN: THE BLUE VILLAGE
Lan Cun is a tiny village, population 4,500, located along the Huang Hua River. The village is nestled deep in the mountains, about seven hours by precarious bus ride from any major city, including Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. Lan Cun means “Blue Village,” a name which comes from the blue lapis buried deep in the mountains. Most of the residents in Lan Cun are Hakka, descendants of a tribe that settled here more than 2,000 years ago.
ABOUT US
The Lan Cun Education Project is organized by two sisters, Tienlon and Tienfong Ho, and our dad, Ken Ho. We wanted to find a way to help improve educational opportunities for children in this rural part of China. We formed the Project as a Donor Advised Fund, managed and administered by Give2Asia, a respected US 501(c)(3) public charity, dedicated to supporting and managing public interest projects throughout Asia. All contributions are tax deductible.Lan Cun has a special place in our family history, as many generations were born there. Ken was one of the few to leave and attend university and ultimately earn a PhD. It was after a visit to Lan Cun in 2008 that we started working on ideas to help more children have an opportunity to grow and succeed. After many discussions with the Lan Cun Primary School, they came up with a way to make a big impact even though we could not make a major capital investment. Together, we came up with this Project. This Project means a lot to us, and we will personally see it through, along with the help of Give2Asia.
DONATION AND TAX INFORMATION
Gifts for Lan Cun Education Project are tax deductible. This is because donations are managed by Give2Asia, a U.S. tax exempt charitable organization (ID# 94-3373670), which chose to sponsor the Project after thoroughly reviewing its goals and feasibility. Give2Asia will never use or sell information provided by donors for any marketing purposes.Online credit card donations made through the Donate links are secure transactions. They are, however, subject to a 2.85% transaction fee charged by Give2Asia's vendor. You can avoid this transaction fee by mailing a check or money order to:
Lan Cun Education Project
Give2Asia
465 California Street, 9th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
Give2Asia
465 California Street, 9th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
Please be sure to write "Lan Cun Education Project" on the check.
Give2Asia can also provide you information on making contributions via wire or securities transfer. The Tienlon, Tienfong, and Ken Ho are covering any additional fees related to the Donor Advised Fund so that 100 percent of your donation will go straight to the students.
Some suggested donation amounts:
Give2Asia can also provide you information on making contributions via wire or securities transfer. The Tienlon, Tienfong, and Ken Ho are covering any additional fees related to the Donor Advised Fund so that 100 percent of your donation will go straight to the students.
Some suggested donation amounts:
- $20 pays for one student to have a hot lunch in the new cafeteria for three years.
- $160 covers the cost of lunch in the cafeteria for the students in each class who walk more than three hours a day through treacherous terrain to get between home and school.
- $320 covers the students in each class who miss the second half of the school day.
- $1000 covers the cost of an entire class, which thanks to you, can now spend less time getting to school and more time in it--learning.
