Tales of struggles & triumphs in China's poorest places

[Music] hello and welcome to fighting poverty a special program of world insight fighting poverty is a global cause and in China there are still more than 80 million people that are leaving under the poverty line every one of them has a story to tell and every one of them have different reasons why they are still in poverty that is why we are travelling here in the southern part of Gansu Province in the interior part of China to meet with some of them and hear how hard they are struggling against poverty picturesque agon su lies between the Tibet and lowest plateaus a land kissed by the yellow river boasting a stretch of the ancient Silk Road in Asian times it was a key strategic outpost beneath the beautiful landscape however it is one of the prized places compared to the rest of China the rural population of Gansu lives on limited land resources most of them have become migrant workers away for work only the oldest and the youngest still remain poverty have gripped their lives we went to visit a family of three generations living in poverty in Baker County on the southern part of the province great grandma grandpa and the youngest shared in a primary school girl once I walked into their home I understand immediately the complex feelings behind the poverty - I'll get your Baja she died la okay jump engine down yeah would you tell the Connie issue I'm your heartbeat girl sure you are a hell cheated can you go home oh yeah sure Oh jr. shoulder macho sure too short at the heads are tied to show you hook them now so the show ran you hold your bat a locator chakra July Street I Oh Oh Sheila - ahh hmm ohh haa here the years in the Baja don't you mom if it was you or that trip I hear that Charlie she stretches your tire not a pig in your choice yes oh ho I thought I hated your chair mmm Nihon mangano ma even died a gigantic white jade photo cry yeah young hyah you know the guy Tiffany she she put oh yeah yeah yeah she's on me on top of haja job sequestration necklace yeah yeah yeah yeah tada Cheeta College in Yuma I'm JJ I'm Georgie human Jimmy Shailaja unionization ta untoasted on you - Anita well are you even giving me ah what's your name your name in person how old are you mmm cap ah photo booth wall congedo taught me are not any food plot structure usually your whole system on washing machine well your hook so car - yeah me out cause I see carpaccio never failed AHA do good so far if I took into chili water hotel la salento don't shower ha ha I shot - it totally I saw a visa but I a she showed that haha oh yeah I used to be a hero di sha sha sha patashnik turtle is a new photo what yeah Punto gotcha oh yeah - might a cheap one ha kasi idiot L thought you went first yeah that's again you ha ha ha nice is that daddy Shh in Kenya to Delhi you're still your big meal little tricky choice yet that's a Mach 1 sure what I Iike too sure what the lot lock in that let me go teach ya dollar dinara trashy job shall go shop Papa mama Papa little Paola comes out looking like that oh you say thank you doctor what so and I said I'll show her to her hotel Josiah Sher wallah kind of England in Via Dolorosa my barrio mm where's our George I thought you hold your dog will pass since I'm here that job retire mmm potential working for uh hi also Java sure so show me shooting t-shirts at alley seafood so far by Johnny bass is Alicia Alton ten MA I'm sure Johnny the candelabra you let you that the shop is that they are so Beca sahaja position sofrito gardenia nah sure yo Papa mama yo shin jungle Allah Yama where's my son yeah so no wait sorry that's a great idea is it home quick in here how beautiful we let you know go unicorn under some banner oh don't you count dad but Julian is a tough girl after our talk she took me quite further into the mountains where her family owns a small piece of land there are quite a number of kids like Julian in her village I spent the whole afternoon and evening with them that day they went to the same school cycle County Central Primary School [Music] the next morning after a few hours on the road it was already noon before we finally reached the school gate this is one of those typical primary schools in the interior China 1000 students studying here coming in 6 different levels and grades and this is the noon time for them new is free to the students thanks to the government subsidies to make sure the kids will not go hungry anymore while in school and I have life with you right yeah some stir fried onions Chinese cabbage it's important nice lunch yeah after enjoy lunch with the students over here I'm gonna meet some of the teachers three young volunteers in rode from all over China by a program called treat for China among them reaching a young woman who returned to China a year ago after finishing her graduate school with an American University do you have class in the afternoon yes I do okay what time four o'clock in the afternoon yes can i secretively drop in in your class oh yeah can I do that terrific okay let's enjoy lunch for now okay I went with reaching in the afternoon to a calligraphy class in math class I eventually ended up in her English class half the class doing calligraphy have the class doing reading yeah sometimes they control they haven't finished their homework today I see to Hong Kong next class is where points right over there okay it's second grade I do in class one great too [Music] [Music] the young teacher who we met eating is to give an English class later in the afternoon class to grade five so let's get in I try to apply the seat I think I'm gonna sit here in the middle of the students these students were quite nice they're not shy at all I didn't expect it there must be a lot of communication going on between them and their teachers [Music] class begins good afternoon everyone sit down how many my senior woman I shall finish it see da play Holi yeah you'll need you cook our last two English class are