Today we finally visited the highly anticipated Dandelion School. Before our trip to China we watched a documentary and studied on The Dandelion School in Beijing so it was really interesting to finally see it in person. The Dandelion School is the only non- profit primary school in Beijing (grades 7th- 9th) that offers an education to the children of migrant workers. Children of migrant workers do not receive some benefits that the average Chinese citizen would get. The Dandelion School helps out these families.
All the students at the school were adorable and excited to learn and play with us.The students were learning about animals in English class so we each drew a picture of an animal and broke off into groups to help them out with their english. The school itself is incredible and we were all very impressed by the hope and ambition the students, volunteers, and teachers all had. A few of us talked to the volunteer English teacher about her expirience there during her gap year and were all really inspired by her story. Overall it was incredible to see how a good education and school system can transform the lives of children.
The Dandelion School is currently undergoing construction for a new school down the street because the current building is in such poor condition that it is becoming dangerous for the students. If you are interested in making a donation to help the process, you can visit www.crowdrise.com and search for the Dandelion School.
-Natalie Gorman