Bright Eyes assists students in Lixin County, Anhui Province by providing eye testing and, where necessary, prescription glasses to students, making a huge difference to their ability to learn. The testing is carried out by professionals in the field; however, sponsor volunteers also get involved by visiting the communities to assist with building and improvement projects and to interact directly with students, teaching them in the classroom.
To make those lessons run smoothly, NAIS Pudong students along with Service Coordinator, Ms Claire Cuskin, devised guidelines based on their own experiences teaching students from the local migrant school who visit NAIS Pudong each week to participate in student-led activities. These teaching guidelines were recently provided to the Bright Eyes committee at the BritCham, along with some initial training, for them to take with them on a trip to Lixin County in mid-November.
The guidelines include important practical icebreaker suggestions, lesson plans and worksheets. One of the first people to use the guidelines and see their usefulness was Ian Crawford, Vice-Chairman of the BritCham Charity Committee, who was part of a November trip to Lixin County. He said, “(the) material was very helpful and the Quaker science lessons were a big hit…single, short activities seem to be the best; the origami worked well.”
Three companies, Quaker Chemicals, Control Risks Group (Shanghai) Limited and FTI Consulting, attended the trip, helping to make a big, and bright, difference to the lives of children in rural China.