Dream Corps Blog

2011 rural China Summer Volunteer Program online application is open!

2011-01-23T21:14:00.004-05:00

Colorful Library 五彩斑斓的世界

Huju Middle School Library, Hunan 湖南株洲茶陵县虎踞镇中学图书室

CALL FOR APPLICATION: 2011 Summer Volunteer Program

Let Reading Inspire

PROGRAM
Dream Corps is recruiting about 65 international volunteers to participate in its 2011 Summer Volunteer Program in rural schools (township elementary or middle schools) and villages of China. Volunteers will take part in activities that include:

Establishing and developing libraries: decorations, cataloging books, electronic cataloging system set-ups, and library policy making.

Reading programs: "Library Month", "Reading Aloud", "Science and Reading", English Reading, and crafts.

Understanding and learning from locals: communicating with the local teachers, home visits, community research, and promoting reading in the community.

The program consists of 4 days of training in Beijing, 3 weeks of volunteer work on assigned volunteer sites, and 3 days concluding forum in Beijing. Check out the summer program schedule.

QUALIFICATION FOR VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers must read, understand and agree to abide by the regulations outlined in theVolunteer Ethical Guidelines.

Interested in international development, rural education, and the non-profit sector in China.

Respectful of local rural customs, habits and culture and to humbly listen to the views of local teachers, leaders and parents.

Participate positively in all activities, and immerse in the local environment.

Is able to adapt to rural accommodations, environment and eating conditions.

Is able to communicate and work effectively and respectfully with people from different cultural backgrounds. Team-oriented and tolerant of diversity.

Responsible, well-organized and creative.

Willing to promote the importance of reading to the locals through various activities.

Experience as a volunteer and with community service.

Ability to speak mandarin Chinese is mandatory.

Please read the summer program schedule and make sure you are able to participate in the entire program. Attendance in the entire program is absolutely required.

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATION FOR TEAM LEADERS

Strong ability to manage, organize, plan, and access resources.

Very responsible.

Experience leading teams and promoting teamwork. Ability to identify talents of team members and to resolve conflicts. Must be able to lead a team to accomplish a goal.

Experience communicating with people from different cultures, backgrounds, and ages.

Can represent Dreams Corps and the team to negotiate with local community leaders.

APPLICATION PROCESS

STEP 1: Complete online application.

There is no application fee.

Application form
Personal Statement (see guidelines for details)
Resume or CV

STEP 2: Interview

Qualified applicants will be interviewed over the phone or in person, depending on location, availability and preference. The length of the interview is about one hour.

Phone interview via Skype
In person. Six locations: Beijing; New York City; Philadelphia; Charlottesville, Virginia; Toronto; Montreal. Space is limited in each location. Additional candidates will be interviewed by Skype.

STEP 3: Notification of Decision

February 14-February 25: Those selected for an interview will be notified.
February 20-March 20: Interviews will be scheduled by email by the interviewers and interviews will be held.
March 21: First group of accepted volunteers notified.
March 25: Deadline for first group to confirm participation.
March 26: Second group of accepted volunteers notified.
March 30: Deadline for second group to confirm participation.

IMPORTANT DATES

Jan 23: Online application opens

February 20: Online application officially closes

April 9 - June 23: Summer Volunteer Program

April 9-30: Online training (4 sessions, about 2 hours per session)
May 19: Volunteer registration in Beijing, program begins; Team leader training in Beijing
May 20-23: Volunteer and librarian training in Beijing
May 24: Volunteers departing for sites
May 25-June 17: Working at sites
June 20: Return to Beijing
June 21: Team reports in Beijing
June 22-23: Concluding forum in Beijing

PERSONAL STATEMENT GUIDELINES
Please keep your statement between 500 words in Chinese or English. As a general guideline, please cover the following:

Why do you want to volunteer with Dream Corps and what do you want to accomplish through your volunteer work?
List your previous social work or volunteer experience. Please include dates, locations, activities, and your roles.
Have you traveled or lived in rural China? for how long? If not, have you traveled or lived internationally? for how long? If so, please describe briefly (locations, dates and activities).
Have you had any experience working with children or teachers? If so, please describe briefly (subjects, target audience and formats)
What do you believe are the value of books and reading to the lives of rural children in China?
For Team leaders: Have you had experience working as a team leader? Share your experience, what you learned, and challenges that you faced.
Do you hope to conduct a personal or academic research project during your possible stay in China with Dream Corps? If so, please describe briefly.

EXPENSE
Volunteers pay their own airfare to Beijing. All volunteers pay a 2000 RMB (300 USD) fee at the beginning of the volunteer training in Beijing. The fee covers the cost of accommodations and lunch during training and the concluding forum, transportation to and from the program sites, lodging at the sites, travel health insurance, training handouts and a T-shirt. Volunteers should also bring some money for other meals during training and forum and for other personal expenses.

2011 SITES INFORMATION

The following communities and schools are the sites for 2011. Some changes are possible. Applicants can indicate preferences, but preferences cannot always be honored. During the online training more information about the sites will be provided.

Established sites:

Laochangying Village, Peiying Township, Dengzhou, Henan

Tenglou Experimental Elementary School (only 6th grade students), Tenglou Village, Peiying Township, Dengzhou, Henan

Nanguang Middle School, Nanguang Township, Yibin, Sichuan

Huju Elementary School, Huju Township, Chaling, Zhuzhou, Hunan

Huju Middle School, Huju Township, Chaling, Zhuzhou, Hunan

New sites:

Liumangang Elementary School, Liumangang Village, Xinghuaying Township, Jinming District, Kaifeng, Henan

Jiudian Elementary School, Jinan Township, Jingzhou District, Jingzhou, Hubei

Yutai Middle School, Jinan Township, Jingzhou District, Jingzhou, Hubei

Yuanyi Elementary School, Peicheng District, Mianyang, Sichuan

Hengfeng Central Elementary School, Hengfeng Township, Gongxian, Yibin, Sichuan

Shilipu Hui Elementary School, Liuhu Township, Kongdong District, Pingliang, Gansu

If you have any more questions regarding our program, please visit Dream Corps 2011 Summer Volunteer Program FAQ. If you have any questions regarding the application and volunteer selection process, please contact us

> download this document in PDF

Dream Corps Summer Volunteer Program 2010 - 湖南日志系列（1）

2011-01-14T20:12:00.001-05:00

枣市日志 二零一零年5月29日。By 向超群

昨晚是在枣市中心小学度过的第一个晚上，纪念意义深重。

其一，述良，泰安和我三人第一次同床，不共枕（没有枕头）。人有三只，床有两张。一张是很现代的席梦思，超英赶美不在话下；另一张是很古典的木头架子铺稻草垫子，透气环保清爽怡人。买了超大床单一个：其大，足以睡老婆一位及孩子若干。故出自本人私囊，思量作长久之用，为未来积蓄前进的动力。床单虽大，铺于并排的两张床上，还是有点捉襟见肘。稻草床垫，半隐半现，倒也韵味十足！日后若要隐居，能有此景象，足矣！

其二，这里有难得的静谧。鸡声鸟声猪叫声声声入耳，实乃以有声写无声的范例；家事国事天下事，事事不关心，也不枉我等抛弃凡尘俗事，忘却高楼霓虹，静心做一点实事。

其三，这里的生态平衡令人叫绝。无论飞禽，抑或走兽，或者蚁蛾，皆处于食物链的一环，人也不例外。半夜被咬醒，穿长裤以抵御外族入侵，不过还是被见缝插针。一夜下来，清点战场，伤痕二十余处也。所幸元气未伤，青山尚在，不怕无柴。翰琳和译心之营房，防御措施较为完备，有蚊帐环卫八方。但也并非固若金汤，二人半夜挑灯看剑，对闯入禁地者格杀勿论，颇有斩获。今早，兵分两路：三千人马留守大本营治理府库；另发精锐两千，入县城，会友军，购弹药辎重，万众一心，众志成城，为来日血战厉兵秣马。

闲话少叙，进入正题。

今天的主要任务是图书分类。在昨天划分的大类的基础上，我们对各类的内部进行了排序。其实这个工作昨天晚上就开始了。翰琳和述良因为今天要去县城，提前把今天的任务完成了一部分。这种积极的工作态度，是什么样的态度？是共产主义的态度！是我们每个人都需要学习的态度！特别是某些其他队的队员们，你们要好好学习！（哈哈！）同时，我们也向甘愿留守战场，加班加点的同志们致以亲切的慰问和衷心的感谢！你们的辛勤劳动，是会永垂史册的！同时，我们也要感谢其他的同志们，你们任劳任怨，百里迢迢地跑到县城，为我们采购，来回奔波，也是相当辛苦的！革命分工不同，没有高低贵贱之分！（要是有些人在前面对号入座产生误解，看到这儿请笑一笑！）

另外，我们把学校后勤主任谢老师捐献出来的电脑安装好了，并下载了软件，目前已经成功的运行了。在此，我们需要感谢我们谭校长和谢主任的大力支持和配合，没有这台电脑，巧妇也难为无米之炊！还要感谢远在千里之外的James同学，虽然上次考的软件是不完整的，但是在他的耐心指导和帮助下我们成功地摆平了这件事情！好事多磨，重点还是“好事”嘛！呵呵

最值得一提的是，今天有好几个孩子来到我们图书室看书，他们看到书很高兴，很兴奋！有几个还看得很专心，特别是看漫画书的。不过我们在图书室的开放程度上还要下功夫，因为这几个同学跟我们说他们以前没有来过图书室。我们需要让更多的孩子能看到这些好书！

工作期间，有两位老师来访，一位是参加了我们在北京的交流的，恕我忘记了名字。另一位是我们学校的方老师。长沙人，放假没有回家。跟两位的聊天中，我们发现了农村教育中的一些问题，一个是形式上的问题。有些书是应付检查用的，孩子们翻都不会翻，但是还是要放在图书室。不过我们成功地游说了罗老师，在她的帮助下，谭校长同意了我们把那些“农业技术”的书挪到另外的书架，把DC的书放到进门的显眼的书架上的建议。在此对谭校长和罗老师表示感谢！另外一个问题是农村学校教师人才的流失问题。从和方老师的聊天中我能感受到，像她这样的从大城市来的老师不会在农村学校待很久。她说每个人都是为了更好的未来，这当然也没错。

晚上和刘燕（音）姐通了电话，一是索要DC今年弄过来的书籍的电子表格。二是商议建设“书香校园”图书角的可能性。详情暂时不表，待日后详谈。

就此收笔。明天继续。

P.S. 晚上开灯，有无数飞蛾扑灯。

袁老师和裴阿姨

2010-12-21T19:17:00.002-05:00

作者：郭海涛，2008河南老常营、2010河南滕楼志愿者

前两天收到袁云汉老师的邮件，托我帮他在美国买把电吉他。我很愿意帮这个忙，收到邮件后就找音乐家房东打听买电吉他的信息，心理一直想着要给袁老师回复，结果还是因为期末忙给忘了。今天想起心里颇觉不安。

袁老师是这个暑假在河南做志愿者时认识的一位小学老师。在学校里面，袁老师分管学校后勤，爱人裴阿姨经营学校学生食堂，夫妇俩很自然的接过了我们食宿的任务。到学校当天，天下大雨，女生被安排在一个大教室里，我和柯岩被分配在一个小办公室里。夏天乡下蚊子颇多，两张木板床都没法挂蚊帐。袁老师说：我出去看看。过了一些时候，袁老师湿淋淋的抱了一大堆竹竿回来，估计是刚出去砍的，然后一直帮我们把蚊帐架好，才心满意足的离开。非常实在而又热心的一个人。

滕楼队5名志愿者和袁老师、裴阿姨全家，2010年6月

为了让我们吃好，裴阿姨和袁老师绞尽脑汁，每天都变着花样。虽然我们一再要求一切从简，但每次吃饭的时候，总发现有一些惊喜，以致让某些同学暗爽到内伤。

学生们7点钟吃早餐，裴阿姨和袁老师每天5点钟就得起来准备食物。从周一到周五，一日三餐，裴阿姨每天的生活都禁锢在食堂里面。夫妇俩总是把最好的食物留给我们，然后自己坐在一边吃些最简单的东西。这让我们觉得非常不安，但是怎么劝说都没有用。慢慢的混的熟了，裴阿姨和袁老师也会和我们讲一些故事，开一些玩笑。女生们难免花痴，每每吃饭的时候讲到自己的梦中牛郎，就两眼闪光，一幅即惆怅又幸福的模样，并伴随着嘴里，鼻子里发出的怪异声响。裴阿姨和袁老师开始的时候常常不明所以。时间长了也就习惯了。后来，裴阿姨也开始加入到女生的行列，说些打趣的话，被戏称给“带坏了”。

裴阿姨初中辍学到南方打工，虽然境况很苦，但是心里颇有文青情节，喜欢读些小说，曾经有段时间沉浸在琼瑶亦舒，三毛席慕容中间。后来从南方回来，嫁人生子，每天在田间灶头劳碌，年复一年，岁月流逝，那些曾经的少女情怀被忙碌的俗世生活掩埋，但是偶尔被小女生们勾起，让人觉得异常值得玩味。有时候听她讲在南方的往事，常常被她脸上不经意的神往表情或者蹙眉低头打动。

滕楼队女生和裴阿姨，2010年6月

谁没有年少爱追梦的时候？

袁老师说话声音极其洪亮，一听就知道受过特别的发声训练，像个唱歌剧的。果不其然，学校的老师说：以前袁老师经常在食堂里面吊嗓子。我脑子里面常常浮现这样的画面：袁老师开着三轮摩托，嗵嗵嗵嗵的拉一车大白菜到食堂，裴阿姨忙着剁猪肉白菜，袁老师隔着打饭的窗口对着裴阿姨深情吟唱“在那遥远的地方，有个好姑娘。。。。。” 非常草根的中国达人形象。

音乐是袁老师最大的嗜好。在念师范的时候，袁老师遇到过一个很好的代课老师，给了袁老师最初的音乐启蒙。可惜时间不长，老师走了以后，袁老师就一直苦于没有一个好老师可以求教，基本所有的东西都靠自学。我们去的时候，袁老师正在自学吉他和电子琴，常常听到他的房间里面琴声悦耳。他的热爱音乐，不是为了有一技之长可以炫耀，因为在那个地方，机会没有多少人会去欣赏；也不是为了谋生，只是单纯的喜欢，所以显得格外纯粹。我们和老师们办过一次联谊，袁老师非常羞怯，再三推阻，不愿意出来表演。后来被拱上台后，才技惊四座的展示了自己的歌喉。袁老师歌唱的很动情，我们都爱听。我们听到的是一个怀揣梦想的人在与大环境格格不入的背景下的不懈努力。

和袁老师裴阿姨接触的时间越多，感情越深。袁老师并不爱喝酒。但是我们要走的前一个星期的某个晚上，袁老师却一定要我陪他喝点酒。那天他喝了不少酒，说了不少话，反反复复跟我讲：“不知道什么时候才能见到你们，我很想知道五年以后，十年以后你们在哪里啊，海涛在干什么啊，林楠在干什么啊！思静在干什么啊，张芃在干什么啊，柯岩在干什么啊！有时候我也很想到美国去看看啊，知道美国是怎么样的啊！”

第二天裴阿姨对我说：袁老师舍不得你们啊！

这句话袁老师讲了一晚上都没有讲出来，但是我已经听懂了。

走的当天，我们把所有的伙食费包在一个信封里给袁老师和裴阿姨。我倒是预期到了他们会推托，所以悄悄交给他们的儿子小飞昂，没有告诉他是什么，让他悄悄放在家里抽屉里。

坐车离开的时候，裴阿姨握着女生的手，流了很多泪。袁老师一定坚持要到城里买东西让我们带上，我以为是给志愿者带上火车的食物什么的，想想这是他一定要表达的一个心意，就没有太阻拦。结果到了火车站，他匆匆的跑过来，给每个人塞了一样极贵重的礼物。接受，非常不好，不接受又不免伤了一个好心人的心。我想最好的方式就是明年找个机会偿还回去。

离开的时候我们在老常营文化广场办了一场晚会，袁老师吉他弹唱东方之珠。他的吉他还有些生涩，常常中途停下来不好意思的给观众说抱歉，但我觉得那是最美妙的音乐，因为这是一个有梦想的人用心吟唱的歌。

袁老师说：如果你们明年再来的话，我吉他应该比较会了。

我一定要去听一听。

河南邓州裴营乡滕楼村实验小学


海涛哥哥讲故事

Best Birthday Gift Ever/我最想要的生日礼物

2010-08-11T14:58:00.003-04:00

Donna Peng, 2009 Beijing Team Volunteer, has decided to give her birthday presents to Dream Corps. Find out how and why you can help. 2009年北京队志愿者彭丹决定把自己的生日礼物送给梦想行动。这到底是怎么一回事儿呢？

Dear friend,

In the past two years, you might have received a lot of messages from me, inviting you to attend this or that Dream Corps event. You might have wondered, what is this Dream Corps? I know I own you an explanation.

Dream Corps is an NGO working to build libraries in rural China, founded in 2004 by oversea Chinese students like me. Since its beginning, Dream Corps has sent over 100 volunteers to rural communities of China, bring books and funds to build a local library. We share our love of reading with children there. Yes, we. Because, last summer, I became one of those volunteers. The New Century Library in Zhufang Village, just outside of Beijing, became one of my homes. A year has passed, but I still remember the days that I spent reading with the kids. I still remember their names.

Su Le. Wang Guoqing. Wang Shufan. Li Jingwen. Chai Shubin. Chai Mengyuan. Liu Weiyuan. Huang Jiacheng. Fu Bin. Ceng Kun. Wang Ye. Wang Yang. Wang Shuai. Wang Xinglong.　And there's Zhang Doudou. Doudou, the five years old boy who beamed and frowned widely, showing his missing teeth.

