Summer Volunteers
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Volunteer Meeting |
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Jishou English/Chinese Summer Camp
The Jishou English Summer Camp has been set up by Jishou University and Jishou Number One High School to improve the English levels of minority and poor students in the Jishou area while helping foreign volunteers to improve their knowledge of Chinese language and culture (calligraphy, art, and music).
Jishou, with close to 300,000 inhabitants, is the capital of the Autonomous Region west of Hunan. The city has little industrial development and thus has cleaner air than most cities in China. The English/Chinese summer camp runs between July 10 and August 15 every year. The school will provide housing and food and the university will provide emergency health care to volunteers who come to teach English during the summer. The school will also provide Chinese teachers for those English teachers who want to learn Chinese.
Who can volunteer?
Any college students or exceptional high school students can apply for a volunteer position.
Where will volunteers live and what are the conditions of the housing?
All volunteers will live in a teachers' dorm or students' dorm inside the school. Room and board are free. Accommodation facilities will include a shower, a toilet, and a furnished room. The school will have an Internet-ready computer for volunteers to use. There are many Internet bars in China.
If some volunteers prefer to live with a local Chinese family, this can be arranged.
Is medical insurance provided?
The Jishou schools will provide emergency medical care as they do for their local teachers. University students are advised to buy student travel insurance which is less than $50 per year.
What kind of medical care is available?
There are both Western and Chinese hospitals in Jishou.
Will teachers use a standard text book or be expected to create their own curriculum?
Standard text books will be provided. Teachers are allowed to make changes. Many classes will focus on oral English.
What will be the cost?
The only cost for the volunteers would be the international airfare. It is advised for volunteers to bring at least $200 just in case some emergency occurs. The team will teach English and travel in some relatively rich areas for two weeks (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou). The money made will be enough for the cost of domestic travel in China.
All volunteers are encouraged to apply for a Bowman Travel Grant . or call 1-800-40-study
How long?
It depends. Some can come for two to three weeks, while others can stay for five to six weeks (July 15-August 23). We can arrange for you to stay longer if you prefer.
What can volunteers gain from the camp?
The volunteers will help to change the lives of poor and minority students. Most of the kids have never been to a summer camp in their life. The local government will issue a community service certificate in recognition of the volunteers' efforts (200 hours of community service).
What can the Chinese learn from the volunteers?
Through English teaching and interaction, Chinese will have a better understanding of other people. They will pay more attention to the basics of human dignity -- the right to say what they feel, the right to worship freely, for women to be treated as human beings and equal partners. The values that we enjoy so easily here, and the rights that we enjoy so easily here, we hope that Chinese young will have them soon."
Anyone who is interested in this job, please Please send an email at qinghong@hawaii.edu and a $25 processing fee to:
EAFI (attn. Qing Hong Wang)
3356 Francis St.
Honolulu HI 96815-4142 USA.