you ready yeah okay read aloud the work on my language that feed on events let me enter your heart chicken athlete our young wonderful can't I'm sorry pink way down oh very good sit down our number - yeah - ha who can read home tea on counter oh wait baby not very good homes our equator who remembers just a consumer be right don't say they are don't think the back come on yo feed out how I got to the music yeah you mess with ya call the sheriff is here you'll be oh yeah I say see sing offense Allah what are they doing come to Kashima there's your mom ah he'll say that in English summer sure how much I met him drop the see whose picture is either can I tell you in your home and you don't pressure toke any shade up cool picture it is to say the top yeah which I mislead to say dr. Lee gives you Garcia yo-yo and the dog not to show what side am I looking for some cool job huh huh just to say hey what do idea pushing me some here terbutaline off illogical me that who are these actual I think I'm gonna show games ah six trip over to the hamburger hamburger shake fuqua I want that new gorilla look at their finger not how this what's this hamburger hotdog Shula hotdog no wait sir they are now trying to write down I let her that they was headin to the future later this is a story that is supposed to reflect a year's life in school I tried to look around and it seems that it doesn't want to look at it there must be a lot of secrets there it's wonderful that they're learning about the ways to communicate later in this regard I'm searching a lot of them seem to have a lot to say because they're all very busy I don't know what kind of letter I will write with two reaching class is over goodbye everyone [Music] we go okay I hope dr. Monteiro document for your mouth and house [Music] [Music] [Applause] Thunderball class thank you a group of class I show you how to speak bag full of letters your students wrote letters what are those like [Music] this is a letter from a student who just transferred to the school last year so she came at the time at the same time as I came she wrote when I first came here I wasn't familiar with the place and the first lesson from my English teacher that's so sweet they are very sweetness took them everyone who got a lot of letters yeah what is it like last class first time your students yeah so you taught them for a year this is our last night I think they've changed a lot when I came here they couldn't really read aloud very shy at that time but now how great they were even in front of in front of me and even in front of our camera camera it's pretty unbelievable but I show you a little bit emotional ID and I could see the chain needed a moment to calm down I reflect she has a deep emotional bond with her students at the end of the semester it was hard to say goodbye she is a strong-minded young woman who stayed in the village a whole year cut off from her Metropolitan Life and here eventually I got to sit down with her in a quiet corner the last time I was in your class I look around everybody maybe because the camera was in depth so diligent I didn't expect that because I you know in a primary school everyone what it would do have their little mind go off a little bit from time to time but it was quite amazing these kids worked really hard most of them did I tell you why well it may sound like showing off but I think they liked my English class that's what they really thought I'm gonna do yeah I think you might think English is really far away from their life but to be honest to most of my students English is their favorite subject like it's not that hard compared with math and they could feel the sense of achievement in learning English and because I always trying to bring happiness and joy to my classroom I think they enjoy being here even though they would not concern that they're not concerned about why am i learning English if I if I'm not going to you something but I think they are enjoying the process of learning and that's very valuable to me your ass class you are reviewing some of the classes and homework you've given to them earlier I noticed that one of them is about the western food teach them how to pronounce those words at what those are about hamburgers sandwiches fried chicken but you know the kids who are not reacting as actively as let's say they were doing morning exercises you know try to learn how to say this we're having lunch having dinner there seems to be a disconnect between the real life and what you taught them particularly at least for that specific for those specific words I don't know if you noticed that yeah I have so weighted to that that's the exactly the reason why I brought my kitchen into the classroom to let them know what it is like a Hamburg what a hamburger looks like what a sandwich looks like and I hope that they could taste it and actually you know very it's very interesting that in the last class they wrote the letters to me about their most unforgettable class during the school year and half of the students wrote down the lesson that I was teaching them hamburgers and sandwiches Wow yeah it's very shocking to a lot of people I guess it would say why um they said it it was very interesting and before that they only know that the English words are only vocabulary that appears on the textbooks but in that lesson they know it's real it's very real I could touch it I to see how it was made and I could taste it and that's real life experience even though I had one boy grab the most part of it well they were watch know it it's also very real but you know that's one thing the other thing is when I say heavy is that on the one hand you believe education is going through alleviate all the poverty by the same time it is not you who is the only factor playing an impact in your life it's a lot of other factors as well meanwhile in class the one that I just mentioned for example about sandwich and also hamburgers you see this curiosity but you