August 12th, this coming Thursday, is my birthday. A lot of you have given me books as gifts in the past. But, today, I would like you to give gifts of books to these children. The children in Zhufang Village, but also the children in Chaling County, Hunan, the children in Nanguang Sichuan, and the children in Laochangying, Henan... There are many of them. They might be voracious readers, but they don't know that yet, and Dream Corps' mission is to provide the reading environment that they need.

I hope that you would donate to Dream Corps, and if you share our cause, I invide you to join us, to become part of Dream Corps.

Thursday will be my 22nd birthday. $22 is enough to buy 10 books in China. 10 GREAT books, selected closely by my colleagues in Dream Corps' Book Committee.

All my love and thanks,

Donna

You can donate via Facebook cause:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/420136?bws=sl

or at the official website:

http://www.dreamcorps.org/donate.html

============================

你好，我的老友、损友，很久没见或是素未谋面的朋友，

也许你并不在Montreal，但是在过去的两年间，你也许收到了很多这样的邀请：
Donna希望你能参加梦想行动的XXX活动。你也许纳闷过：梦想行动？那是什么东西？

梦想行动是一个为中国乡村学校建设图书室的公益组织，今年已经六岁了。六年来，上百名来自全球各地的志愿者在每个夏天前往中国农村，带去书和修缮图书室的经费，与孩子们分享阅读的喜悦。去年夏天，我也成为了他们中的一员。于是，北京清河朱房村新世纪图书室成为了我生命中的一个点。一年过去了，不能忘记的是孩子们读书的脸。

苏乐。汪国庆。汪舒凡。李静文。柴书斌。柴萌园。刘蔚圆。黄嘉诚。付彬。岑坤。王也。汪洋，汪帅。王兴龙。还有张豆豆。豆豆，五岁，讲故事喜欢扭来扭去，写作业也磨磨蹭蹭，他最喜欢说，你真是个厉害的妖怪。

即将到来的8月12号是我的生日，以往大家送我的总是书。但是今天，我希望你们能送书给这些孩子们。他们在北京五环外的城中村里，他们也在湖南茶陵、四川南广、河南老常营。。。他们也许很喜欢看书，但是自己还不知道，而梦想行动的任务，就是为他们创造阅读的环境。

我希望你们能把替我买书的钱捐给梦想行动。如果，你有同样的愿望，我还希望你以后能来参加我们的志愿活动，加入梦想行动。

今年我22岁。$22，在国内可以买十本书，十本由梦想行动图书小组的同学们精挑细选过的好书。

谢谢大家。

彭丹

捐款通道：
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/420136?bws=sl
也可以去官方网站：http://www.dreamcorps.org/donate.html

长沙晚报：北美留学生茶陵支教五年美国街头表演募集捐款

2010-07-29T23:16:00.002-04:00

——2010年6月22日，长沙晚报报道了“梦想行动”2010年暑期志愿者项目中的五队志愿者在湖南株洲市茶陵县的经历。24名志愿者们来自不同的国家与背景，但都在中国农村教育的艰辛和孩子们对知识的渴求中得到了激励。作为自2004年来第六批来到茶陵的“梦想行动”志愿者，他们分别在5个中小学校建设与完善“梦想图书室”，为学生开设课外阅读和英语教学活动。他们同时带来的，还有如何在北美为图书室募捐的故事。

今天，来自大洋彼岸的20多名“梦想行动”志愿者就要离开株洲茶陵。“这些乡村的孩子太可爱了，我们简直舍不得离开。”昨日，来自美国宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院的MBA张卉在电话里告诉记者。作为“梦想行动”志愿者，今天她和其他23位伙伴，就要告别相处了20多天的茶陵乡村学校的师生，不舍之情溢于言表。

　　据了解，“梦想行动”是2004年初由留学生和旅居海外的华人发起创建的非营利性组织，由留美学生以及外籍华人作为志愿者，其宗旨是通过深入乡村小学了解当地办学情况，帮助完善农村小学图书室建设，参与当地教学等活动来提高农村地区的教育水平，所有的活动经费都系自筹。“梦想行动”第一次与茶陵结缘是在2005年5月，当时在美国杜克大学就读的蒋洪生是茶陵人，经他牵线，志愿者到茶陵舲舫乡中心小学进行了为期20天的义教帮教活动，当时带队的是在杜克大学就读的陈怀远。五年来，“梦想行动”与地处偏远的茶陵贫困乡村中小学结下深厚情谊，每年都有一批志愿者不计任何报酬地来到这里进行一个月左右的志愿行动，为乡村的孩子们带来知识和欢乐。

　　这次是“梦想行动”第六次来茶陵开展活动，共有24位志愿者参加，其中有十位女生。他们分别来自美国和加拿大。志愿者分为5个组，在5个中小学校就图书室建设与完善、学生课外阅读和英语教学等工作进行服务活动。上月27日抵达茶陵后，志愿者们就马不停蹄地开展工作。志愿者们为每所学校送去了数百本科普、人文等方面的图书，“这些都是留学生们在美国加拿大等地募捐来的。”张卉告诉记者，有的美国同学得知情况后还主动上街进行文艺表演，为活动募捐，场面非常感人。然后，他们将美元寄回国内兑换成人民币，再根据乡村孩子们的需要购买书籍。

　　在枣市小学服务的向超群毕业于美国伊利诺伊州一所大学，他是今年三月在网上看到“梦想行动”招募志愿者的启事后，主动报名参加的，“要经过面试、培训，才能正式加入组织。”为方便小学的图书管理，他和同伴们安装了一套图书电子管理系统。

　　和张卉一道在虎踞中学进行志愿行动的同伴，有三位是在美国和加拿大出生的华裔，以前从没到过中国。这次来茶陵，一切都令他们感到新鲜，也让他们看到了中国农村教育的艰辛。他们每天早上七点起床后就开始工作，直到晚上11点才休息。虽然很忙碌，但孩子们渴求知识的眼神，让他们忘却了疲惫。

The Meaning of Participation: Part III

2010-07-29T22:36:00.001-04:00

(continued)

Challenges Today

We also face many challenges today.

In training volunteers, for example, we try our best to shock them out of the “Let me help; I can help” sort of mindset. We warn them from the start that they will be disappointed by how hard they had to work but how little they could achieve. We even ask every volunteer to read Ivan Illichʼs “To Hell with Good Intentions”. But we were rarely able to avoid post-volunteering disappointment. This is going to be a constant challenge. For now, we could only settle for letting the reality on the ground educate our volunteers.

But don't get me wrong. Our volunteers are great—fantastic in themselves. And in spite of their disappointment, which they typically come to understand much better afterwards, they are not disillusioned, and many of them continue to work with Dream Corps. Personally, some of the best times I have spent in the past few years were with Dream Corps volunteers.

The second area of challenge is expertise in library management and reading program. We are now being asked by several schools to help them set up electronic library management system so as to reduce the workload of the librarian and promote circulation. Related is training of librarians, about which we are becoming more proactive. On top of that, we have been increasingly putting our efforts on running effective reading programs that goes with open libraries. Trust me, getting ourselves to the point where we directly face these challenges have not been easy. We are happy enough about our slow but real progress.

Another challenge, central to our program, is how to regulate the lifecycle of our sites: how to assess the state of a site in the process of going from the initial opening, to collaborative operation, to locally-sustained opening and our phasing out; how to identify the site’s readiness at each stage and appropriately facilitate the transitions. By the way, the happiest moment we have enjoyed in all of our work is when the school tells us truthfully: “Thanks for your initiation and collaboration. We know how to make it work now. We don’t need you anymore.” This did happen a couple of times. And we would love to hear this more often. And so on and so forth.

All of these challenges, honestly, imply that we have to seriously grow our roots in China. While our heart and mind have always been with China, with the children of China. —We do not needing so much of a re-growth there. Organizationally, however, we do need to grow roots. Luckily, more and more of our organizers are returning to China permanently. But we still need to get ourselves registered as a non-profit in China, which is difficult, but about which we are optimistic.

Internally, to meet the challenges above, we also need employees, after all. We feel that we have figured out enough about how to achieving the goal of locally sustained open libraries that are part of everyday school life. We now need full-time staff so that we may meet the challenges, and deepen and possibly broaden our programs.

The need for employees directly translates into the challenge of fundraising. In the past, we have focused our efforts on the quality of our programs and the quality our organization; on a small scale and at a limited depth, this effort could be and had been sustained by pure volunteer work. We did not feel compelled to get much more financial resource. But now that we have shaped ourselves in a way such that we can face up to the challenges at the crux of the problem we are trying to address, we are ready to accept more funding and to use it effectively.

At the edge of “social gold rush”

Here’s how we may summarize the journey of Dream Corps:

Dream Corps 0.0 - passion-powered initiation - the spring and summer of 2004.

Dream Corps 1.0 - self-imposed apprenticeship in compassionate participation through committed action and open-mindedness - fall of 2004 - 2010

Dream Corps 2.0 - substantive partner in compassionate participation for empowering dreams - 2011.

In the past 6 years, we have educated ourselves. While we still do not have the answer, we have come to know better what the challenges are and how to address them. As an organization, we are well-poised to become Dream Corps 2.0, to play a substantive role in the unfolding “social gold rush”—or, one may call it, “social good rush”—in China today. This year, the 2010, is going to be the critical year that determines whether we can become Dream Corps 2.0.

Metaphor for Participation

Let me close with a couple of metaphors. It is often said that the United States is a melting pot wherein people from all over the world equally become American. In Canada, the preferred metaphor is tapestry, where every part retains their identity, but bound into a new unity.

Dream Corps’s way, it seems to me, is rather stir-fry, Chinese style, where every part takes part in the transformation of all parts towards something fantastic, spiced with unwavering idealism, grounded in honest realism, and anchored in an ultimate respect for the potential in every child.

If you like, or think you could like Chinese cuisine, join us, donate to us, or support us in any other way, but most importantly, participate in your own way towards ushering in the day when all children in China will enjoy quality education.

Talking with Kids: Postcard from Hunan Sicong

2010-06-18T16:07:00.002-04:00

Hunan Sicong Central Elementary School Library

2010 Summer Volunteer Yuchen Wu shares anecdotes from interaction with the children:

"In my imagination, it should be really simple to communicate with kids. But, I've since found out that I have become a grown-up who doesn't know how to approach them. A boy in particular always seems to be able to throw me off. When I mentioned that I am still in university, he asked for my age. I suggested that he should take a guess. "Twenty-five!”He blurted after reflecting. At that moment, I felt like collapsing. Even though he made me much older, but hey, children tell that they think, so I corrected him, "Actually, I am only twenty years old". After that I noticed that they are really honest. For example, when I asked them, one by one, whether they would like to volunteer as librarian assistants, some girls refused me bluntly, "No!" Their face and voice showed no hints of hesitation. Of course, there were also moments during which the children were not as honest. When I first got here, I once asked them, "Have you ever been to the library?" They thought about the question, their round eyes turning, looking here and there, then answered me in a quiet voice, "yes", and that they went there "quite often". At such times, I often wished that they talked to me with a more absolute tone, the one that they used when they declared that I was twenty five, "The teacher never opened the library!” There were other times that they seem to linger between telling the truth and bluffing, because it was really hard to tell one from the other. For instance, I have asked many children, “what kind of book do you prefer?" About 90% of them chose fairy tales. Even now I wonder whether they really enjoyed fairy tales, or if the only books that they've read were fairy tales."

Only part of the whole passage is translated. Please refer to the complete Chinese version below.

Postcard from Sicong:
Full of hope, a child can take the responsibility of an adult.

成长源自于希望。 ---小图书管理员活动

湖南思聪中心小学图书室

2010夏季志愿者吴宇晨分享与孩子们交流的轶事：

想象中，和孩子们交流特别简单。但是我发现我已经老到一种地步了。因为我不知道和他们聊什么。其中，一个小男孩儿更是让我手足无措。当我说到我还在上大学时，他问我多少岁。我说请你猜一下，然后他使劲的想了一下，说“25岁！”。我当时有点想晕倒在地的冲动。毕竟童言无忌，我只好说，其实我20。事后发现小孩子真诚实。他们诚实的地方还有很多，比如我单独问他们愿不愿意当小图书管理员，有些女孩子直接就对我说“不！”，表情和声音还都那么实在。当然，他们也有不实在的时候，比如我刚到这里的时候问他们，你们有没有去过图书馆，他们想了想，又转了转眼珠子，然后小声的说“去过！”，而且还是“经常去”。这个时候我通常希望看到他们用那种说我看起来像25岁的语气告诉我，“老师是从来不开图书馆的！”。还又的时候，他们介于诚实与不诚实之间，因为你也实在分不清楚。譬如，我问了好多孩子，“你们喜欢哪一种类型的书啊？”约有90％的人会回答我说“童话故事”！我到底也弄不清楚他们到底是真喜欢童话故事，还是只看过童话故事。

越和他们沟通，越发觉自己需要加倍努力。我觉得如果能和小学生沟通好，也算是迈出培养我良好沟通能力的第一步了。首先，我希望能记得一些小朋友的名字，比如徐观文，张原，唐志卷，毛志刚，还有一个留守儿童唐白雪。他们都特别乖，尤其是在我和他们沟通以后，坐在那里看书更加认真了。之后，我还让他们玩我的相机。在整个阅览室开放过程中，发生了一件让我最最囧的事情和一件让我最最得意的事情。最囧的事情是，当小朋友问我，姐姐们怎么不下来读书给我们听的时候，我告诉他们，“姐姐在上面整理书，不如我给你们讲吧。” 一个小男生说好好好，然后我起身向大家郑重的宣布，“有没有人想听哥哥讲童话故事？”，结果没有一个人应答。囧了半天，那个提议的小男孩吃力的举着手说，“我！”。这着实让我更囧了！然后，因为我很尴尬，所以我又宣布了一下，喜欢听童话故事的小朋友到门口我念给你们听，于是大家像看热闹一样跟拥着跑了出来。我念了一篇“灰姑娘”和另外一篇（已经记不得叫什么名字的）故事。他们个个都露出一副不想听了但又不好意思走的神情，索性我停了下来，问有没有人想读下一段呢？他们还是没有人回答。如此这般，我尴尬到了一定程度，于是草草结束了讲故事环节，让他们回去自己阅读去了。最得意的事情是，我在让他们安静不要说话的时候，他们立马就安静下来了，可是没过3秒钟就又恢复成“菜市场”了。于是，我喊了一句，你们哪个小朋友再说话影响别人，我就拿我这台相机把你们拍下来，给你们班主任看！果然，他们屁颠屁颠的都安静下来去读书了。这样一来，既让他们安静下来去读书了，也顺便收集了很多他们调皮和认真样子的照片。哦也。

晚上，我去对面男声宿舍“访问”。他们在玩我小时候玩的洋牌。可是规矩不一样，不过我很快就和他们打成一片了。其实，他们真的很可爱。比如，和我说话时候很拘谨的样子。再比如，偷偷地摸一下我的相机...... 最开心的是，相处了两个小时后的那种亲切感，他们不像之前那么害羞了。

The Arrival — Henan Tenglou Team Journal

2010-06-16T10:53:00.005-04:00

"The kids here are definitely curious but shy at the same time. As we washed the dishes, they watched us curiously from a distance. Once we have finished washing, they crowded in around the tap to wash their bowls."

Team Profile:
Haitao Guo/郭海涛, Dream Corps 2008 Henan Team alum, 2010 Tenglou Team Leader
Yevgeniy Grechka /柯岩
Shirley Liang/梁思静
Clarie Lin/林楠
Rindy Zhang/张芃

Area Profile:
Tenglou Street, Peiying Township, Dengzhou County, Henan Province
河南省邓州市裴营乡滕楼街

Dengzhou is a typical agricultural county whose economy has been predominantly relying on wheat and soybean planting. Located in the southwest of Henan province and adjacent to Hubei province, this place was known as the Deng Kingdom 邓国 during the Xia 夏 Dynasty (21st C. BCE – 16th C. BCE) according to historical records. And the county has one of the largest populations in China, which is over 1.5 million. However all these three factors, the lack of industry, the long history and the large population, are deemed “burdens” for its own development according to many locals.

This summer, Dream Corps has two closely located sites in Dengzhou. The first one is Laochangying, a village of 3052. The second one is Tenglou, the closest town to Laochaoying(15 minutes bike ride) and 40 minutes away from the county seat, Dengzhou, by minibus.

Following is Tenglou Team's account of May 26th, 2010, the first day of the Summer Volunteer Program, told by Rindy.

5/26/10
Henan Tenglou Team left Beijing on May 25th, around 10pm, and arrived on the site the next day at 1pm. We rode the subway to Beijing West Station. It was a long ride…We had to transfer once on the subway then switch to bus since we couldn’t get a taxi after we got off the subway. Normally, I would’ve just taken a taxi, but we had a large group of people so we roughed it. Both Tenglou Team and Laochangying Team got to know each other pretty well over the 15 hour train ride. We played Chinese chess, truth or dare and different types of card games. I was truly impressed by how friendly and easy-going everyone was. I felt blessed that I was with such a great group of people and really looked forward to start working closely with everyone.

(Haitao: DC will be a great experience for the volunteers since they’re all so young. Everyone has really high hopes for the projects and impact the organization will be able to make on the kids. I was very concerned about Yev who had to go back to another hotel to get his stuff. His phone ran out of battery and ran into other troubles as he tried to get to the train station alone. We should’ve done it as a team even though it would’ve been more troublesome. Team work is the key. We will stick together no matter what.)

Right after we arrived in Tenglou， we dropped off our luggage at the elementary school where we are going to be staying at with the children and teachers. Principal Chang and Headmaster Tang took us to a local restaurant (what they call cafeteria) to eat. Though our team leader Haitao stressed many times that we don’t want preferential treatment and we want to eat the same food that the locals typically eat. Both Principal Chang and Headmaster Tang insisted that we accept their kind offer. We ended up having a variety of dishes. The food was really good – to all of our surprise. Though we all knew that this was probably the last decent meal we were going to have. We were determined to keep the ethics of our organization in mind. We are here to help the locals, not here to get preferential treatment.

