Update: The voting has closed. Thanks to all of you who participated! I’ll let you know if we won as soon as I know.
We don’t want your money. We just want 20 seconds.
Deep in the foothills of rural Yunnan Province, along the southern border of China, is the Runan Wan Primary School. The nearest town is a restored Ming Dynasty village called Lijiang. To get to Runan Wan from Lijiang requires driving about two and a half hours over a tortuous, dangerous, and in some places entirely absent road, but most of the children who live there will never make it that far in their entire lives.
Runan Wan is home to about one hundred students, attending what in the US would be grades one to six. There is one principal and about six or seven teachers. The students there are hungry for education; some walk as much as three hours, over a 2,000 foot mountain ridge, just to be able to attend. And yet for most of them, this will be all the education they ever receive. Every few years, one of them is lucky enough to secure some kind of sponsorship that allows them to leave their family at age 10 or 11 and go to Lijiang to attend intermediate school. The rest, no matter how bright or academically inclined, go to work the fields.
There are of course countless thousands of schools just like Runan Wan. The only thing that makes it different from any of the others is that last November, my friend Areiel Wolanow went there and got to meet these students, talk with them, and learn something of their lives and their dreams. Since then he has not been able to stop thinking about this school, or these children.
How Can You Make a Difference?
Well, the fact is, Areiel isn’t sure. Yet. He’s not even sure it can be done, but he knows he’s going to try. The first step is to tell their story, and to do that he needs your help. It’s simple, really.
One of the photographs he took during his visit, seen below, is a picture of his teammate Martin helping a Naxi girl prepare for racing the three-legged race. It was nominated to appear in a photo contest for International Corporate Volunteerism. The winner of this contest gets to speak at their annual conference. It is important that you know that Areiel will not get paid a cent for doing this; in fact it will be quite expensive for him to attend if he does win. But I cannot imagine a better place, or a more receptive audience, to start to tell this story and talk about ways to make a difference. So am asking you for your help in making this happen.
Please go to this site and vote for this photograph, below. (Clicking on the photo will take you there, too.) The photo is entitled “IBM Corporate Service Corps – Team China 18″
It’s very important that you vote for this photo and no other! I’ve known Areiel Wolanow for years, and I guarantee you that if he wins this contest and has the opportunity to speak at this conference, he will make amazing things happen for these children. But we need your help!
Other Ways to Help
Please spread the word! At the bottom of this article, you’ll see several keys that allow you to share it with others. If you are on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc, you can pass this link along. Also, if you have a blog on WordPress yourself, you can click the “reblog” button up above. The more people who read this article, the more who will be likely to vote. And there are only a few weeks left to vote, so time is of the essence!
I will be sure and give you updates on this story, such as whether or not he won the contest, what actions he’s taking to help the school, etc., in the comment section below. We’d also love your suggestions on ways to help this school, so please don’t hesitate to comment as well!
Vote! Vote! Vote!
Thank you.
The View from a Drawbridge 