Day 5 July & Dandelion School-Lama Temple

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

We, the NCTA crew checked out of the very nice Novotel Hotel at 8am and headed towards the outskirts of Beijing to the Dandelion School. Before reaching the Dandelion, our driver made a quick pit stop so we could see the 90,000 capacity Bird's Nest-Home of the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the futbol and track and field events and the Water Cube-Home of the swimming events for the Beijing Olympics 2008.

*Brief Summary*
The Dandelion was started by (Jun) Hong in 2005 for migrant middle school children. (Jun) Hong, a micropaleontologist fought for migrant workers' children to have better education. Through donations and a matching fund, she was able to start a two week summer camp. The 1st week-120 kids and the 2nd-180 kids. Many of the migrant schools were closed before the Olympics, a sort of "cleansing". (Jun) Hong turned a former factory into a school and with only 100 yuan subsidized from the government was able to open this school. There is now over 600 students at Dandelion and Ms. Hong also has instituted a nutrition program-3 meals/day, on average migrant children are 4" shorter and 22 lbs lighter. The nutrition program has also been been observed by the students improved test scores.
*special note-there is a Group of Dandelion Women-50 women work on various projects
*The Dandelion School is very different than the other schools that we will visit-in fact it may be even more special

The Dandelion School designed for children of migrant workers-not from Beijing-those considered second class citizens, laborers. Since 1958, there had been a household registration in Beijing-trying to keep BJ from having big slum cities. Food and Employment were rationed based where you lived. In the rural areas, teachers were not as prepared and definitely did not have the same resources. In Shanghai, if there is no formal household registration-okay, but in BJ, residents were concerned with economic stability.
The school is located in Southern BJ because that is where the factories are located. There are 6 7th grade classes, approx. 45 students per class. The Dandelion is a middle school only accomodating grades 7-9, they would need permission to increase more grades but the government will not allow it. There are approx. 1000 students that take the exams, but only 700 total in the school. 80% of the students live on campus in dormitories. The school time is from 6am-9pm with eight 45 minute classes that include: math, Chinese, history, computers, PE, science, and music. Students living on campus are also responsible for chores: sweeping, clean dormitories, wash clothes, etc. The incredible teachers work from 6am-10:30 pm, very long and very little pay.

*My Journal* The kids were off for the summer, there were only seven students for the summer. The kids were very cute and extremely excited. They showed us there classrooms and Karen and David, the two teachers also showed us different areas of the school and explained their daily routines. Karen and David showed us the computer room, music, and project rooms. The computer room was interesting because the school was sponsored by micro-soft, so they had very nice computer stations, where they learned computer video game programming and applications. In the project room, the students made an assortment of handmade materials, scarves, wallets, purses, that were on display recently at an auction used to raise some money for the school. The left over items, they were very happy to show us and purchase if we liked. Ross of course the cute little dude was in the mix amusing the group. We were also shown the cafeteria, dormitories and music rooms. The kids, Ross, Mandy, Kevin and the others put on a performance for us playing their violins, extremely cute. We even had a performance by a little tiny blind kitten and the magical virtuoso of Yo-Yo Ma or otherwise known as Joe Chan, playing twinkle twinkle little star. Fortunately for the group we were blessed to meet principal Jun Hong who started the the Dandelion School and is truly an inspiration for the children, migrant farm workers and teachers from California. We exchanged some gifts for the children and said our goodbyes. It was sad to go, the children all waving as we pulled out.
After the school visit, we went to have lunch at the "Western" restaurant, buffet style. I had fried rice and duck and of course Tsing Tao. Next stop Lama Temple.

The Lama Temple was developed or built to pay homage to Buddha. The Chinese had built this temple 500 years ago. It was built to build a bridge between Mongolian and Tibetan Buddhism. There are seven courtyards and a huge seating area for prayer. The Lama Temple was beautiful and for me exactly what I wanted to see based on my spiritual journey. The most remarkable part of the temple was the last Temple. A guiness book world record Buddha or "Buddher" was on display, measuring 28 meters tall all made out of sandalwood. "Unbelievably awesome"!!!. The Temple of 10,000 Buddhas is 4 stories tall with Sakyamuni in the middle surrounded by all of the other Buddhas. The Lama Temple also included the Laughing Buddha with 4 guardian kings-representing the cardinal directions and able to thwart off the devils with music, sword, water, snake, and umbrella. If you saw most observers burn three incense to represent the past, present and future.

*My Journal* After the Lama Temple, we hopped on the bus and headed towards the railway station. The railway is the epitome of China, packed, hundreds of people everywhere.We arrived early and Jean helped us get organized and kept watch over us and even escorted us to the train. The train was pretty cool, four bunks in a room of each car, the rear of the train standing room only. The train left BJ around 6:40 pm and arrived in Datong at 1:05 am, then will be on the bus to the hotel, pretty crazy, not knowing what to expect. Very long day and night, but had great conversations with Kyle, Manny and Joe. Tommorrow-Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Temple-does it get any better, I don't know-TY Freemans

[clay dube]

Michael, great job summarizing an important day. Because everyone had different encounters during the morning, I hope everyone will post photos and share their impressions of the kids, of the facility, of the very idea of the school. Discuss the location, the surroundings, the teachers you met, and the range of supporters we saw at work and making donations. Read the newsletter I sent around earlier to get an idea of what they are proud of and the challenges they perceive.

Zheng Hong was the retired professor who founded Dandelion School.

Interesting developments are occurring in Beijing's suburbs are target migrants and outside petitioners:

China Digital Times translation of a Caixin
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2010/07/the-truth-behind-beijings-sealing-the-village-management/

Global Times essay by a Canadian
http://opinion.globaltimes.cn/foreign-view/2010-08/561974.html

Toronto's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/inside-chinas-gated-communities-for-the-poor/article1644361/

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