After lunch, the team spent a little time exploring the school. The teachers who we ran into were very friendly and kindly gave us brief intro of several places at the school. We were also “observed” by the kids, especially Yev, who obviously looks different from the rest of the group. I have to admit that I’m definitely not used to the kids looking at me at first. When the team had a brief meeting in the afternoon in the girl’s temporary bedroom, I insisted that we close the curtains so the kids couldn’t peek. However, Haitao called me out on my discomfort and brought me back to my original intention behind join Dream Corps. I am not here to learn but not here to ask other people to accommodate me. If I treat myself as an alien, I will not be able to become part of the people here and understand their lives to help them. I guess it only takes some more time to get used to my new surroundings? I know I’m making my best effort and I can probably take on more pressure if needed.

So let’s backtrack a bit and talk about our living conditions. Originally, the school was going to have all of the five volunteers stay in one room (3 girls and 2 guys). However, after we had more communication with the principal, we learned that they have extra free rooms and ended up splitting the guys and girls into two rooms. Claire, Shirley (who hasn’t arrived yet due to a personal situation) and I get the bigger room. Haitao and Yev get a smaller room right across the hall from us. Both rooms are right next door to classrooms so we can hear the students and teachers in class. Great atmosphere! The living condition is definitely better than we imagined. The school not only set us up with a spacious room, beds, bed nets, but we also get a computer and internet in our room. I’m using the computer to type up this blog as we speak!!! This is so impressive. We’ll be able to install the library software into the computer and link it to the library we’re going to set up. Awesome!

Later, we had dinner at the school cafeteria. There are no tables or chairs in the cafeteria, so apparently students just kind of stand and gather around the room while eating. We had two dishes and some buns for dinner. Again, to our surprise, those were great. We don’t know who set us up with the impression that most people here only eat plain rice and noodles but we are glad it turned out to be more than we expected. Ms Pei who cooks at the cafeteria is the wife of one of the teachers here. She is very nice and friendly. She blushed and was so happy when we complimented her food. We’ve decided that we’re going to eat at the cafeteria all the time (it’s part of the rules we’re supposed to follow as a volunteer and now we don’t have to break it!). We’re also going to split up task washing the dishes so Ms Pei does not need to take care of everything for us.

After dinner, the team met with almost all the teachers from the entire school. The meeting went well over all. Haitao talked about the purpose and goal of Dream Corp and I introduced our 4-week plan to everyone. We will get more reactions from the teachers later on the specific plans as we only had limited time today. The teachers were all relatively reserved. What Principal Chang said made us realize that he was really deeply touched and would like to actively cooperate with us.

Last but not least…we were going to take a shower today but didn’t end up taking one because the meeting ended around 9 and the place (someone’s house) where we were supposed to take a shower at had already closed. The place is apparently across the street from the school and it’s only about a 5 minute walk.

One funny note: The bathroom here is…definitely what I expected but still kind of unbearable. I won’t get into details here. However it’s very dangerous for us to go outside at night and pee there because there is no light and there’s mud out there everywhere (especially given that it’s been raining all day). So Haitao, Clarie, Yev and I ended up going to the bathroom together. Clarie and I decided that it’s more dangerous to go into the bathroom than just peeing outside. So we hid behind two umbrellas and peed outside the bathroom while the other person guarded. We also ended up just getting some water in a bowl from a tap water source outside (only public water source in the entire school) and brushed and washed our face and feet. So that was great. I brushed on the second floor so just dumped the water right down… people here spit inside rooms all the time so no one cares that much about etiquette here at all…Haha, we’re blending in perfectly!

Alright that’s it for tonight. I’m about to run through the blog with the rest of the team and do an overall reflection. More to come tomorrow!

P.S. After we got back into our room, Clarie and I found a little note taped to the door. It said: You have worked hard, big brother, big sister(辛苦了，大哥哥，大姐姐。). We were so moved!

The kids here are definitely curious but shy at the same time. As we washed the dishes, they watched us curiously from a distance. Once we have finished washing, they crowded in around the tap to wash their bowls.

The Meaning of Participation：Part II

2010-06-13T03:05:00.001-04:00

(continued)

Approach
Accordingly, our Approach to open school libraries was not one of dumping more books on schools. The universal pattern of closed rural school libraries—or what we may call “book dungeons”—was more than forbidding. It pointed to the systemic reasons behind it, which ultimately had to do with an under-resourced education system preponderantly geared towards exams. If libraries are to open, there must be people to open it. If books are to become resources, they must not remain on the shelves of a room with an open door; they must instead be taken down, opened up, and read. So, if we really want to open up libraries, we have to promote reading. We decided we must send volunteers along books. An organic combination of book and human resources, so to speak, for a sustained dynamic of self-motivated reading in and around an open library. That’s what we decided to do.

Return
A critical ingredient of this approach is that we return every year. We didn’t think that having the room cleaned up, walls and windows painted, books dusted off and cataloged, which we always do, would turn a book dungeon into an open library. Without the open library becoming a normal part of school life, all that we may end up having is a prettier and temporarily cleaner book dungeon. So we return. By returning, we steer ourselves away from one-off donation of “book resources”, which, in this context, is almost surely a recipe for crowdedness in the book dungeons. More positively and more importantly, by returning, we commit ourselves; we accept that the success or failure of a library is not just their success or failure, it is as much ours. By returning, we get to face what we had done wrong, to accept our fair share of blame for failing to achieve what we advertise and advocate. To return is to not only bring more help, but also hold ourselves accountable, so that we may participate more authentically.

Life cycle
But we do not and cannot return every year forever. We did not want the open libraries to become permanently dependent on us. We instead strive for open libraries sustained on the initiative of the local schools and communities they serve. It is how to achieve this, in the concrete reality of the sites where we work, that we are still figuring out. But we remain committed to this ideal.

That, roughly, was the approach we adopted for Dream Corps in the fall of 2004, when our passion-powered action consolidated into compassionate participation. It still is the basic approach today.

Numbers
How have we been doing over the past 6 years, then? Let’s do the numbers: We operated in 12 provinces and helped to open up 22 libraries. We raised $70,000 and pretty much used up all of it.

Working at 22 libraries over 6 years does not sound like a big deal. Neither is raising $70,000 in 6 years something to brag about. What we are proud of is what we have done with such limited financial resources.

We have sent 170 volunteers from about a dozen countries, who contributed 30,000 hours of onsite volunteer work. And all of this was organized through 100% volunteer work: we never had an employee, part time or full time.

6 years is not too long, but it is often much longer than the full life cycle of a nonprofit. However, with whatever limited financial resources we have had over these years, we perseverated. Not only that, we have firmly established a healthy organization; we have retained our idealistic edge; we have earned the trust of many wonderful young volunteers and local partners; and we are getting better at our work.

Lessons learned
Along the way we’ve also made many mistakes and wrong assumptions. Some examples:

Lesson #1: we thought there were books in the book dungeons, therefore our primary task is opening up the libraries and liberating the books. Wrong! The books tend to be old—many predating 1980—in bad condition, and with many duplicates. What mattered to the schools about their libraries had been the number of book copies in them.

Lesson # 2: we then wanted to get as many books as we can with the limited amount of funding we have. Wrong! The deeply discounted books we thus acquired, through a third-party, were new and flashy, but students did not want to read them. If we want to redress inequality in education, why not send quality books?

Lesson #3: we wanted to work with students directly, only to find out that we are competing with teachers for attention and affection.

Lesson #4: we thought our teaching English on the side could help, but sometimes we get shut out of the classroom.

Lesson #5: we thought returning to the same schools is always welcome, but the local education authority wants us to move on to different ones.
And so on.

Experience Gained
Through mistakes and trial-and-error, we have also come to be better at what we do:
(1) starting in 2005, we began to do systematic volunteer recruitment, and by 2008 we have figured out a fairly stable and effective recruitment scheme;
(2) starting in 2005, we began to do organized training of volunteers, which over the years have become better and better;
(3) starting in 2007, we began to encourage Dream Corps university chapters, which have since given us an invaluable “fan base” in Canadian and US universities;
(4) with organizers now scattered all around the world, we were forced to learn how to organize ourselves effectively using all sorts of new technologies;
(5) we have also learned how not to see the schools as single entities, but how to work differently but complementarily with school administration, the teachers, and the students.
And so on and so forth.

(to be continued)

Type rest of the post here

The Meaning of Participation：Part I

2010-06-07T13:41:00.004-04:00

- Jun Luo, Board Member, as a panel presentation at University of Toronto China Conference, March 27 2010

I guess I am supposed to speak on the “society” part of this panel on “society, policy and law”. But I am no expert of society. As a non-profit organizer, I work from within the fabric of society. I will thus speak from the experience of Dream Corps itself, on its character and its journey, as a concrete example of social forces contributing to the harmonious development of China.

3S
In spring 2004, a set of photos were circulated in a discussion group of Chinese students at Duke University and UNC. This group, named 3S (or三思), for Science, Society, and Self-Awareness, has been a forum for open-ended discussions on topics ranging from ubiquitous computing and cyborgs, to phenomenology and Buddhism, to demography and traditional Chinese art. The photos, which depicted hardship of life in rural China, agitated members of 3S. We wanted to do something about the poverty we saw in the photos. And we did. That was the beginning of Dream Corps—from passionate reaction to real action, a common enough beginning of a nonprofit.

Ambition
In the beginning, we were incredibly ambitious. We wanted to set up websites linking farmers to the market of their produces. We wanted to teach in rural schools. We wanted to do youth engagement. We wanted to train teachers and farmers in new technologies. We wanted to offer consultation in law, health, and policy. We attempted, or at least attempted to attempt, most of these in that first summer of 2004. We really had imagination; (and imagination we still have, plenty of it). Fortunately, we were also receptive and the reality on the ground cooperatively snapped us into the right mental frame. By the end of that summer it has become clear: We could be doing any one of these things, if we seriously organize ourselves around it, but probably no more than one.

Focus
In that hectic summer, we visited many schools. Every school we visited had a library, or really a room filled with shelves of books, sitting there gathering dust. It was a universal pattern, a pattern some of us knew firsthand when we ourselves were in grade schools back in China. At one of the schools, however, we brought some new books, opened up the school library that’s already filled with books. An essay contest on books and reading was organized; students’ reading responses were broadcasted through the school’s announcement system; a program integrating library access, reading, school newspaper, and broadcast station was struck, under the leadership of the school’s vice-principal. The power and charm of reading were palpable on the campus.

In our post-summer deliberations: this experience allowed a focus for Dream Corps to emerge: libraries, more specifically, open access to library materials that are already there. That, we felt, could be the most cost-effective way for us to help out; and we could send volunteers every year to stir and spur. Clear and simple, or so we thought.

Motto
While we were naive about what it would really take to open up libraries and keep them open, we were not too naive. We were all passionate, we knew that. But we were also wary of how transient passionate reactions tend to be and what damages they could do. We understood that the ground from which our actions sprung must not be passions on our part alone; it must instead resonate with all parties in the endeavor: students and parents, volunteers and organizers, teachers and administrators. Thus, Compassion instead of passion. We also knew clearly that we did not have the answer. We had instead a challenge. And Dream Corps could never be the whole answer to that challenge. It could be a part, a small but maybe catalytic part. That is, we are committed to Participation. And, of course, we wanted to do well, to be Excellent. But we did not want what is excellent to be defined by ourselves, to be defined as our feeling good. Excellence, for Dream Corps, does not mean “we” surpassing “them”, but rather we surpassing ourselves through enabling collective excellence, enabling children to achieve their own excellence.

The spirit of Dream Corps, in a nutshell, is excellence through compassionate participation.

(to be continued)

2010 Dream Corps Summer Volunteer Program Training

2010-06-04T16:23:00.003-04:00

On May 20th to 26th 2010, Dream Corps held our annual pre-summer volunteer program training in Beijing. It is the biggest gathering of the sort since the founding of Dream Corps, because, this year, we have invited the teachers and librarians from our sites to join us at the training. In total, 42 volunteers and 13 librarians attended the training camp.

The first two days of training were tailored for librarians from different sites. We hope to assist them in their day-to-day work with new tools, so the libraries that Dream Corps helped to build will best serve the local communities while developing sustainably. Experience sharing sessions were conducted, as well as themed panel discussions. There were also studies of successful cases in reading promotion and workshops lead by experts in library management.

Later on, as the volunteers arrived on May 23rd, the volunteers training camp officially began. The purpose of the three following days is to inform our volunteers so they can use their time on site most efficiently. The activities that took place are designed to foster good team dynamics, to encourage cross-site communication and to inspire creative uses of the library's collection through reading programs. More interestingly, in addition to attending workshops, our seven teams also had to complete assignments: they all presented the draft of a timeline for the tasks they hoped to complete on site. Before boarding the trains that would take them to Henan, Hunan and Sichuan, the librarians and volunteers visited Dream Corps' Beijing site, the New Century Community Library.

Now, as we speak, Dream Corps volunteers are busy setting up libraries throughout China. In a few days, we will publish their team journals, written at the trenches of reading promotion. For those readers who are interested in the detailed training program, we have attached the agenda of those five days of training.

LIBRARIANS' TRAINING

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

8:00-23:00 Librarians/Teachers Registration

Friday, May 21st, 2010

8:00-8:15 Icebreaker
8:15-8:30 Welcome and Overview of Training

8:30-8:45 History and Mission of Dream Corps
resenter: Lili Lai

8:45-9:30 Introduction to Site Libraries
The daily work of librarians, the opening hours and rules, the main problems and challenges
Facilitator: Ruoxia Li

9:30-10:15 Discussion: Common Concerns and How to Address Them
Facilitator: Ruoxia Lia

10:15-10:30 Tea Break

10:30--10:50 Presentation: Reading Together: Tales from reading promotion in Hongkong
Presenter: Yan Liu

10:50--11:50 Discussion：The Role of the Librarian?
Successful Case: Principal Jiang from Lingfang, Hunan
Facilitator: Yan Liu

11:50 Lunch
14:00-14:15 Activities Time
Facilitator：Ruoxia Li

14:15-15:00 Talk: Reading and Child Development
Presenter: Jin Zhu, Children's Reading and Learning Center, Beijing Normal University

15:00-15:45 Discussion: Reading and the Goal of Education
Case studied: Principal Li from Huju, Hunan
Presenter: Lili Lai

15:45-16:00 Tea Break

16:00-17:00 Talk: Children's literature
Presenter: Xiaoying Wang

17:00 Dinner

18:30 Workshop: Introduction to Library Management Software
Presenter: Jingwei Fan

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

8:30-9:15 Recapitulation of the Previous Day

9:15-10:00 Talk: Finding Books Locally
Presenter: Junsheng Jiang
10:00-11:00 Talk: The Development of Community Libraries and the Use of Resources
Presenter: Yi Wang

11:00-12:00 Discussion: The Goal of Library Development/ What can Dream Corps Do?

12:00 Lunch

14:00 Tour of 14th Middle School Library
Workshop: Book Categorization and Library Management
Presenter: Jinghong Yang

VOLUNTEERS' TRAINING

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010

8:00-23:00 Volunteer Registrations

10:00 Team Leaders Orientation (Team leaders only)
Financial matters, logistics, responsibility, safety, ethics, teamwork; checklist & package; training facilitators; contact each site.
Facilitator: Ruoxia，James and Liu Yan

Monday, May 24th, 2010

8:00 Icebreaker
8:30 Promotion Video: A Visual introduction to Dream Corps
8:45 Welcome and Training Overview

9:00-9:40 Panel Discussion: How to “Sell” Reading (to different people)? /Communication Methods

9:40-10:20 Team Presentation
List key stakeholders in the school and communities. What have you contacted so far? What agreement you have reached? What adjustment you have made according to feedback from local contacts? What kind of further communication is necessary?

10:20-10:40 Tea Break

10:40-12:00 Books and Readings
Presenters: Li Ling

12:30 Lunch
Screening: Animating Reading — Reading in Hongkong
14:00 Fun Activity

14:15-15:00 Presentation: Sustainable Reading Activities Recommended by DC
Presenters:
Liu Yan: Library Week
Wang Mengxing: Story-telling Competition
Andy Yu: Principal Reading Time
Jiang Junsheng: school broadcast station

15:00-15:30 Presentation: Teaching Activity and Library Use
Presenter: Gao Lin

15: 30-16:15 Team Discussion: What kind of reading programs can be sustained by school teachers and administrators？

16:15-16:45 Panel Discussion: Family Visit and Understand Community
(Families with children left behind and migrant families with children)
Presenters: Wang YI

16:45-17:00 Teamwork Division and Timeline
Importance of program objectives, roles in the team, task divisions, projects timelines

17:00~night Assignment 1: Teamwork Division and Timeline
Facilitators: All Team Leaders
Each team will draft their teamwork division proposal, projects and program timeline (May 26 – June 22) and activity design, compile into a PowerPoint for team presentations tomorrow (20 minutes presentation, no more than 30 slides)

Assignment 2: Teams Contact Local Contacts
Facilitators: All Team Leaders
Each team will contact their local contacts to confirm local lodging arrangements, arrange transportation, book arrival，and ask for their opinions and choices on activities.

22:00 Team leaders meeting, bring Assignment 1, and share result of Assignment 2

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

8:00 Team Presentations (20 minutes for each)
Facilitators: All Team Leaders

11:00 Safety, Ethics, Logistics

12:00 Lunch

14:00 Visit to New Century Library

16:00 Tour to the National Library and Reading Week Site

17:30 Farewell and Group Photo
17:45 Team Shopping Trips
Facilitator: All Team Leaders
Teams can go shop for reading program materials, library facility decorations, volunteer daily life products (shampoo, sun screen, bug repellent, etc.)

Teams Final Confirmation Phone Calls
Facilitator: All Team Leaders
Each team makes final confirmation calls with sites.

Dream Corps Wins $20,000 in Donation Though Couchange in Twitter Competition

2010-05-18T10:03:00.004-04:00

Remember the twit that we have asked you to help spread around? Now you will learn what became of it.

