Seeing Through a New Lens Together

Haimeng and Lianna’s project in China aimed to raise social awareness of the problem of left-behind children and to make educational resources more accessible to rural areas. They sought to do this through a summer camp for children focusing on music, English, literature, photography, and art. Their essential goal was to give the children confidence to express themselves and to give them inspiration for their futures. The camp took place in Haimeng’s hometown of

The camp took place in Haimeng’s hometown of Guoyang, a village in Anhui province, and was assisted greatly through a partnership with Jiuqian Volunteer Center in Shanghai, which donated numerous books and magazines as well as volunteers. One of the memorable highlights of the camp was watching students who had never seen a camera before being thrilled at touching and using one. Another highlight was having the students keep daily journals and thereby learning much about themselves in the process. The camp culminated with an exciting and eye-opening trip to Shanghai during which the selected students embarked on a scavenger hunt — including asking questions (in English!) and using their new photography skills to take pictures of foreigners they encountered in their newly discovered city.

Haimeng and Lianna hope to see their initiative adopted by students at the new United World College school in Changshu, China as one of their Project Week services.