also realize that the reason for this curiosity is their lack of access to these materials to these foods I mean as a teacher how do you react to that not in class but you know we'll go back to your dorm little room just inside the canvas how do you check digest that every day it's very hard but I always believe that I'm planting the feet in their heart and maybe one day I mean one day it will grow and it will bloom it will grow to be a tall tree or whatever but I believe that life is going to be beautiful because I know what's the I am planting and I believe that process I know a lot of people are talking about poverty alleviation um I think education is definitely part of the methods to do that um although it will be a very long process because you cannot see how you're the seed that you plant grow in one day it may be five years it may be ten years but I do believe that sometime someday it will grow but once again I want to ask you that question of that mentioned earlier which is you know how are you going to digest it because this is not a process that you yourself is the only one that's going to have it in their lives they receive signals messages coming from all over from outside school in the market when they go to the streets when they go back to their villages when they manage to maybe one day visit their parents in the cities so what you have shaped for them proactive reacting being optimistic will it work I think it well I I still believe that well I know that they will encounter many challenges sometimes I ask myself what will happen when they go to middle school will they still remember what what I taught them in grammar school will that work sometimes I question myself but if there's still one opportunity that it could work I would grab it and I would I would not let myself I would not let myself just go and to see that happen so I'm glad to be part of it even though I might not be the one who will see that day but I would be very grateful that I could I could be part of it you are here because you're part of the teach for China program yes and you volunteer to be in that role but it's mainly for young people to join particular those freshly graduated from universities whether in China or overseas yeah to join and teach in China's interior areas two years at least yeah two-year program but once you're here life is very different yeah how did you adjust from the very beginning Wow I mean you're a long story Eva you're a city girl yeah your family will come in for at least the middle class yeah and then you went to st. Louise you know get to know the United States get the Graduate School done coming back um what is this adjusting like for you well just to jump out of your comfort zone every time I tell myself what was it like at the very beginning it was hard you know I used to shower every day but it's it's definitely not possible here yeah and carry solar energized right yeah solar energy I don't know whether and here I have to share my very already very small dorm room with another a teacher and every every other part of my life it's like went new beginning your hair was here yeah I was here big boy haha but you never get it back up well the real reason is that I've never found a good place to get it to cut so just let it go it takes you an hour one day almost to travel to really to the big cities right mm-hmm like it would take me three hours to get to the town mm-hmm let alone the city yeah so just forget it yeah yeah I think now I'm enjoying I'm enjoying the environment I mean I'm familiar with my daily life now so nice shoes too ha ha well my Lobby they take to deliver here like seven to ten days into the school yeah into the village into the village and then you go and pick it up yeah yeah how do you compare your life with your peers let's just say who graduated at the same time with you from st. Louise yeah I think I lose some of the life experiences that they could have but I also gained more they're probably in consulting firms or Investment Banking oh but they sleepless haha don't worry more and I think I'm happier here I don't have to worry about money I don't have I don't have to worry about the traffic or or you know just the city the city life and you want to continue yes I do I still have one year to go in the and after that I still want to be a teacher in mainly school also in a village area I see but your parents have shown this is a loser because to them their generation your Asia probably it's the time to think about family life time for the future yeah I'm working on that I am really am I think when nine when I am growing my parents are growing too they are being more understanding and supporting they actually visited me last month I think that's a signal of them accepting my life and my job how do they like it well they did not like every minute of the journey but I think in the end they enjoy that what do they enjoy the most I will do that it's like the vows I took them to the village where my students live and they have lunch with my students at their home and it was really sweet the parents of the grandparents made noodles the local food for my parents and they were talking even though in different dialects but they were trying very hard they were really trying to understand each other and that's very cute actually yeah it is this time it is the change it's wonderful that you and some of your peers volunteer to teach in the poverty-stricken areas but I need other hand have you ever thought about it and you are here only for only two years but the kids stay here probably their whole life is it fair oh it depends on how we see fairness how do you see it I think it's giving them the opportunity the equality of opportunity like everybody has a chance in this in his or her life everybody deserves that so I'm here even though I will leave in two years and while you're actually from now but more people will come and they will take over my job and they will continue