The TWITCH contest, or Twitter Pitch, is part of the $100K MIT Entrepreneurship Competition. A $500 cash prize is awarded to the organizer who sends the most retwitted and the most creative message.

The social venture startup Couchange , an organization that develops innovative fundraising technologies to help nonprofits access over $8 billion dollars annually in abandoned assets such as leftover giftcards, frequent flier miles, and other reward point currencies, won the competition and donated their $500 prize to Dream Corps.

This $500 is matched personally by Jia Ji, the CEO of Couchange. After hearing that Couchange was donating the MIT100K prize money to charity and that Jia Ji promised to match the MIT100K donation, Paul Fireman of the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation raised the contribution to $20,000.

We are very grateful of Jia Ji, Pian Shu, and Meng Yan, the wonderful people at Couchange who catalyzed the event and collaborated with Dream Corps to raise awareness on education equity in rural China. A big thank you goes to Mr. Fireman for his most generous donation, which will bring about much good work.

We also want to thank the many twitters who helped Couchange and Dream Corps win by retweeting and voting for Dream Corps. Through their help, we reached a total of 60,000 followers and generated retweets from across the United States, Europe and Asia. Thank you!

Dear readers, please follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/dreamcorps) if you haven't done so. This way we'll be able to communicate the latest news to you as they happen. The following month is bound to be eventful, since our summer volunteer program is starting on May 23rd, 2010. See you then!

不久之前，我们号召大家在Twitter上帮我们转发一条信息。今天有好消息告诉大家。

TWITCH，又称 Twitter Pitch （推特推销），是 MIT 10万美元创业大赛中的一个项目。所有参投者中，标语被转发次数最多的，标语最有特色的就可以得到500美元的现金奖。Couchange是一家初创的社会企业，致力于发展独辟蹊径的筹款技术，让公益组织们可以利用每年流失高达到80亿美元的礼物卡、累积飞行里程、以及其他奖励点货币。Couchange赢得了TWITCH比赛，并把500美元奖金捐献给他们支持的非营利组织中得到最多“转推”（retwit）的梦想行动国际。Couchange的CEO吉佳先生同时决定以个人名义捐献500美元。得知吉佳的这一义举之后，Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation的主席Paul Fireman先生当场表示愿意把捐款总数升为20000美元。

我们十分感谢Couchange那些可爱的人们：吉佳、舒翩和闫梦，你们的努力将帮助梦想行动向着我们的目标——让所有孩子都能读上好书——更进一步。我们同时感谢Fireman先生慷慨解囊。这笔捐款将被用在最需要的地方。我们还要感谢所有帮助Couchange和梦想行动转推及投票给我们的twitterers——所有推友们。通过你们，我们向美国、欧洲及亚洲一共6万多名网友传达了我们的信息。谢谢大家！

亲爱的读者们，如果你们还没有在推特上关注梦想行动的话，现在就可以猛击这里（http://twitter.com/dreamcorps）。通过这个平台，我们将不断发布关于梦想行动的新闻。2010年的暑期志愿者项目马上就要开始了。5月23日，来自各地的志愿者和图书管理员、老师们将同聚一堂。我们期待着那一天的到来。

2009年湖南虎踞队日记 (6)

2010-03-31T22:58:00.008-04:00

星期三，6月24日，大雨转阴

(Today’s journal is brought to you by奶奶/若霞)

虎踞，在雨中跟你说“再见”！

这一天来了，平静而又不平静地来了。我们无数次想象过这一天或许是一个阳光灿烂的日子，或许被孩子们包围得水泄不通，或许我们无法控制自己大哭一场···没想到一早就有暴雨相迎相送，或许上天也听到了我们的心声已经先于我们哭泣了。听说过“雨中迎贵人”，谈不上贵人，那么是不是也有“雨中送亲人”之说呢！

我依然是6点睁眼，无论几时睡的觉，今天一定一定要爬起来，是最后一次跟孩子们做做早操。我还是像定时号角一样去“叫床”，虽然我多么想闭嘴，让凌晨3点才上床的孩子们再多享受一下他们的单人床和伴儿，因为昨晚悉尼就抱怨我，“这可是俺和枘枘的最后一夜啊！”我咋忍心搞这种破坏活动呢？所以最后一天，我还是放宽了政策。香蕉金鱼和我结伴去做早操，这是他第一次也是最后一次做早操，站在所有学生的后面，手脚极不谐调地，引来孩子们一阵笑声。我们前面的一个小女孩做得特起劲儿，好可爱的。

最后享受一次豆腐早餐，我吃了很多，香蕉金鱼、鹏和我三人站在学生餐厅打算跟孩子们吃饭，但是晚了一点儿，只有零星的不多的孩子了，有几个跑过来问我们什么时候走，我们还是含含糊糊地说今天，但不确定什么时候。不知道这样为孩子们着想的回答是不是伤害了孩子们的感情，一定会的，因为我们是故意的，哪有这么故意伤人的，伤的还是纯真的孩子。哥哥姐姐们想，有一天，你们长大的时候会理解的。

7点多的时候，我们仍然在斗争捐来的3000多块该如何处置，以梦想行动的名义为虎踞筹的款是应该直接带回梦想呢？抑或直接以梦想行动的名义留给富平兄立马做硬件建设？各种问题一直袭击着我们一颗赤诚的心灵。大家建议我给赖教授打电话。于是我照办。这招还挺灵，赖教授的三言两语就平息了我们的斗争，尤其那句“DC会跟得很紧，怀远弟是个很严格的人”，深入人心。

早饭后，按照昨天的分工，我们开始行前大扫除。我们来的时候房间干干净净，我们走的时候也要留给学校一个干干净净的房子。

- 枘枘：洗刷并消毒所有的盆、痛、饭盆等生活用品；

- 香蕉金鱼：清理阳台和垃圾；跟凉茶交接工作；跟富平兄交接所有密码；向每班班主任发放告别信；

- 鹏：拖地，擦家具；

- 悉尼：整理床上用品装袋，搜集我们拿不走的东西；

- 奶奶：扫厕所，将留下的物品交代给大队辅导员曾老师。

活儿刚干完，肖校长和富平兄的车就到了，俺们开始搬行李。先行一步到龙阿姨焦叔叔家告别，送给他们俺们精心挑选的礼物，拍了留影，一步一回头地被迫上车。最残酷的事实是面包车太小，放了我们的大把行李后已经没啥空间，我们几个非走不可的人是硬塞进去的，就苦了小明兄不能同去送我们，开车的霎那，他为我们放了鞭炮，他的眼圈红红的，我们每人一个飞吻送给他···

我们在虎踞期间，除了六一游行在中学逗留片刻，还不曾正式访问中学。所以在路上我们在中学停了10几分钟，走了一圈儿，遗憾的是，图书室管理员近几日不在，没能目睹图书室的现状和拍照。但在车上，我简单interview了肖校长，了解中学图书室情况，再次探风是否欢迎明年的虎踞队以及如果明年梦想还来希望我们做什么。

午饭是县教育局领导安排的，谈、龙、李等局长都到，还有枣市队的小枣们和两队前来送行的学校老师领导们，我们吃了一顿美味，还有县教育局送给我们每人一个特别牛的牛，这个礼物好重啊！

富平兄和肖校长一直送我们到候车室，把行李放好，一一拥抱，写到这里，我找不到词来写那个情景，香蕉金鱼在我们耳旁悄声安慰：要顶住。于是我们都非常听话。然而在富平兄转身的那一刻，我们看到他拭泪的动作，走到好远才半回头了一下下，这个人今天一直不对头、不吭声、不起哄。在我看到富平兄消失在候车室门口的背影，我再也顶不住了。

在等上车的一个小时内，我们和小枣们轮流看行李，期间，我和香蕉金鱼又开始杞人忧天，探讨DC以后的路子和模式。香蕉金鱼remind我富平兄的名言：没有绝对的从上倒下，也没有绝对的从下到上。

上车后，大家立即声明要给富平兄短信，怎么短，短什么，枘枘想到了一个极其浪漫而煽情的节目----每人依次发一句“红豆”（虎踞队队歌之一）最高潮部分的歌词给他。正在下乡检查的他收到信息后，感概万分，说等他工作完毕后，晚上再聊。

大家这个时候都到了顶点了，上车不久，所有的人都歪头斜脑大，张嘴地睡着了。可想而知，孩子们有多劳累了，我也一样，大家的丑样是我中途不小心醒了欣赏到的。我不经意间回头望了望放我电脑包的行李架位置，突然发现我的包不见了，一下子惊得清醒得不得了，就开始一遍一遍地在我们两排行李架上扫描，扫了好几次都没有，就开始不停地嘟囔，包不见了，包不见了，怎么办？嘟囔到几乎每个人都醒，了除了香蕉同志，那个个脸上不情愿的。我们发现小元不见了，runqi同学到另外一个车厢找到了小yuan，看到小yuan可爱地抱着我的包在睡觉。原来小yuan离开的时候知道我的包放得比较远，怕我们看不到，就随手带过去了。虚惊一场，我觉得对不住大家，羽佳说这也好，给大家一个警醒。

车上，我们受”The Name of the Rose”的启发，还聊了宗教问题，我的老本行，可惜是个山寨基督徒。讨论火车站到哪儿吃饭。联系思聪何时碰面。开会明晚北京夜生活带不带家属等原则性问题。跟雅月短来短去。

果然，可爱的绿皮儿火车又晚点了。我们只好一行人拎着大块行李和12头牛就近到大娘水饺大吃一顿，还可以等思聪的时候享受空调。

奶奶自己跑去上网了，悉尼来顶当：

9点半，一行人浩浩荡荡地走出大娘水饺，在火车站入口处遇到了久违的思聪队。别来无恙啊！接下来的是繁琐的入站、安检、检票。。。可是，走着走着，思聪队失踪了，于是我们委派香蕉金鱼负责人头搜索。等我们都上了车，放好了行李，才看到香蕉金鱼一身大汗地回来了。怎么一回事呢？原来是那两瓶老师送的家乡豆腐乳惹的祸。两瓶豆腐乳在某处卡住了，一队人为它们周旋了半天才进站。（谁知，费了九牛二虎之力拉出来的豆腐乳，在火车上，还是给思聪队cei了！）好咯！终于，一个也不少，乡巴佬们要进京咯！

安顿好后，大家都聚在枣市的车厢里。别看这枣市队，表面如此温柔似水，暗地里藏了一大瓶高度数米酒。看人家，真是低调，哪像某个带豆腐乳的，那么高调！于是大家就开始愁，怎么把它干掉呢？香蕉金鱼又一次介绍了他那幼稚的“007棒棒棒”，然后又一次被大家无情地拒绝了。枣市推荐了他们的喝酒游戏（听说，有一次把某人灌得不轻）——胡克船长和脑子有病。（具体详情请咨询枣市队）然后我们就开始划船、开始有病了。人家枣市队十分团结，不像咱们的虎踞队。这奶奶，唯恐天下不乱，专陷害自家人，一到香蕉金鱼与枘枘喝酒，她就猛倒猛灌。哪有这样当人家奶奶的，要知道人家两个都还没到21岁呢！到了奶奶呢，当然要以其人之道还置其人之身啦，一大杯下去，奶奶的脸甭儿红甭儿红的。

正当我们喝得起劲的时候，半路杀出个陈咬金，曲歌歌同志风风火火地奔来了。一杯酒下去，她便开始与俺们闲聊起来了。DC见DC，两眼泪汪汪。这一聊，聊到了凌晨三点。奶奶呢？12点：歪头斜睡；12点一刻：躺在床上，进入初级睡眠状态；12点半：非常自觉地盖上被子，呼呼大睡，完全进入梦境。越聊灯越暗，越聊人越少，越聊呼噜声越大。我也只坚持到1点半便上床睡觉了。坚持到最后的勇士是：曲歌歌、枘枘、香蕉金鱼、润qi还有小yuan.

晚安，长沙。晚安，聪聪们、小枣儿们、小虎儿们。

2009年湖南虎踞队日记 (5)

2010-03-31T22:53:00.001-04:00

星期三，6月17日，热

(Today’s journal is brought to you by 奶奶/若霞)

一睁眼就有无名的紧迫感，今天是周三，下周三的此刻我们已经打理行囊、酝酿大哭，跟朝夕相处的校园告别了……已经不敢也不愿再想下去，还是千里之行始于足下吧，喊孩子们起床，各就各位。我起来的时候雅月还在呼呼小睡，香蕉金鱼说她昨晚为了赶她的家庭作业（香蕉金鱼给每个人布置了父亲节专栏，每人负责把各班搜集的感想贴在album上），在走廊月光下赶到3点。这孩子，可真是死心眼儿，超级认真仔细的，我们已经说了晚点交没关系的。所以，我想让她多睡会儿，我们给她打回来了豆腐早餐。

梦想行动—想想不动

我跟大家汇报跟富平兄商量在我们走前跟小朋友老师们合影之事，张口就说:“富平兄安排周五上午，以年级为单位来跟我们拍照片。所有的老师和梦想不动，还有以班轮换的学生，一起合影！”大家一听，怎么梦想行动怎么被奶奶偷换成“梦想不动”了？前几天，我们在队服上画字的时候，我一出笔就是“想想行动”，哎呀，年纪大了，想不动了。

霉饭油腻的挑战—洗桌子

一大早太阳就已经升得很高，这个闷热啊！早饭后，我就毫不留情地命令两个男娃去洗昨天从双芫小学拿回来的3张小桌子。昨天我们去参观双芫小学的时候，这些小桌子是空闲在一间教室、专门当餐桌的，当时远远看上去形体和大小都还是符合我们心意，就一口答应了富平兄，图书室的小桌子就用他们了，3张足够。下午香蕉金鱼还被专门喊去搬桌子，直接搬回图书室外走廊，近处一探，俺们这群人一看都傻了，里里外外积累了10年的油腻，桌肚子里面还有已经发霉发臭的饭菜。当时我们想洗洗就好了，所以又从教学楼搬到宿舍门口，冲洗方便。结果今早竟刷洗了两小时，还没刷干净，开始我们说，要不先洗出一个看看能不能用，鹏还是坚持把3张刷完了。一大早的我看到他俩就光着膀子在火辣辣的太阳下干活儿，像洗澡一样，那水从背上哗啦哗啦地流，这些被宠爱的80后估计在家都不会干这么苦脏的事儿。用大家的话说，真没见过这么厚的油腻，刷都刷不起来的。

课外活动

昨天持续了一天的画墙工程，组织500多人有秩序地来画绝对不是一件容易的事情，大概到昨天下午的时候就总结出了一些经验，是不是可以多让一个组或者让整班都来，每组缩短画画时间等。我们立马出去又买了一套笔。所以今天上午第二节课开始，还是香蕉金鱼和枘枘负责去叫班、分组、宣布画画规则、监督，一组进来画的时候，悉尼负责在楼道组织其余同学维持秩序。两组同时进行，加上一套有经验的领导班子，果然最后两个班的效率很高，大概用一节半课的时间就完了。当最后一个小朋友走出图书室的瞬间，我们所有的人同声大“哇”了，浩浩荡荡的涂鸦工程终于终于画上句号了。留下的尾巴，比方说没画完的玻璃就交给枘枘以最快的速度和想象填空了。

鹏和香蕉金鱼组织五（3）班默读活动。香蕉金鱼和鹏邀请了五（3）班全班50多人参加了今天中午12 :30-2:30 的默读活动。我们其他小分队都是按小组顺序每组来轮流半小时。我们以五（3）班做了一个新的尝试，同时让一个班的人都来，而且班主任（也是我们未来的图书管理员）段老师也来跟班。香蕉金鱼说不仅不乱，而且很成功。

枘枘和我组织三年级看图说话活动。三年级有两个班，因为人太多，我们的办法是到班上让大家数数，从每班公平抽出10个孩子来参加我们的活动。看着大家积极踊跃渴望的眼神，看到那么多失落的表情（毕竟抽出来的是少数），我这心里头真不是滋味，可怜的孩子哪。不是不想让所有的人都来，只是空间、时间、和无法维持秩序等问题困扰我们，无法让我们在这里满足每一个小朋友的愿望。枘枘讲的是“快乐王子”的故事，她先把里面的绘画翻给孩子们看，让他们自己先想象猜猜看是什么故事什么意思，之后再讲故事给他们听，最后还提一两个问题。孩子们非常可爱，都专注地听着。

电脑室吃尘运动

上午香蕉金鱼在电脑室。

香蕉金鱼带领月、鹏和悉尼开始在电脑室吃尘运动。

晚饭后，全队人马6点半开始加班加点到电脑室继续吃尘运动，一直到10点半收工。悉尼、鹏、枘枘三人扫主机。香蕉金鱼和雅月打扫擦洗显示屏和地槽。香蕉金鱼分配给我的是相对轻松又不吃尘的工作——擦洗所有电脑拆下来的线、电板和鼠标，一共两大箱。这工作的确比俺孩子们的活儿轻松不少，就是费点点儿时间，香蕉金鱼拆线时每条都打了节，我需要解开、擦了、再打住。后来有雅月来帮了一会儿，大概10点左右就完工了。悉尼和鹏鹏在另一边的实验室里负责擦主机。在暗黄的灯光下，他们先向香蕉金鱼大师学会怎么开主机，怎么再把那厚重的壳装回去。他俩拿着一大一小的油画刷，轻轻地刷去上面的浮土。悉尼负责把风扇、芯片上的土堆在一起，让后再靠鹏鹏的一大口气，把这一堆土山吹出主机。就这样，他们开一台、刷一台、吹一台、装一台，反反复复，弄了二十多台。这一刷再一吹，两个人身上都沾了一层灰。大家干得热火朝天的时候，富平兄等几位老师都有来逗留过，他们看到我们这个场面，简直惊呆了，说我们太辛苦了，简直不好意思让我们干这些活儿，也说原来一塌糊涂的电脑室现在焕然一新。其实，我们并不是听到赞美的声音就晕过去了，大家都是超完美的人，无论这件事情多小多轻，一旦开了个头就要彻底做完做好，孩子们用汗水和泪水是要在身边做些力所能及的事。

