Officially launched in 2011, Yew Chung Education Foundation’s (YCEF) Seeds of Hope service project plays an important part in YCEF schools’ commitment to character education, providing students at YCIS Shanghai with multiple opportunities to “align with love and charity” throughout the school year. Seeds of Hope projects include various school fundraisers in Shanghai, as well as trips across China and beyond, such as helping to fund schools in rural China to improve the lives of the students and volunteering at a medical clinic, helping to build a wall, and meeting students from a local school in a rural community of the Philippines.
A recent Seeds of Hope initiative has been to help raise funds and provide support for eye testing clinics and suitable optical medical treatment for children in Seeds of Hope schools across rural China. In coordination with Mifan Mama – a charity which aims to make ‘a real difference to real lives’ of children in China – Seeds of Hope representatives, Mr Chris Perks and Mr Leo Lazo from YCIS Shanghai, visited schools in Qufu, Xiuning, and Lixian, where over 600 students had their eyes tested. As a result of the testing, 150 students will receive follow-up treatment, and spectacles will be given to those children who need them. Several children may also need to receive surgical treatment on their eyes, which will also be covered by the funds raised.
Without these tests, the students could have faced prolonged suffering and potentially long-term damage tot heir eyes. Mr Perks expressed his gratitude to all of the YCIS Shanghai community who had worked hard to raise funds for such a worthwhile cause: “Thank you for your valuable support and contributions to Seeds of Hope, which enables us to make a difference in the lives of students at the Seeds of Hope schools.”
