Last weekend I traveled to a small city, about 5 hours outside of Kunming, to take part in the Concordia Women's Leadership Academy (CWLA), our leadership program for rural high girls. I profiled this program in my March 2010 newsletter, which I also posted on my blog.
The topic of the workshop was: Dreams & Perseverance. We spent the day focusing on how important it is to dream, how to set goals, and how to persevere to accomplish your dreams.
Dreams are so innate in our culture, as evident by our resolute belief in the American Dream. However, that is not the case with these girls. Many of these girls are from impoverished, rural families who could not afford to attend high school without the scholarship funding provided by CWEF. Their dream is often only to receive a high school and possibly college education or to have the opportunity to live outside of their village.
The workshop provided an opportunity for the girls to learn about other people who have followed their dreams. We watched an inspirational interview of the Chinese man who created their equivalent of ebay. Susan Boyle was also a topic of conversation - an average woman who followed her dream of becoming a professional singer (how awesome, right?! we even watched the youtube video of her singing "I Dreamed a Dream.") And we watched the full video clip of Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a Dream" Speech from 1963 in Washington D.C. I have to admit, listening to MLKJ and seeing the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument while sitting in China was really difficult. Nostalgia washes over me whenever I see the American flag or hear the National Anthem - hence why I didn't watch the Olympics. You guys, it is so bad that I can't even listen to Miley Cyrus's Party in the USA. Humiliating, I know. In this case, hearing His four words, "I have a dream" provoked the same emotions. Luckily, I could visualize my friends saying, "Whitney, lock it up" so the moment passed without creating a scene.
After discussing several more successful Chinese entrepreneurs who dared to follow their dreams, we asked the girls to write out their dreams. Then in small group discussions, the students brainstormed what it takes to achieve your goals. Finally, the girls wrote their dreams on paper airplanes and let them fly!
The workshop also incorporated several fun team-building activities. The girls spent part of the morning competing in three-legged races, eventually joining 11 girls' legs together. And in another activity, they had to work together to collect all the necessary components of a puzzle.
Overall, CWLA Training provides a safe environment where the girls are supported, encouraged, and inspired. Within the leadership academy, they have a voice and an opinion. And most importantly, they have role models who believe in them. It was so encouraging to watch them interact with our CWEF Education Director. Their adoration towards our ED was abundant, and it is obvious that she serves as a great mentor for them.
These girls have a dream; it is our hope that CWEF's scholarships and training will assist them in achieving their dreams.
CWEF Scholarship Recipients
Discussing what it takes to achieve your dreams
If only I could read this...
Almost to the home stretch!
The town where we hold the training is in northern Yunnan. It is a mountainous region that has extremely cold temperatures. The land is mostly used to grow potatoes, and there is an abundance of coal mining in the region.