战地医院

我昨天被咬的腿腕部两个大疙瘩一夜之间就进化成了大水泡，而且白天还越长越大，脚趾头上还增加了俩。我不得不穿拖鞋和和大短裤。迎面碰到的老师们都说本地人都不长，也没见过这个品种的水泡，有的建议我去医院，但我觉得还是可以忍受的，没什么大不了。到了中午，我坚持让我的护士悉尼像上次那样处理，可悉尼看了又看，那水泡晶莹剔透像个香蕉金鱼眼睛，她实在难以下手，就喊来了杀虫能手枘枘来主刀。于是，两护士就开始研究手术程序，我四处找来瑞士军刀、小刀、棉棒、打火机等等工具，枘枘开始消毒。天气闷热得很，大家稍一动弹就是一身汗，枘枘看到头顶的电扇，眼睛亮了一下，结果呢，这个頂扇是完全不工作的，其实俺房间除了一只小灯泡就没有任何设备了。枘枘抖着手给我捅破皮，把水挤掉，把皮儿剪掉，悉尼给我上了药。我完全信任他们的技术和赤脚医生的治法，但到了脚趾头那疙瘩，里面有血肉露出，枘枘死活不敢下手，不知如何处理，坚决赶我上医院。于是，大中午的小明兄带我上了趟医院，那医生朝远儿瞧了瞧，就说没事儿，开点药就行。我拿了些其实我认为并不太管用的药回府了。

世界上最好吃的味道—人情味

上午焦叔带我和悉尼去镇上买东西，我们给图书室又添置了些储物箱、工具小盒子之类的东西，焦叔还帮我们砍价，说我们买的篮子比他的还便宜。晚上在电脑室干活时，龙阿姨给我们搬来一大袋子的慰问品，水和雪糕，说是富平兄让送来的，孩子们给感动坏了，真是雪中送炭哪，香蕉金鱼叹道：“世界上最好吃味道的就是人情味！”课间有两学生来要求帮忙，我们就让他们去提水，香蕉金鱼还把雪糕跟小朋友们分享。

没错，这个人情味，不是用任何调料能调出的味道，是最好吃的味道！

晚安，虎踞！晚安，虎踞队的孩子们！

若霞奶奶

2009年湖南虎踞队日记 (4)

2010-03-31T22:40:00.002-04:00

星期日，6月14日，热

(Today’s journal is brought to you by 奶奶/若霞)

昨晚大家闲聊到2点，因为一定要聊出我们最后一周的战略策划，一条条地过，每一项任务和活动都落到人头。今天早晨还不得不在8点前起床，昨天玩耍了一天，大家决意今天一早开工，要把活儿补回来。说好在龙阿姨家8点开早饭，是白薯花生粥和糖包子，我喝了3大碗。之前我答应孩子们这个周末找顿饭露露身手做山西拉面，早饭的时候，我就和了两大块面，好让它省长点儿时间，中午好拉。

关于香蕉金鱼：

想跟香蕉金鱼说，你辛苦了，虎踞队谢谢你。他花了很多时间和精力来编书号。他虽很贪玩儿，说话也不着边际，鬼点子花样噼里啪啦的一大堆，但他工作很疯狂，虎踞队浓墨重彩的工程都是由他挑大梁的，他也很懂中国事务，对NGO有深刻理解，说话办事自有分寸，这对一支“香蕉”来说是很不容易的。

关于“虎踞梦想图书室”口号：

上午大家聚在图书室，金鱼继续编排最后的一部分，在这个空隙，其余人献计献策挖空心思地想“虎踞梦想图书室”（这是我们命名的名字）的口号。无数智囊风暴就不一一列举了，大家收到“一沙一世界，一花一天堂，”的启发，就来了个“一书一世界，一室一天堂。”我们又在“天堂”与“乐园”中辗转反侧，最后敲定“一书一世界，一室一乐园，”虽然对乐园一词也不尽满意。我竟然花了将近一个下午的时间把这10个字写在墙上，简直无法原谅。

关于剪编码工程：

编号出来，我们去富平兄房间打印出来，富平兄周末一回家，他的房间就成了俺们的客房，出来进去真是方便得很。有了系统编码，金鱼先生极有成就感，但又迎来一项巨大得让人窒息的工程——剪编号。为了节约成本，我们没有准备打印标签，编码都是打在普通纸上/上午5把剪刀都参加了剪编码，那个费劲儿呀，纸标签又细又小，还得排序，一不小心打个喷嚏哈欠、或是开了风扇、或是一股子风进来，就把小签们吹个稀巴烂。所以我们及时立了剪编码规定：不许咳嗽，不许打喷嚏，不许开风扇，违者视严重程度罚款30、50、100元不等!

关于山寨版山西拉面

中午不到12点我就先行一步到龙阿姨家准备拉拉面。焦叔叔见我的第一句话就是，小李小李，快来尝甜酒冲蛋，我先做了一碗，看看是不是你要喝的。我心里咯噔一下，完了，我只是上周问问他而已，以前在长沙的时候经常喝这个当早餐。他说他家里没有，他们也不喝。口口声声地不想给人添麻烦，不知不觉就又犯错误了。结果我一尝，还真好喝，一口气把那碗样品下肚了。焦叔叔说是他跟朋友们要的，但我感觉可能是他买来的，千万个不好意思，只是心里思忖着过几天走之前该以什么方式感谢这两口呢！

等焦叔叔把五菜一汤都烧好后，我就开始动手了。正当我一把汗一把水地拉着起劲儿的时候，孩子们赶来了，他们一见俺那姿势、先切条儿后拉出来的面，就来了个“山寨版拉面，奶奶又欺骗俺们感情了！”这帮孩子们脑子里大概一直幻着的是像电视里头那一大坨面团拉成金丝面的图片。虽然俺不是专业出身，好在也是受过家里培训的，这可是唯一拿得出手的一招儿，那纯正的山西家常小拉面怎么就被俺家这群屁孩儿批得山寨了呢？大家瞧着龙阿姨几下试练已经拉得得意洋洋，就都争着下手了，因为地盘儿不大，案板太小，面在手里拉不开，金鱼弯下背，负责切条的时候，我眼前突然出现了块现成的空中案板——香蕉金鱼的虎背熊腰，面条在上面蹬了蹬就拉出来了，还真管用。为了尽快喂饱这些孩子，也顾不上他生产的那些营养成分(除了汗臭，他还喜欢在地上滚来滚去的)，估计我们今天吃的矿物质一定非常丰富。午饭后，焦叔叔给每人都做了一碗甜酒冲蛋当甜品，我们简直吃得饱死。

关于流水线贴编码工程

今天中午我们没休息，从焦叔叔家里回来都不用洗碗，直奔我们的Studio。上午剪了一大推的编码了，鹏继续剪，悉尼和月一组开始贴编码。晚饭后，我们稍微留了一点修整的时间，比方说至少有洗饭盆和洗衣服的时间，因为每个人都已经泡了很多衣服，再不洗就没的穿了。之后从6点多加班加到12点，中间包括就地一个小时的闲聊。晚上鹏和悉尼包揽了全部的剪编码，他们不接受替换，说他们已经熟悉了一套流程和技巧，如果换了人又需要时间找感觉，真是辛苦他们了，那一个个一丁点儿的小编码都是一刀一刀剪的，且好不能含糊的，只听得两人还在“开会”讲什么童年趣事，有滋有味的，鹏哥哥说的那些事儿好像还不曾跟我们交代过呢。枘枘和月一组、金鱼和我一组贴标签，我因为这一天几乎没参加到这个队伍，所以手生，一上来一边说咱们需要点儿时间适应一下这个流程一边右手的剪刀就不听使唤地刺向金鱼的手，然后便是一阵大笑。说实话，从开头的旧书目录录入到贴编码，我还真爱上了这流水线活儿，一旦上了手就不想停下来，也不用太多使唤脑子。今天我们虽然进展很大，但加班到12点还是没有能够做完。做不完的感觉很不爽，也影响睡觉，但考虑到第二天能够有效率的继续工作和大家的健康问题，所以还是招呼大家回屋睡觉。而且，我发现孩子们要是睡不好，第二天脾气就不好。虽然时辰已不早，再洗洗涮涮的，其实睡眠的时间所剩无几。回来跟雅月叹了声，这是啥日子啊！悉尼也问我，这是不是我做过的最辛苦的差事。

关于画窗和画墙

虎踞队酝酿已久的画画工程终于在今天下午拉开帷幕，孩子们都很激动。枘枘调好了各色颜料，排了一排，金鱼起了个头画墙，据说涂的是黑夜白昼，枘枘接着挥笔小王子。然后先从我们自己开始做试验，每个人轮流在窗户玻璃上画，两扇玻璃窗竣工的时候，大家都惊呆了，一块玻璃、一个画就是一个世界，五颜六色的房子、太阳、蝴蝶、彩虹、荷花不仅装点了整个窗户而且给整个房间带来生气，天渐黑刚开灯那会儿，那个惬意舒服啊！明天我们会邀请所有的小朋友和老师来画，这个房间的墙是属于他们的，透过窗户的世界也是属于他们的，我在想当他们握着笔的时候，当他们被告诉用你的想象，想画什么就画什么的时候，是不是也跟我们刚才一样激动自由奔放呢！

杂记

- 托人购买返京的火车票。

- 致电在县城的富平兄帮我们带东西：换发票，冲照片，买泡沫纸、颜料。一次想清楚我们还需要什么。带回来客真不是一件容易的事，每次都觉得想得够周到的，可事到临头还是缺这缺那的。

- 晚上加班我们需要宽胶带，让富平兄从县城带回已是来不及，所以晚饭前我去找焦叔让他带我去镇上买，结果他刚出去了。我这一急，左右巡视就瞧见不远处的邻居家门口停了一台摩托，想都没想就奔过去大喊，说我有急事到镇上能不能带我去买东西，结果那小伙子二话没说就带我上车。回来我说付他两块钱什么的，人家楞是不要。虎踞的人，真是好啊，俺们怎么感谢呢。

闲话心得

- 最近几天大家都非常累，老加班，而且工作头绪多，有时无从下手不知所措，即使我们有充分的探讨。所以避免不了走弯路、出偏差、甚至意见不一致。我觉得这是一件好事，因为有了问题我们就会找解决问题的办法，而寻找这个solution的过程就学到了新的东西。刚才还听到孩子们哼着《阳光总在风雨后》，那么我坚信，情深意切总在争吵后。感谢争吵，感谢矛盾，感谢问题，我们学会了如何互相理解、互相宽容、互相信任和互相尊重。

- 要提醒我自己和孩子们timing。一项工作是否需要定时来促进合作和效率。

- Prevent the worst, promote the best. (From Banana Gold Fish)

晚安，虎踞！晚安，虎踞队的孩子们！其实奶奶都不忍心每天叫你们起床的，可我会继续叫！

若霞奶奶

Support Dream Corps Fundraising Campaign!

2010-03-31T19:15:00.003-04:00

Dear Friends of Dream Corps,

Dream Corps is campaigning to raise $34,000 for the 2010 Dream Libraries projects in China. We are delighted to announce that we have already raised $902 through different streams in the past few weeks. We are very grateful to those who have contributed. To reach our goal we desperately need your help to spread the word and raise funds for this summer’s projects!

You can support us in a few simple ways:

* Donate through our Dream Corps Facebook Cause. Invite your friends to join Cause also!

http://www.causes.com/DreamCorps

* Share the message below on your Facebook, Skype, MSN status.

Dream Corps: Donate to Dream Libraries | Empower Rural Children | $2 = 1 book | 请捐助梦想行动为中国农村孩子建图书室| www.dreamcorps.org/donate.html

* Tell your friends about our website and our blog

website: http://www.dreamcorps.org/donate.html
blog: http://dreamcorpsblog.blogspot.com/

Thank you!

Ruoxia Li
Fundraising Committee Chair

2007 贵州大洞小学志愿者活动後感

2010-03-27T14:46:00.006-04:00

- Siyao Zhu, 2007 Guizhou Volunteer

引

“每个孩子都有着他的梦想

昨天的那些梦想引导我们走到了今天

一路走来，我们曾经得到无数鼓励与支持

现在我们试图给予那些孩子同样的鼓励与支持

希望能够为他们的人生，带来一些不同。”

--- 梦想行动国际

梦想行动国际，很中意的名字。最初决定参加，在一定程度上是被这个名字打动。

“梦想”是一个由游学或旅居海外的华人发起创建，旨在通过提高农村地区教育水平，促进农村经济发展，改善广大农民生活质量，推进中国持续和谐发展的一个非营利性组织。今年夏天，来自5个国家的30多位志愿者会分散到7个省份进行为期3周的活动。

我和4个可爱的人一起被分到了贵州省的大洞小学。在那里的19天内，我们要建立一个真正会被使用的图书室，开展阅读活动，走访学生的家庭并转交幼苗资金，和适度地做一些教学（如果需要）。

北京集训2天之后，我们出发了。旅途是漫长的。在25个小时的火车，7个小时的长途汽车，1个小时的小车后，我们终于到达了大洞村，一个在任何地图上都无法寻找到的小村庄。

开始了。

大洞小学

大洞小学有180多个学生，13个老师，8个班，从学前班到六年级。除六年级2个班以外，每个年级只有1个班。因为没有升学的压力，这里的孩子总是快乐的，学业也决不繁重。似乎每两堂课之间都有半个小时的休息，中午的课间长达3个多小时。古朴的木楼里和家长与老师一起用水泥铺平的操场上总会传来孩子们的歌声、欢笑声、与嬉戏声。

我个人一直认为大洞小学的校长是个很能干的人。他基本可以认识学校里的每一个孩子。校长是一个乡村里长大的汉人。但他可以拿着一个类似汽油桶的酒桶，说着流利的苗语和当地的老师沟通，交流。同时，他也会仔细地聆听不同志愿团队的现代想法，然后开明地给志愿者提供足够自由的空间去开展活动。这次，凑巧赶上六一儿童节，我幸运地看到、体会到了校长的权威；也颇为感慨城乡之间这个权威是多么得不同。乡村校长的权威非常的简单也非常的实在。孩子们过节，要吃肉。那么校长就要在这个一年才杀一次猪的村庄和附近的地方找来2头活猪。然后这个猪一定要校长来杀，猪毛一定要校长来剃。因为那是他的权威。

图书室

建立：

这次我们的主要工作就是建立一个可长期发展、使用的图书室。工作比较琐碎和专业，所以不想多写什么。只记一点心得吧：做比想和说难很多。

开放：

Wooooo Reading Mania!!! Going in and out of the library Mania?!?!

学校拥有这个图实室一定时间了，但因为老师的管理精力有限。学生们并不能真正走进图书室。要想借书，只可以站在图书室的门口，翻看一本残破不全的书目，报出书名，值日生拿给你。所以这次真正开放，每天都会有N多的学生蜂拥而至。有的小孩甚至只是为了来图书室而来图书室。很是可爱与吵人！！！

真的希望我们设计的运作模式可以被持续执行。真的希望图书室不会因为我们的离去而关闭。

阅读活动

我们没有教课，只是固定跟四年级的孩子做了2周的阅读活动。这是个28人的班级，女生神奇地占了多数，也明显是强势群体。两个班长和学习委员全是女孩子。做活动，男孩子也明显的更害羞。这里的学生们喜欢竞争，但讨厌表现自己。所以分组的活动很受欢迎；组与组之间有竞争，每组又有好几人，不用害怕独自表现。小小的孩子们很可爱。

大洞村 + 家访

这是个安静的小村庄，大部分人处在自给自足的状态。自己种米种菜织布。现金收入只靠种碰柑或出外打工，目的也只是单纯的为了供孩子读书和给家里添置些电器。80%的家庭收入一样，贫富差距不大。

我们走访了11个家庭，每个家庭都有各自的故事。有的是书香世家中的凄美爱情故事，有的是平平淡淡中的柴米油盐。见过了不被使用的电视和家中唯一的生活工具-简易的铁架灶台一起被摆放在屋中（电视只是一个打过工挣过钱的象征）。见过了没有分屋，只分层，牲口住下，人住上的木楼人家。见过了17岁才小学毕业的乖巧女孩子，只因家中6个孩子，不是每年都有钱供她念书。四年级的小孩从没听说过拼图，五年级的男孩得到一个绒绒熊会兴奋的抱着它打篮球，六年级的小孩不会看钟。朴实的老板以为现在国家还会给大学生分配工作。很少的人拥有手表，镜子。屈指可数的人知道电脑、网络。这里的孩子们除了念书还要做很多农活，或者说学习是次要的，种田才是重要的。11岁的男孩可以背起80斤的担子走几里路……

曾经听人说过“老少边穷”，但也许没有这次自己走过，这个说法对我的意义只是一个四字词语。

生活点滴

现在慢慢地整理写下感触，可以列出很多数字，好像当时一切都有标准的计划，每天简单的按步行事就好。其实远非如此。在大洞了解学会了一些东西。其中一个就是习惯不确定。不到早上醒来，这一天的计划都很难制定。我们曾经为一天的阅读活动想了3个方案：A如果下雨；B如果不下雨；C如果不下雨，学生对B方案无反应。无法提前知道天气，无法知道这天是否有电．．．．．．

重点强烈深刻的记一下“电”！这里的电是4怕：怕风，怕雨，怕太阳，怕？（我忘了）。电时有时无。最开始，我们停电时会惊叫，来电时会鼓掌。但最后走时，我们已经可以向村民们一样无所谓。对不定时，不限长度的停电表示习以为常，非常理解。

我们住在了一个农家。四世同堂的一家人，外表看来幸幸福福快快乐乐的生活着，实际伤心难过得事情也有。姐姐新婚，丈夫逝世，独自一人带着幼小的女儿住在娘家；弟弟左边的耳朵天生没有张开，家中却连去医院看一下病因的钱也没有。这是一家很好的人，姐姐每天帮我们烧饭，弟弟经常下课后跑到图书室帮我们忙，走时因为临近端午节，老板娘还给我们每人带上了一捆粽子。祝福他们。