what I do here so I actually don't worry what people what happens after I leave and I go but in questioning about these possibilities or these methods suggesting that one teacher stay with one school for two years time to adjust getting along getting into the situation time to leave so they argue whether it's about enriching the lives like teachers like you rather than really enriching the lives on a consistent basis for the children here on the other hand there's also a difference between you and the local teachers you come in from say Louie's been to the United States coming from big cities children are fascinated but the local teachers are being left here with the regard from the children as if they were inferior and they were not as fascinating as you guys so people also wonder whether that is fair or not if you think I think I've never I never wanted to let them feel inferior to whether me or other fascinating people in the city I think I want them to be that person who they think is fascinating so oh I think I'm opening a window for them to let them know what the other what the outer world looks like with other children for the children if they think that's fascinating I would encourage them to pursue that why not why not give it a try I mean if you say that they don't have the access to keep going oh I say after I leave other people will come and a lot of people were offered different resources for them and I would not let that opportunity go and I would not just stay here and do nothing so I would still try and the other question about the difference between me and the local teachers I think we are here and we are teaching the students in our way and that's also interaction between us and the local teachers I think we are learning from each other they have very good class managing skills and we have some new teaching methods and we are interacting as well and that's also a diversity to the school I think a good school is a diverse school in the end so that's how I proceed that at the end of the day do you think your students will enjoy better their lives that even you do well I hope that and I believe most of them can feel the happiness that they could get from the learning and from being with us being with teacher and being in school and I want to give them the sense of achievement and I think that could accompany them for a longer time mmm what are you telling them about money hmm well sometimes this is an extremely poor area mm-hmm oh they are still very young and it actually doesn't take too much money to come to school now because the education is tuition free and they have other stipends from the government such as the lunch and the breakfast so I would tell them to use their money wisely even though it's not a big amount of money um I want to I want them to learn how to manage their financial earnings from a very young age and so after that when they grow up even when they go into the cities when they do have more money they would use them more wisely at the end of their you have to leave one year to go yeah one year to go have you ever thought about what its gonna be like when you're from now for the real last class yeah I think it's gonna be very hard and very emotional I know I could feel that even even now after one year because you know summer break is a long time and some students are already feeling very emotional when they will not see me for such a long time so I could imagine what it will like in one year you are giving your last class in the morning yeah what was it like a lot of kids are trying and I was trying to what do you think they're crying about and lighted you because next year I will not be their English teacher I will teach another class and they know they could not be my students for a sixth grade and I think that's what they feel sad about for me too I know it's a loss for both of us but I think the relationship is still there and my letterbox is always open for them yeah life is always saying hi and saying goodbye isn't it yes it is I think learning how to say goodbye it's also part of growing up I'm looking forward to the next opportunity of saying hi to you again aha me too you teen with a pleasure thank you so much for what you have done thank you for coming thank you thank you education is the most powerful tool to change the world in this case for each Inge and her students that is a good thing that has been once again confirmed to me by the headmaster of the school who had been teaching and working in the primary school for decades after studying in the local normal College XI Shi Zhang Jie gentleman Guardians on the hydronium courier digital Mayo car pulled off put on top a leader what you recall tools for a whole for our survive I hope will autumnal sure did you get yellow to the minimo kids challenge enrollment y'all you wanna fight each other Coco for sure I gotta get to do the me JA you put home half my children cheese finally it was time to say goodbye to the students and the teacher after a few days in the banker penalty a poverty-stricken place in China you'll be watching fighting poverty a special program a world inside with camera the story of Julien is only one of those stories among the 80 millions of people living in China under the poverty line we see how hard her volunteer teacher Luo Cheng and her primary school and even a Township and working to change her faith and yet lack of material wealth is only part of the poverty we're talking about the other part is the failures of being unwanted unloved and uncared for in that regard it takes all of us to change the picture this is Jan way in the interior part of China's southern part of guns for province bidding you goodbye [Music]

Channel: CGTN

Views: 169,449

Rating: 4.8325024 out of 5

Keywords: CCTVNews, News, CGTN, ChinaNews, CCTV, China, poverty, challenges, triumphs, struggle

Id: JySsMQ0FXeY

Length: 39min 37sec (2377 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 13 2017