我被跳骚咬了一片，每天痒得抓个不停。却惊奇地发现旁边那个被马蜂蜇肿了的小男孩，好像没有痛感神经一样，依旧满山上下乱跑。他班老师居然也跟我说，“没事，经常的，过几天就好了。”神啊，人为什么这么不同呢？！哦，对了，那个老师也是个穿着皮鞋翻山爬树的神奇家伙。

认识了一群国内的志愿者（复新），很佩服他们。复新的人，来自中国各地，长期呆在大洞教书。他们自己带一个复新班，尝试用一种赏识素质教育的新理念来引导孩子。他们做了一件件事情，也许没有一件事情是重大的，但没有人可以否定任一件事情的意义。他们提出了奖学金与助学金的区别；他们到处去筹营养加餐的钱，为了那些孩子可以每天吃一个鸡蛋喝一杯豆浆；他们用自己的吉他去教孩子们一门乐器…… 复新班的孩子每天会鼓着掌进出教室，复新班的孩子会在上每堂课前唱一首歌；复新班的孩子比别的小孩更大方，更勇敢……

另外，感慨一下这群老师的歌声。有一天晚上，停电无法工作，他们抱着吉他来我们住的地方玩。嗓音棒透了！！！羡慕之极。后来，我们说那天晚上Hai Sum得觉得不现实。

支教

支教本身，这次也让人思考了几个问题：

1．志愿者做事应该贴近当地环境还是带来外面新鲜事物？

看到过一个人的博客里这样写：“教育的一大目标是提升一个人的眼界，培养一个人对某事物的SENSE。比如支教，就是让那些没机会离开大山的孩子知道外面的世界是什么样子。”相信这段话代表着很多人的观点。志愿者，大学生，留学生，一个个名字说下来，无一例外地表达着你是山外面的人。你来得目的当然是告诉孩子外面绚烂多彩的世界，教给他们英文，点燃他们的希望，鼓励他们考大学，走出这座山……

可是，世界真是这样美好吗？外面真是这样诱人吗？上面的观念真的对吗或者说真会对山里孩子好吗？当少数民族的孩子连普通话都说不流利的时候，教他们英文的意义在哪里？况且大多数情况下，他们会在这座大山中度过一生。山里教师的素质和教育的水平，相信大家都很清楚。考上大学，那对山里孩子意味着要比城里孩子付出不知多少倍的努力。假设，这里有一个理想远大的孩子，他坚持不懈，刻苦学习。初中毕业，考上了县高中，家中节衣缩食将他供下来。接着，他又很争气的考上大学。但是现今高额的大学学费远远地超过了他父母的能力，那怎么办呢？好吧，“国家是爱人民的”，贷款。于是，父亲带着儿子小心翼翼的去找村政府。拿到了村里的证明，添完了无数张表格，男孩子背负着全家人的希望，怀揣着窝头上路了。四年中，男孩努力学习，拼命打工。终于学业有成，毕业了。可是国家早已不再分配工作。这个世俗的城市又哪里会有一个山里男孩的留身之地？无奈的男孩带着一张无法支付的银行催还贷款单，一纸薄薄的毕业证书，和一身于种田无任何用处的知识踏上了回乡之路。如果结果是如此。最初初中毕业，男孩去念国家免去学费，每年还给1500元补助的职业学校。然后到当地一家小小的工厂本本分分地做一辈子普普通通的工人。会不会是一个更好的选择？世界从未公平过，对城里人好的，一定对山里人好吗？我们为什么要将一个美丽虚幻的目标指给孩子，等他们费力拼搏过后，再无情的告诉他们那只是一个他们无论无何也达不到的梦想。

相信说到梦想或理想，前一派的人又会以立刻指责后一派：既然世界已经不公平，那你连一个希望，一个奋发向上的动力和机会都也不愿给山里的孩子吗？

各派有各派的说法。到底谁有最好的建议。我茫然。

2．奖学金还是助学金？直接赞助学生还是赞助一个项目？

在国外念书，拿过Financial Aid也得过 Scholarship。但到现在才意识到两者的区别以及在中国推广的意义。奖学金：你优秀，所以奖给你。于家境无关。助学金：家境贫困。并且达到一些只要想做用心做就可以做到的标准。就可以获得。但这两者都需要学生努力。它们要告诉学生“我穷你就要资助我”的事件在这个世界不流行。帮助会有，但你要自己争取。

赞助一个项目的好处就是增加了学生之间的竞争，避免了“我穷你就要资助我”的情况。一对一直接赞助学生可能出现学生凭家境拿到资助，然后不学无术，他人却无法联系到资助人以取消赞助的情况。

3．赏识教育。

多给孩子一些表扬和鼓励。甚至适当地给孩子一些宠爱，溺爱，和特权。让部分孩子感到他们的与众不同。他们会更勇敢，更坚强，更出色。长大以后，他们会成功。遇到困难，这些孩子也会主动比别人承担更多责任，因为他们会觉得自己曾经得到的比别人多，所以现在也要多付出。

零星闪烁

排队（一定要用大洞话念），Dim Gai A, Nei Hai Um Hai Sum, 麦兜，清凉油，手电筒，厕所钥匙．．．．．．

结

大洞的生活会有一点点不习惯，但真的很快乐。

３０天的日子不算长，但记忆会保留一辈子。

很开心可以认识一些人，很开心可以经历这一切。

Beijing Zhufang New Century Library

2010-03-15T03:23:00.012-04:00

Many parents living in Beijing Zhufang Village are migrant workers. They work for long hours and often do not have the time, energy, and resource to attend to their children’s learning and caring needs. Dream Corps work with local educators to provide a comfortable and safe place that their children could use and explore. Over the years, the library has became a hub for these children and young adults.

Volunteers help the librarian and local recruits to develop fun and interesting activities that engage the children in learning and reading. Volunteers have developed one-on-one reading workshops, story-telling contests, group homework sessions, and English learning program. Children who frequently visit the library enjoy monthly updated library books that can be taken home with registration or read in library whenever it opens. Currently, the community library has over 7,000 books and is open to public from Tuesday afternoon to Sunday. In 2009, Dream Corps volunteers experimented with a mobile library model which would allow the sharing of library resources across several schools of migrant workers’children.

Duke University Chapter Fundraiser

2010-03-06T05:20:00.006-05:00

The Duke University Chapter recently raised $70 through hand-made donation boxes that were left at local Chinese restaurants in Durham during Chinese New Year. Each donation box was wrapped in red paper and supplemented with flyers and red envelopes in which donors could place donations. As the first planned fundraiser for this young chapter, it was all together a rewarding experience.

University of Toronto Chapter hosting Speed Dating Mixer

2010-02-27T00:35:00.014-05:00

Despite the chilly February weather in Toronto, over 40 excited participants joined us in Dream Corps University of Toronto Chapter speed dating mixer as they celebrate the start of Reading Week. Situated in O’Grady’s Pub and Grill, the participants eagerly waited for the emcees three minute announcement as they rotate to meet new friends, with cell phones and blackberries in hand, ready to take down the numbers and emails of potential dates. As the event progressed, the participants are happily enjoying their conversations, ranging from wine tastings to Dream Corps! In fact, the speed dating process went so well that we had to cancel our salsa dance session that was originally scheduled at the end of the event!

Overall, the speed dating mixer was a great success, with over CAD$200 raised in two hours, despite the many speed dating events that were crammed in the same week. Many participants who expressed interest in Dream Corps’s volunteer program and fundraising events, so we definitely look forward to U of T Chapter events and speed dating mixers in the future!

McGill Chapter hosting documentary Up the Yangtze

2010-02-26T04:27:00.026-05:00

On the night of January 19th, 2010, the McGill University Chapter hosted a screening of the documentary "Up the Yangtze", followed by a Q and A session with the Chinese-Canadian director Yung Chang.

One by one, the lights by the sluice gate turned on. Their reflection danced off the surface of a calm river, the mythical Yangtze, flowing steadily through the world's largest hydroelectric dam. Thus closed the documentary portraying the lives of those affected by the construction of the dam. As Yung approached the podium, he was welcomed by the applause of a full house audience in the Chemistry Department auditorium. More than 150 McGill students attended the event, a ninety minutes screening followed by an hour of discussion.

This free public film screening is the first in a series of events planned by the McGill University Chapter to increase the chapter's presence in the university community, in addition to fundraising and volunteer recruitment events.

Call for Application: Dream Corps 2010 Summer Volunteer Program

2010-01-28T13:09:00.004-05:00

Organization

DREAM CORPS is an innovative non‐profit organization dedicated to bettering the learning environment for students in disadvantaged communities in rural and urban China.

Program

Dream Corps is recruiting 35‐40 international volunteers to participate in its 2010 Summer Volunteer Program in rural villages and urban migrant communities of China. Volunteers will take part in activities that include

• Building basic library infrastructures

• Developing library management system

• Reading programs

• English teaching

• Facilitating community initiatives and projects

• Community understanding

The program consists of 3 days of training in Beijing, 3 weeks of volunteer work on assigned volunteer sites, and 3 days of concluding camp in Beijing.

We also have internship opportunities in our Summer Intern Program (see below).

Qualification

This is an exciting opportunity for students, researchers, and young professionals interested in international development, rural education, and the non‐profit sector in China.

Our past volunteers were from more than 10 countries and regions and were primarily undergraduate and graduate students.

Ability to speak mandarin Chinese is mandatory.

Expense

While no fee is charged, volunteers shall cover all of their travel, board and lodging expenses during the program, including airfare for the traveling to China. Typical total expense per person during the program is around 250 US dollars.

Application Process

• STEP 1: Online Application at http://www.dreamcorps.org

a. Application form

b. Personal Statement (see guidelines for details)

c. Resume or CV

We have a rolling application process and the positions fill up quickly, you are strongly encouraged to apply as early as possible. There is no application fee.

• STEP 2: Interview

Applications are typically reviewed within a week. Qualified applicants will be interviewed over the phone or in person.

• STEP 3: Notification of Decision

Final decision will be sent to you no later than March 19.

Important Dates

• Jan 24: Online application opens

• February 26: Online application officially closes

• March 19: All acceptances notified

• Mid April to Early May: Online training (4 or 5 sessions, about 2 hours per session)

• May 23: Volunteer registration in Beijing, program begins

• May 24‐25: Volunteer training in Beijing

• May 26: Volunteers departing for sites

• June 25: Program ends at end of concluding forum in Beijing

Additional Information

If you have any more questions regarding our program, please visit Dream Corps 2010 Summer Program FAQ at http://www.dreamcorps.org/2010faq.html

If you have any questions regarding the application and volunteer selection process, please contact the Recruitment Committee at recruitment@dreamcorps.org .

Personal Statement Guidelines

Please keep your statement between 300‐500 English words or 500‐700 Chinese characters. As a general guideline, please cover the following:

1. Why do you want to volunteer with Dream Corps?

2. You previous social work or volunteer experience? Please include dates, locations, activities, and your roles.

3. Have you traveled or lived in rural China? For how long? If not, have you traveled or lived internationally? For how long? If so, please describe briefly (locations, dates and activities).

4. Have you had any teaching or tutoring experience? If so, please describe briefly (subjects, target audience and formats)

5. Do you hope to conduct a personal or academic research project during your possible stay in China with Dream Corps? If so, please describe briefly.

6. What do you believe are the values of books and reading to the lives of underprivileged children in China?

Dream Corps 2010 Summer Internship Program

Late May to late July

Dream Corps offers 8‐ to 10‐week long, unpaid Summer Internship Programs (SIP) for motivated volunteers with strong initiative and leadership to work in the areas of library management, information system support, community outreach, reading program, and organizational communication. Internship period officially starts with the Beijing Training Camp of the Summer Volunteer Program (SVP) in late May and ends in late July. Work‐related travel expenses will be reimbursed. This year there are the following positions available:

• Beijing ‐ SVP Information Specialist: Responsible for collection, selection, and organization of site‐specific SVP information, documents, and media files during and after the SVP, with the option of conducting reading program and community outreach activities at the New Century Dream Library in Zhufang Village, Beijing after the SVP. Involvement starts with the SVP online training.

• Hunan Chaling County Dream Libraries ‐ Information System Support Specialist: Responsible for setting up electronic library management system, and assisting local librarians in using the system, and provide general computer training for local teachers.

• Sichuan Yibin Nanguang Dream Library ‐ Library Management Specialist: Responsible for setting up electronic library management, providing support to local librarian, teachers, and students regarding how to use the system, and in general ensuring the school’s readiness for library access and use in the subsequent academic year.

Requirements for the SIP in addition to those for the regular (SVP) include: If applicants have not participated in the SVP in previous years, they must participate in this year’s SVP

Internships are on‐site and continuous with the SVP (running from late May to late June), with no vacation time in between.

Submission to Dream Corps of documents required for your enrollment in your university’s internship programs, such as (1) purpose or research statement and (2) funding application form, where applicable.

In addition to an application to the regular SVP, all applicants must submit a Dream Corps SIP proposal to sites@dreamcorps.org that (1) identify their intended position, (2) explain their specific motivations and qualifications, (3) identify their specific goals, and (4) articulate their specific plan for reaching these goals. Please direct further inquiries to sites@dreamcorps.org .

2009年湖南虎踞队日记 (3)

2010-01-24T22:38:00.003-05:00

6月11号周四

(Today’s journal is brought to you by 欣岚/雅月)

早晨起来，没了昨日瓢泼大雨的气息，空气里有股清新的味道。这美妙的天气也许正预示着我们今天的艰巨任务会顺利完成：我们从县城带回了一块长6米宽2米深蓝色布，要全校12班的500多个孩子都在上面按上五彩的手印，再挂到我们新的图书室的后墙上。一来装饰，二来遮住原有的黑板（好让这个教室更加少一些教室的严肃感……）。

——这手印布源自香蕉金鱼的一个梦想，据说他一直想做这么一件事，但一直没有机会。于是大家统筹规划，详尽安排。考虑到新的图书室已经放进了全部的新书和筛选出的旧书，考虑到孩子们的新奇感，考虑到那布极其巨大，我们六个人被如此分了工：奶奶和我负责带领孩子们至图书室，然后奶奶留守教室后门，保证每次只让5个孩子进去印手印，我则带领五个孩子到香蕉金鱼哥哥那里，香蕉金鱼哥哥会给孩子们的手涂上颜料，再然后我和张鹏引导孩子们在布上印上手印，再再然后悉尼会准备好水盆，照料孩子们洗好手擦干净，再再再然后枘枘会带着洗好手的孩子们从教师前门离开，并且保证没有孩子会从前门闯入教室。

——浩大的工程。很多潜在问题我们都有考虑到，比如秩序大乱，比如孩子们进了图书室会直奔新书而置布与手印于不顾，又比如孩子们会拿沾了颜料的手到处乱按。于是，自早饭开始工程便正式启动：奶奶和小明主任说明了情况，小明主任表示大力支持以及会提前通知各个老师。

——而我们的目标，是利用课间十分钟以及课间操二十分钟的时间，尽量在一天之内完成此项任务。顺便，每个人在非课间及非课间操时间要全力以赴自己的小小任务（一天下来，我们才知道，此处的“顺便”与平常的顺便相差甚远，根本是要当自己是台多功能电脑，定点做事而且绝不可以出丝毫差错）。枘枘挑选开始相片好布置我们的“照片专栏”；我和悉尼开始画巨幅的男孩女孩，好在上面写“图书室礼仪”；香蕉金鱼开始图书分类编号以及“父亲节专栏”；张鹏开始设计DreamCorps的logo如何美丽生动得悬挂于教室正前方；奶奶则开始准备“教师和学生的毛笔字专栏”。

第一节课下课前十分钟，我们各就各位。事实上，这第一炮打得相当漂亮！老师最后也在布上按上了自己的手印，时间刚刚好，而孩子们虽然吵吵嚷嚷，兴奋不已，但秩序一直都在控制之中。经历过第一轮实战，分工小小改变：由老师负责一次只放5个孩子进图书室，香蕉金鱼和张鹏给孩子们涂颜料，奶奶和我负责引导孩子们盖手印。这样，一个课间的时间，可以让两个而不仅仅是一个班级的孩子们都盖上手印。

上午的时间很快过去，其间有两个重要插曲——

其一，就是香蕉金鱼在课间操时间冲去楼下准备多拉一个班的孩子上来印手印，恰逢富平兄宣布模拟考考试纪律，仍无畏地大喊一句：“借一个班印手印！”富平兄也无畏地回应道：“一年级可以借去！模拟考与一年级关系不大！”事后我们都笑翻，要不是与富平兄交情深厚，此种场合，富平校长真该立马让香蕉金鱼面壁去……

其二，就是奶奶灵感突发，决定让孩子们也在“某白色T恤”上盖上手印，这T恤可以成为“梦想虎踞”的队服。而虎踞镇自然没有“某白色T恤”，入乡随俗一下，“某白色T恤”被“菊花牌男式无袖内衣”代替。事后我们都说，穿着如此肥大的汗衫并且花花绿绿作一团上街不要太拉风啊……

中午，奶奶和香蕉金鱼和富平兄商量有关图书管理员诸多事宜。奶奶后来舒心地告知我们，有热情，善良，有责任心，是图书管理员最最重要的几个素质，而富平兄听后当下拍腿：尹老师就是这样的最佳人选啊！又得知富平兄下午就要离开学校出差直到周末，连忙拖去图书室，先留下手印再与之依依惜别。于是，我们与富平兄的交情更深一层……

下午战斗继续。

孩子们大都对颜料有畏惧，低年级的孩子们更甚一些，似乎对满手的颜料有些不知所措，不过有我们引领着他们印也没有太大问题。孩子们对我们为何让他们印手印也迷惑不解，枘枘耐心和他们解释，也不由心生淡淡的乏力感。好在在放学前的铃声敲响之前，一块五颜六色的布和六件五颜六色的汗衫，如先前期望般地展示在我们眼前。至此，终于舒了口气。

对汗衫的完善工作让我们每个人都很是high了一把。前襟的“2009梦想虎踞”，背面的“六个是一个”（奶奶想出来的~当然，最初创意由香蕉金鱼提出）及全队横七竖八的签名，让整个汗衫看起来比“拉风”还要拉风。孩子们看到我们的杰作时还不太理解地问：“这是你们用作穿的？你们要是用作穿，干嘛要弄成这样啊？”大家再次笑翻……

吃过晚饭，奶奶、香蕉金鱼和悉尼又叫了还没按过手印的老师和校工人员一起来按。本来也想叫上龙阿姨和焦叔叔，他们一直很照顾我们，很可惜只有龙阿姨在家……

完工的手印大布还需要最后加工，枘枘和我报了名，画上了两颗大爱心表示“心心相连”，又写上“爱love”、“希望hope”、“知识knowledge”、“和平peace”、“梦想dream”、“信心confidence”和“勇气courage”，想告诉孩子们这些对于他们都很重要。在整块布的右方，枘枘写上“梦想行动。虎踞二〇〇九”十个大字。这些用粉色做的前景，加上孩子老师们可爱手印的背景，看上去真的很温馨动人。

在枘枘和我忙着处理大布的时候，香蕉金鱼、奶奶、张鹏和悉尼也一直在忙碌着。因为已经从旧图书室搬出的两个书架不够，他们又在腾出新的书架。腾出新的书架，就要重新编排电脑里的图书目录，腾出以后还要来个彻底清理。直到此时，奶奶终于圆了以掸子一扫灰尘的儿时梦。堆积了若干时间的厚尘啊……可以见得这些书很少很少有人借过，甚至都没人翻过。此处有强力一例为证：在邀请老师印手印的时候，有老师指着我们从旧图书室搬出来的书问我们是不是我们带来的，我们回答是他们原来就有的，结果他们惊讶不已：有这么好的书？从来都不知道啊！……

到很晚很晚，看着新腾出的清理干净的书架，还有最后完工的手印大布，我们都很是欣慰。兴奋之情未减，然而想到孩子们老师们期盼的眼神，我不知道，也许我们确实带来了很多，新奇感，热情，活力，其他等等，但是我们做的真的可以满足当地人们的需要吗？我们做的可以足够好吗？我们所期待的影响可以让这些孩子们变得更加有自信更加有爱吗？想到这样的问题，不禁也要拿出给孩子们的词语来鼓励自己……加油，我们会仔细思考，会即时调整，会尽力做到最好！

今天闲聊的内容请看悉尼的纪录：）然后——晚安，虎踞！晚安，亲爱的大家！

欣岚（雅月）

星期五，6/12/2009

(Today’s journal is brought to you by 枘枘)

在昨日大肆涂鸦疯狂戏墨持续自high之后，今早回到图书室，那匹印满手印的深蓝画布已经沉静下来，等待去take over图书室的后墙。在奶奶和雅月的协助测量下，香蕉金鱼同学奋勇地攀向高处开始固定悬挂蓝布的钉子。可是锤打之间，只闻其声，却不见钉头入墙半分。当机立断改换了更强壮的墙钉后，钉身是入了墙，可是一来二去，此钉性脆，锤起钉头落，碰Andy同学一鼻子灰，尴尬非常。这本不要紧，只是费耐性，就是苦了持布的两位美女。待到他让分量不轻的画布微微颤颤的sustain在了墙上，奶奶和雅月早已高举画布僵硬成了自由女神，差点和画布同在了。尽管过程曲折，面对挂起的画布，我们得以摆脱昨日作画时的微距视角，将全校老师和孩子的杰作尽收眼底，好不震撼。这不仅是我们为装饰阅览室贡献的第一块砖瓦，也拉开了浩大后续工程的帷幕。

下一步是确定书架的位置并将书粗略上架以便粘贴标签。书架的排列我们采取半开放式。四个三层双面矮书架包围住一块空间，并留出一个开口，面对大门，呈敞开怀抱状。这样孩子不仅可以在外围取阅图书，或拿到近窗的桌边（此物还在远方飘渺处……）坐下阅读，也可以在中间这块充满安全感的小天地里尽情翻阅四周书墙中的书籍。这样的格局也给日后围坐讲故事创造了温馨的气氛。总是就是相当美好，队员试验照片为证。随后，那些已经在我们手上辗转几回的图书又被分放在了几个书架上，只待香蕉金鱼同学的图书目录和标签一出炉，就开始流水作业给它们统一制服。

利用学生午休时间，奶奶召集了学生和老师来写室训。中规中矩的书法自然不符合我们对这个图书室成为学生课外桃源的期盼，在奶奶精心拼接的色彩之上，大家挥毫开始Free Style。Andy同学更是提出了“吾德物赐”这一出自春田花花幼稚园校训，却又极其符合情境的phrase来作图书室室训。

下午放学后，终于迎来了吊足我胃口的家访。我们六人兵分三路，我和奶奶到家住距小学步程约一小时的银湖村的小辉家拜访，另有一名女生同行。小辉懂事沉静，一路话不多，那名女生倒活泼有加，一直和我们打趣。为我们回程的方便考虑，小辉选择走大路。一路没什么岔路，只管走。有一段路在两片稻田间笔直的延伸，一直向前，两边是不变的风景，于我很有些road trip的味道，但想象一个小小的女生每周在这样的路上独行一小时回家，这路似乎含着种一成不变的冷漠。活泼女生一路上隔不多久就向我们指出路边的民居和她与住家的亲戚关系，这边跟她的舅舅打了招呼，那边跑到是她表姨家借口水喝，路上随意一个人都是熟人。我脑海中浮现出一幅庞大的族系谱，它的成员们散居在这个镇上的各个村落，却又都相隔不远，构成这块土地上的人际网，这样的联系从学校师生颇为重复的姓氏中也可见一斑。大路进了村，爬了一个漫长的坡以后，向小路一拐，不多久就到了小辉家。房子是砖木结构，一层住人，二层用茅草铺着，进门后抬望，穿过茅草的缝隙屋顶隐约可见。脚下是磨得光亮的岩石地面，在夏日里散发阴凉。家中只有年过五旬的奶奶，和小学二年级的弟弟，父母在广州打工，一周可以来一个电话。小辉和弟弟共享一张单人床，床畔的墙上贴满了两人的奖状。里屋奶奶住，雕花床，红木柜，古董镜，也许曾是大家闺秀的嫁妆，若霞奶奶笑称可以进博物馆。奶奶请我们吃花生和豆子，还凉拌了黄瓜款待。虽然上了年纪，但奶奶还斜绑了一根小辫，热情有加，但也没有因我们这两个外来人的到来而显出窘迫或尴尬。她从容不迫地一下一下扫着地时，我觉得她是安于生活的。只是当我们提出要为他们在家中拍照留念，奶奶郑重地回房换了一身衣服，换下了脚上不匹配的拖鞋，很可爱。回去的路上，活泼女生不时采下路旁的一朵草花，走几步又插到另一株尚未开花的茎叶上，说，我帮它一把。这时的你也不会想要跟她提什么不要破坏花草。自然如此广袤，而这改变如此微小，小到不者痕迹。是不是这里孕育出的人们也带着一种温顺的性格，不汲汲于改变，不相信改变的力量？想起刚到学校的那几天和一个老师闲聊，她说十年前师范刚毕业也很有激情，但现在已经被磨平了。也有老师说，现在教书只是凭良心。那我们的到来，能带来多大的改变，抑或仅仅是激起几层浪后又沉没的石子？我们拭目以待。

悉尼和香蕉金鱼：

悉尼为了找到家访对象，找到了大刘来帮忙。提出了半小时到一小时路程的要求后，他抓了抓脑瓜，说去甜甜家。大刘还来了个备注：“让你们走山路我不放心，怕你们被狗咬。”悉尼本想说，有香蕉金鱼，再加上随路拣的打狗棍，应该是不成问题的。可是，大刘说啥还是不放心。那好吧，甜甜，就去你家咯！放学前，甜甜带了一大帮同路的同学，她说：“我们每周末一起回家，不过你会发现越走队伍越短的。”看着她们兴致勃勃的样子，准备好了，那就出发吧！一路走来，我们走的都是大路。我们聊天、嬉戏，感受着她们回家路的乐趣。其中有一个女生，一路上跟我们讲个不停。用她那作文式的语言，为我们讲述着虎踞的特别（所谓的特别便是红花与白蝴蝶），讲述着她见到过的“跑车”，讲述着她曾经在深圳的校园生活。悉尼与孩子们，在那虎踞人民引以为豪的虎踞大桥上，合影了一张。而Andy，在烈日炎炎下，就要变成香蕉干了。半个小时后，我们终于来到了甜甜家门口。她的奶奶在小店外面打牌，看到她带着两个陌生的怪物回来，惊讶不已。她赶忙用那怪异的老人家版湖南话，以机关枪的语速吐出一大堆话。悉尼与香蕉金鱼眼瞪眼的，看着村民怪异、质疑的眼光，由些不知所措。片刻后，从甜甜口中，他们得知甜甜的爸爸妈妈还没有回家。他们本想到甜甜家里小坐一下，可是她对其家门口的那只咆哮的大狗一点招也没有。看来，还是算了吧，大刘的担心不无道理。看着甜甜失望的眼神，悉尼和香蕉金鱼还是跟她在村里四周转一转。她带他们去了三达村小，还去了她朋友家（可惜，她朋友也不在家，又扑了个空）。在夕阳下，悉尼与香蕉金鱼与甜甜告别，“星期一，我们学校见！”

鹏鹏和月姐：

下午学校放学，雅月和张鹏跟随事先联系好的学生去他们家家访。下午5时左右的天气非常的好，天空蓝蓝的，走在田间的小道上面，两旁都是大片大片绿色的农田，在阳光的照耀下显的更加的美丽。和两个同学步行20分钟，我们首先到达了潭江锋的家，一栋两层的小楼。出来接待我们的是他的爷爷，家里面挺宽敞，打扫的也很清爽。我们谈了一些江峰在学校和家里面的生活情况，特别是关注于课外书的阅读问题。江峰的爷爷是一个很平实的人，他对江峰没有什么特殊的要求，只是希望他能够健康的成长。我们也得知江峰父母离异，从小是爷爷带大，江峰平时很少和父母联系（父亲在外打工，并且已经有了新的家庭，母亲在外省，很少过问江峰）。不过在我们看来，江峰性格活泼大方，这次家访也是他主动提出让我们去的。

第二个孩子是谭松，他家离江峰家很近。我们进了他家，看见屋的正中是一张毛主席像，看来毛主席在湖南人民心目中至今地位相当崇高。谭松的爸爸妈妈都在家里，我们向他们介绍了一下关于梦想行动组织，以及学校图书室的事情。他父母都很支持我们的活动，也提出了一些比较中肯的意见，比如担心图书室不能长期运作，也提到这个图书室会不会增加学生的财政负担。我们向他们解释了梦想行动建立的图书室对于学生是完全免费的，也同意他们的担心的关于图书室是否能够长期定时开放给学生的问题。

过后，我们又跟随另外两个学生步行了很长的距离，大概耗时一个小时，可是运气不好，他们两个家长都不在家里面。我们只能返回。

又是一个周末，富平兄一个紧急通知打乱了对明天的工作部署：明天放下工作，出去玩！6点半出发! 恭敬不如从命，还不快睡了先。

晚安，虎踞！晚安，虎踞队！

黄枘

2009年湖南虎踞队日记 (2)

2010-01-24T22:17:00.001-05:00

星期日，6月7日，热（35度左右）

(Today’s journal is brought to you by 奶奶/若霞)

今天的闲聊从晚上8点开始，才刚结束（此时已是9点55）。看到孩子们一个个疲惫、劳累过度的身体，我这个奶奶真是心疼啊。这个本来是可以放松一下的周末，我们所有队员都没有休息，为了我们的mission，大家一心想要完成我们本来制定的为第一周所计划的重大项目。我们几乎没有一丝基本按时按质完成任务的轻松之感，反而觉得未来两周将会是任重道“短”。肩膀感觉好沉啊。

闲聊话题总结如下：

制定明天跟肖校长、李校长一起聊一聊“协商条款”。我们约了两位校长明天跟虎踞队一起聊聊关于图书馆需要的东西，看看哪些是学校可以提供的，那些是在我们的能力范围内可以提供的。下表列出我们虎踞队已经购买的东西和需要“谈判”的东西。还有过去一周的回顾与未来两周的展望。

已有	需要
电线板两块小白板/白板笔垃圾桶扫把 10张CD盘电吹风（用于去掉旧书标签）	新书运输费书架/桌子/小凳子（靠背木椅）书夹 CD机电脑/电脑桌画墙/画窗？彩纸吸水盒子墙面电源插头簸箕挂勾

明天的工作计划。
几番激烈讨论后最终确定了适用的图书编码系统。
香蕉金鱼分享了他在闲暇时冥想出来的图书室设计方案和读书计划（具体方案以后总结），比方说富有创意的“富平读书时间”，每周一个班，每次5-10分钟。
明天下午第三节课我们6个去四、五年级7个班参加主题班会课，富平兄说复习阶段没有定主题或者讲安全问题。所以我们准备了以父亲节为主的题目，大概打算讲一些与父亲有关的故事，父亲节的来历，鼓励小朋友们讲自己父亲的故事，如果他们不愿讲，就鼓励他们写下来或者画画，这样我们可以搜集起来以后贴在图书室和大家分享。下周一的班会我们去低年级班。

闲聊前，我们四个（悉尼，鹏，香蕉金鱼和我）去跟学生打篮球，金鱼哥哥三下五除二就把一大群男娃们治理地有序有节的，让他们自己分两队，轮流跟我们四个对打。大家说我跟孩子打球看起来好紧张好认真啊，可能跟孩子们交往的技巧还有待提高吧！的确，我见到一群孩子是挺紧张的。我还在操场跑了跑，出了汗，舒服点儿。

晚饭是在食堂吃的，周日下午3点开始住校生陆续回校，学校顿时就热闹起来了。远远看到富平兄用完晚餐跟一群学生坐在大门口，见证了“富平读书时间”方案是可行的。我们几个打了饭也凑去跟他坐在小凳子上聊天。

本来说好下午两点集合开工，结果今天的午休大家都睡过了头，我还接二连三地做了好几场梦，梦得我醒也醒不了。好不容易被悉尼叫醒，结果发现昨晚被蚊子咬的一串疙瘩不仅长大还长成水泡，跟衣服粘在一起。我自己倒是觉得问题不大，好像小的时候也长这样的毒疙瘩，但大家担心会化脓，后患无穷，你一言我一语就把我包围了，建议我去问龙阿姨，悉尼电话咨询她妈妈。悉尼一边在线听取她妈妈的指导一边给我治疗，用绿茶清洗擦上喉风散。最大的问题是这疙瘩长得真不是地方，上不上下不下的，真是难为情。大家一致命令我今天下午就躺着别动、别干活儿，我能做的就是乖乖听话。继月痊愈后，我又成了第二个躺下的人。在大家忙碌的时候我静心修养了一下午。枘和金鱼到镇上给大家买了点生活用品和药，辛苦他们昨天到今天在大烈日下外出采购。悉尼和月继续上午的旧书录入，结束了原有图书室1万本书册的编录，浩大的工程告一段落。

上午我们兵分两路。第一路：悉尼和月续昨天的尾巴，整合所有的电脑编录信息，再编录残余的不在架的书，再分类。看着不多，但书杂且需时间，因为需要查找已有目录再加工。第二路是剩下的俺们4个清理了粉刷好的图书室，清洗的难度没有我们想得那么难，可就苦了两位男士，他们来回好几趟地提水从宿舍楼搬到前面的教学楼，地面大概清洗了4、5次，擦了黑板，连地面围裙墙都擦得干干净净。未来的梦想行动图书室，虽然还有几扇玻璃需要填补，暂还未能明窗净几，但在一周内已经有了很大的改观。金鱼说很遗憾我们没能拿DV录下这个过程，是遗憾了一些，但就让最美好的经历和景色留在记忆深处吧！一向安静的鹏干活儿的时候高歌四川名歌，金鱼点歌，枘也献唱各种童谣和老歌，有了音乐的陪伴，无聊的活儿也有滋有味。鹏哥哥和金鱼哥哥总是主动承担苦脏累的体力活儿，鹏的“厕所工程”和金鱼的“下水道疏通”都是用他们稚嫩的双手一点一点地擦洗和掏粪。虽然我们已经口头说了好几次谢意，但感谢和感动之情仍然无语表达，就在此向他们致以崇高的少先队队礼。

早饭和午饭还是在龙阿姨家吃的，早饭是八宝粥和红糖包子，好好吃啊！他们真的是热情好客，总是谦让让我们先吃，我们觉得不好意思，所以午饭的时候我们盛了饭放在桌上，死等他们两个过来大家一起吃。席间，龙阿姨给我们讲他们自己都种些什么菜，这桌菜哪些是自产的，哪些是买来的，鹏还跟龙阿姨聊一些他的专业话题，他们的收入如何啊。

晚上悉尼一直等我干完我的活儿，上床前再次给我消毒和敷药，还用了新药双氧水，完全没有金鱼描述的那么可怕。下乡的时候真是需要这样非专业的专业护士。

虎踞队在一起生活整整一周了，很多感叹来不及整理，就先语无伦次地写几句吧：

· 大家之间的相互关爱和照顾让我非常之感动：有什么不同想法就说出来，对内时有分歧，对外一致，脾性爱好已有所了解，配合默契加速前进，工作的时候卖力工作，玩耍的时候疯狂玩耍，我很是欣赏和享受这样的team spirit。或许也是因为这样的一个团队来之不易（大都很傻），所以更加珍惜吧！

· 我发现孩子们都不喜欢随便批评却时刻自我批评着。“我错了”“我又犯错了”的声音总在我耳边，无论于公于私。我从他们身上学到了很多新兴一代身上少有的难能可贵的精神。

· 图书馆作为梦想行动和学校共同合作的 project，到目前为止，似乎都是按照我们的意愿来做，我们有真正问或聆听过他们的需要吗？

· 除了李校长的支持和关注，学校里似乎没有一个人真正了解、关心图书室的运作和重要性。如何物色和鼓励学校找到一个合适的图书管理员呢？

· 我们从第一天开始就在摸索虎踞点的setting up，摸着石头过河的过程很痛苦也很艰辛，但我相信每个人从中都能领悟到新的东西和启发。完美的结合是我们做了我们能做的，同时符合学校的心意；我们的资源和学校的资源充分利用。

· 意识到我们时间和能力的局限性。比方说我们把大把精力放在图书整理和编目，那么很少有机会跟老师们打交道。我们有足够的清醒明白自己的使命，所以没有所谓如果其他方面不能顾及。鹏提出了这一点，也拉我回到online training时赖教授类似的教导，当我们把我们的“理想”点缀得天花乱坠的时候，我们应该意识到我们的limits.

“让我们荡起双桨，小船儿推开波浪…”好像大家最近闲来莫属地哼得最多的就是这个永远不会过时的校园小调，连五音不全的香蕉金鱼都不着调地挂在嘴边，刚才月一边吃着豆腐还一边吟着。“小船儿轻轻飘荡在水中，迎面吹来了凉爽的风。”喜欢安静的周末校园，喜欢沸腾的平日校园，喜欢看到孩子们悄悄地睡去，喜欢老豆腐早餐，喜欢大家睁眼就问几点开工啊，喜欢迎面凉爽的风！

可爱的虎踞队，我爱你们！

周一早上7点半

若霞奶奶

6.8

(Today’s journal is brought to you by 悉妮宝宝/茜妮)

王茜妮的日志：

如往常一般，周一总是如此忙碌、慌乱。

一早，看了一下奶奶肚子上的包，比昨天好了许多，至少没有流水了。啊，赤脚护士也算放心了些。毕竟，这是第一个接手的案例啊。想起第一天抓着棉签颤抖的手，真是让人可笑。

第一节课，本来打算与鹏鹏去听刘老师的课。谁知道，这位大人物今天没课。好吧，我们也只好打道回府，再等两天吧。我们回归大队，开始了忙碌的图书整理工作。

我和月姐继续我们的黄金拍档，把已录完的旧书按归类重新放到新的阅览室中。至于搬书工作，就要靠我们的苦力啦——鹏鹏和香蕉金鱼。闲置与否？这是个困难的抉择。我们有时甚至为了这个问题还争论半天。说实话，在打那个Y或者N时，我感到了一种压力与责任感。有时候，我甚至怀疑，我们真的有资格或者有能力来决定书的去与留吗？好吧，无论如何，我们靠着自己的第一和第二感觉，把近半的书按我们自己的分类搬到了阅览室。Good job! Cheer!

同时，阅览室里，奶奶与枘枘的钻石拍档也在忙碌地比对和录入新书的信息。哇！好fancy的书啊！好可爱的书啊！好想读的书啊！

我们两边的进展都不错。一个上午，我们摆地摊式地将书布满了整个阅览室。加油！庞大的录入工作就要完成了！可是，正当我们以为胜利在望时，N个可爱的五3班同学每人捧了一大摞书缓缓地向我们走来。Oh, my god! 又是一轮乱战！

炎热的下午来了，万众期待的校长协商会终于来了。8个人（6+2校长+1会计）挤在富平兄小小的宿舍里，盛大地召开了第一次校长协商会议。我向校长总结了一周以来我们的工作，同时也感谢了校方对我们无微不至的关怀。随后，奶奶向校长提出了我们的物品清单，希望与校方对物品购买事宜达成共识。校长耐心地听着，不时点点头。他恳切地对我们说：“在我们能力范围内，我们会全力支持梦想行动的工作。”听到他这一句话，我们也放心了。最后，香蕉金鱼向校长展示并解释了我们即将实行的工作流程，校长非常满意。

我们下一个站便是各班的主题班会。6个人带着自己的彩纸和其他准备好的材料奔赴各班。我找到刘老师，希望在主题班会课上得到他的支持与帮助。他笑了笑，说相信我的实力。（也因此，他听了我5分钟，就失踪了）我来到了熟悉的班级，看见了那个熟悉的墙报。同学们看到我都很兴奋。好了，正式班会课开始咯！这次的主题是“父亲节”(虽然离6月21日还有半个月)。我向同学们讲了父亲节的来历，他们都很认真、耐心地听。可是，到他们讲的时候，就变得十分腼腆。班上大多数同学的父亲都在外面打工，许多是一年回一次家，有的甚至两三年才回一次。看着他们迷茫的眼神，我担心在一些孩子的心里，父亲的样子已经模糊了。我让他们想想每次见到爸爸时的心情，每次爸爸回家会做的事，或者爸爸每天为他们做的事。他们慢慢地进入了状态。正当我煽情煽得起劲的时候，后面的一个小女孩开始流眼泪了。旁边的男孩嬉皮笑脸地对我说，这是因为她太感动了。我看着她忧郁的眼神，心想，也许她太想念自己的爸爸了吧。小女孩，情绪有点激动，是可以理解的（毕竟，我也属于那一类）。所以，那一刻，我没有选择走过去，而是继续了我的话题。终于到了最后一个环节——把自己想说的话写在彩纸上送给爸爸。每个学生都很兴奋，争着向我要彩纸。可是，这时，又多了一个小女孩开始哭了。而且，这回，两个都哭得抬不起头来。看来，事情严重了。通过进一步的了解，我才恍然大悟：一个女孩是来自离异的家庭，而另一个的爸爸已经去世了。说实话，在那一刻，我被吓到了。完了，作为一个老师，我失误了。就是因为我的失误，伤害了两个幼小的心灵。想到几分钟前自己得意地在他们面前煽情的样子，我真想打自己一顿。她们哭了，我也想哭。可更让我生气的是，周围那几个顽皮的男生竟因此而取笑她们！后悔、伤心、气愤，那就是当时的我。深深地吸了口气，我说：“首先，我要向两位（事后我才知道，班上有相似情况的同学一共有5个）同学道歉。因为我自己的失误而伤害了她们，真的非常对不起。”同学们听到我道歉，似乎都吃了一惊，沸腾的教室一下子安静了下来。“然后，我要严厉地批评刚刚每一个取笑她们的同学。这不是一件可笑的事情，更不是一件你们可以拿来当笑话的事情！每个家庭都有自己的故事，我们不可以笑话这些同学。相反，我们要帮助她们。她们失去了自己的亲人，就像杜德夫人一样，这说明她们的家人要承担双角色的责任。也就是说她们的妈妈要完成爸爸的工作来抚养他们，或者她们的爸爸要承担起妈妈的责任。这样的家庭难道不伟大吗？这样的家庭难道值得让你们去取笑吗？所以，请你们，在座的所有同学为了这些伟大的家庭、伟大的爸爸妈妈鼓鼓掌。”“最后，请那些曾经笑话过她们的同学记住这一天，记住这一刻，你们笑话了一个绝对不应该被笑话的同学。”当时，我很激动，讲得也很激昂。看得出来，有些同学被我打动了。有的同学呢？还是把我说的当笑话看。后来，我回想，他们笑的很大原因是取决于他们自己家庭的文化与当地的文化。环境是很难被改变的，也不可能因为我这个1个月的不速之客而改变。无论如何，我只希望他们能记得我说的话，能记得这一刻，哪怕只有一个人。

下课后，我安慰了其中一个小女孩。把彩纸给了她，告诉她将彩纸写给她家里的任何一个人。家里特殊的情况，她应该更加感谢家里每一个亲人。不要因此而自卑，反而要学会坚强。最后，我说真的非常希望她能原谅、谅解那些曾经笑过她的人，他们长大后会明白自己的错误的。她点点头，没有说什么，擦干眼泪，回家了。

第一节课就被我搞砸了，心里十分过意不去。吃完饭，找到了刘老师。他并没有很惊讶，只是跟我说这是他的失误，没有提前把班里的情况告诉我，而他自己对父亲节也没太多的了解。事情好似解决了，但是心情还是high不起来。曾经，自己如此自信，但是在那一霎那，我才发现自己如此无助。我跟奶奶开玩笑：“第一节课我就把两个学生弄哭了，算了，别学教育了，改行当护士算了。”奶奶给了个评语：“人家弃医从文，你来个弃文从医！” 没有经验的年轻人，有好多事等着你去学呢。听其他人说自己的班会课，似乎都很顺利。香蕉金鱼那个班还师生眼泪哗哗流呢。至少，我们的这一次班会课触动了他们。

晚上我们6个人晕乎乎地参加了小学部每周例会。听了教育部期末考试通知，听了他们艺术节的总结，还听了他们的复习计划。一个小时的会议后，紧接的是我们的加班加点。在昏暗的灯光下、蜘蛛飞虫的骚扰中，我们又干了两个小时。

回到宿舍，身心疲惫。简短地闲聊一下，洗澡睡觉吧。

晚安虎踞队。做个好梦，明天要整装待发。

茜妮

2009年湖南虎踞队日记 (1)

2010-01-24T21:57:00.005-05:00

星期一，01/06/2009

(Today’s journal is brought to you by香蕉金鱼/余靖翰)

今天我们的一天开始得非常早（看到这里请管家婆不要怨自己，我们是一个队的。六个人等于一个）。凌晨三点多奶奶非常紧张地来拍我和鹏鹏的门，我以为已经五点多要起床了。非常不愿意地应了一声，“来了，啥事啊！”奶奶有点紧张地说管家婆发烧了。这可不好，我们的六分之一病了。奶奶问我们有探热针没有，我说没有，幸好鹏鹏说他有。奶奶和我拿了探热针之后就回到了奶奶和管家婆的房间。給管家婆探热，38.3并不是非常的高。但是已经发烧了，我捏了捏管家婆的手（噢！相比之下我的手多麽粗！）手是暖和的。我问管家婆脚冷的还是热的，管家婆说有点儿冷。我就让管家婆把袜子穿上。

出于precaution我们让管家婆带上了口罩，而且告知校长管家婆发烧了。校长毫不惊慌，找了些药給管家婆，然后说早上让车子送管家婆送到镇上卫生所。然后我们也不多打搅校长，校长就回去睡觉了。我看了看那药，头孢拉定，这消炎药比较强。我就建议雅月先不要吃，先多喝一些热水，盖上被子，还是继续休息。因为现在是敏感时期，出于precaution，我们让管家婆一个人在房间休息。把手机和水都放到她隔壁，有甚麽事就打给我和奶奶。奶奶就到了我们房间然后和我们同床不共枕了。

到了五点五十五分我手机响了，我们就千万个不愿意地起来了。奶奶先去吃早饭（有个代表嘛！）。然后我们五个先把雅月送上车去，我们本来是让咱家跑腿的和管家婆去的，但是鹏鹏说肚子也有点儿不舒服就让鹏鹏和管家婆同去。我们就一起吃饭，早饭就是辣豆腐，我没有吃，因为我没有盆子。哈哈哈哈。看着那辣豆腐，超级想吃。

早饭过后我们就开始了庆六一的游行活动，我长这麽大了都没有参加过这样的游行。孩子们仿佛都非常开心，非常自豪。虽然天气比较闷热，但是一切都非常好。气氛非常非常的好！游行的路程比较长，基本上整个镇都绕了一圈，还到了初中部去。中间的小插曲，我们经过卫生院，我和奶奶就进去看了看。见到了管家婆和鹏鹏之后，我们就放下一万个心。因为医生说没有甚麽问题，管家婆就留着打点滴好了。过后我和奶奶继续这个征途，从卫生院到初中部去了。到了初中部我们觉得初中部真的不错，非常大，绿化非常好。环境真的不差，九年级（初三）因为要准备中考，今天还在上课。游行的队伍休息了一会儿就往小学去了。又一小插曲，曲歌給咱们发短信，我想回复，谁知道手机没钱了。

回到学校去，我和枘枘两个跑到二楼去給他们录像和拍照。然后我们因为晚上没有睡好所以就回去房间里面休息啦。中午校长叫我们去吃饭，我们才过去吃饭。我还是没有盆子，所以就辛苦奶奶赶快吃完然后让我用她的盆子。中午奶奶和我向校长说了一下管家婆和鹏鹏的情况。校长说应该过去看看，奶奶说好的。饭后就过去。校长非常快的就把饭吃完，不够两分钟就叫奶奶可以去卫生院了。我们所有人都非常佩服校长这行事的迅速。剩下的两位妹妹和我也回宿舍去，整理整理。没过多久奶奶就回来了，还把钥匙带了回来。我就在床上躺着，然后奶奶就把昨天的日志补完。然后大概两个多小时派出所的人来了，帮我们登记一下，他们态度非常好，而且有一个是广东人，就和我在聊广州话。最后还说非常感谢我们，努力工作，有什么事可以告诉他们。当时有种无名的感动。这里的人真的都非常朴素而且非常热情。

然后校长说我们有没有空，如果可以，让我们待会去給他们拍一下老师比赛的照片。我们十分乐意，而且本来就预备给小孩子都多拍些照片。我们一起到了比赛场地，已经进入最后接力比赛，看到孩子们都非常努力。兴致高涨！看到他们光着脚丫跑步有点儿心疼，但是看到他们是真的非常开心地笑着，异常 emotional 的我不知道为何，我当时的感觉，反正是百感交集。我们因为有半天没有出现在小孩子的眼里，所以我们的出现又让非常多的小孩围上来，跟着他们的大姐姐。奶奶，枘枘还有悉尼都不知道如何应付他们。孩子们今天全跟着我，但是或许因为我比较高大，而且是大哥哥，所以我说的话他们都听，而且不敢好像抱姐姐们那样来碰我。

晚上我和小孩子们在谈话的时候校长走过，问我有空吗。然后让我和他一起去布置会场。文艺节的会场真的弄的不错，但是可以看出这个地方有多穷。到处都发霉了，椅子什么的全部都非常烂。但是我可以picture明天文艺界时那些开心的面孔。

布置会场过后我回到了宿舍，和虎踞队一起闲聊。（管家婆和鹏鹏已经回来了晚上我们决定了明天表演小二郎，让我做动作其他人唱。呵呵。

虎踞队！加油！我们可以的！

晚安！虎踞！晚安！虎踞队！

好好休息！

打杂的（Andy Jing Han Yu, Banana Gold Fish哥哥，香蕉金鱼哥哥）余靖翰

星期三，6月3日

(Today’s journal is brought to you by 鹏鹏/张鹏)

今天一大早起来，就感觉凉爽，果然我们度过了在虎踞以来最凉爽的一天，大都几乎没有出什么汗，当然除了打杂的（无论什麽天气都会大把大把地出汗，还在大庭广众之下换衣服）。早饭我们个别几个提前20分钟就赶到食堂，是因为奶奶神经质，一被叫起床，就立马不刷牙不洗脸不换衣服地拿起饭盆拔腿就跑。我们了解到每周一三五早饭是豆腐米饭，大伙儿都喜欢，雅月说她也喜欢吃，但考虑到她刚刚好一点，还是没有允许她今天吃辣的。

早饭后，回来大家收拾自己的内务，昨天没轮到洗澡洗头的都得在早晨解决，因为我们只有一支暖水瓶一支热得快。谢谢昨晚做出牺牲把热水让给大家的枘枘。9点大家吃过饭，收拾好，然后都去图书室，继续整理图书，把每一本书的信息输入我们的数据库。整理书籍的过程，并不是很快，经过昨天和今天的整理，我们大概完成了三分之一的整理量。今天，雅月感觉好很多了，上午大家让她在房间里面休息，她还帮大家把房间清理了，太感谢她了。下午的时候，雅月也参加到我们整理书籍的过程中。雅月的爸爸大概明天会从江苏出发来看她，真的是爱女心切啊。下午的时间就感觉过得飞快，因为张鹏给大家播放了他存在手机里的音乐，有了音乐的伴奏，再加上男女搭配，干活儿真是不累啊！大家在尘土飞扬的图书室干了一天的活，感觉吸了太多的灰尘，出来吃饭以前都要好好洗手才行。

另外，今天一整天也有图书室新“助手”谭老师来参与整理书。通过我们的聊天，大概得知他可能也是被校长临时调来的，无论如何，到目前为止我们感谢学校的积极支持。他似乎几乎没有说话，也不知道他听了我们乱七八糟的闲聊有啥想法，但他非常努力，认认真真，任劳任怨地按照我们告诉他的方法来整理书。

张鹏大前天也开始觉得肠胃不舒服，和雅月不同的是，他决定采用“自然疗法”，即采用不吃药，不看医生，而是通过采用少吃、不吃的方法来治疗自己的肠胃炎。不过在经过两天的“自然疗法”之后，张鹏终于宣告自己的“自然疗法”失败，决定采用吃药的“积极疗法”，希望他可以早点适应当地的水土。

中午的时候，若霞和Andy中午和李校长谈起，我们在学校的伙食费和住宿费的问题。经过他们的死缠烂磨，李校长极不情愿地答应我们收取我们每人40元伙食费+10元水电杂费作为我们在学校停留3个星期的费用。

晚饭后，当我们溜达着从食堂回到宿舍门口时，大家都傻楞了，我们的宿舍门口已经被小孩子们包围了。唱黑脸的Andy开道，然后Andy、张鹏、悉尼三人把小朋友们组织起来，分成三组，分别讲故事做游戏，秩序才算维持下来，一直到6点10分“撵”他们去准备晚自习，因为我们希望他们上课前冷静下来，否则影响他们的上课情绪。今天张鹏终于领略了被一群孩子围着脱不了身的尴尬，还好有Andy哥哥的解救，他才能从困境中解脱。可能张鹏还需要思考，怎麽让孩子尊重大人的决定，比如大人因为有事需要离开，孩子们应该理解。

晚安！虎踞！晚安！虎踞队！

张鹏

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