“This is our first time leaving the mountains, our first time seeing so many tall buildings, and our first time realizing that plants and minerals can be so diverse and colorful... I will definitely work hard to get into school in Shanghai in the future, and I hope I’ll also have the ability to help more people in need.” Lanlan, a fourth-grade student, said brightly to the volunteers.
7Month18Day,33orphaned children from Bijie, Guizhou, participated in the “Bijie Orphaned Children’s Shanghai Summer Camp,” organized by the Guiyang Mingche Education Assistance Center. These33orphaned children are mostly those who have lost both parents but do not qualify for orphanage care, and are instead raised by their grandparents or relatives such as uncles and aunts.
The lack of family affection, family upheaval, interrupted schooling, and difficult living conditions can all cast a heavy shadow on the still-developing minds of these orphaned children. Whether this shadow can be lifted will be a life-affecting factor for them. In order to help these children gradually open up, see the outside world, and establish their future goals and directions,900You specially sponsored and participated in this caring summer camp.
We hope that through this activity, the orphaned children can feel the warmth and care from society.900You, as a national comprehensive service platform for tour guides (and tour leaders), has the mission of caring for the guide community. Therefore, we also hope that guides can care more for others, making our society a more loving one.
To this end,900You specially launched a Caring Guides Recruitment campaign, hoping that guides could help fulfill some of the children’s small wishes and bring them joy and care during the summer camp. Once the recruitment was announced, it received an enthusiastic response from guides. After multiple rounds of selection, three most suitable senior guides were chosen. They are teachers Yu Jian and Zheng Hua from Shanghai, and teacher Wang Lu.
On the second day of the summer camp,900You led the children to visit attractions such as the Shanghai Natural History Museum, Nanjing Road, and the Bund. From initial nervousness to later excitement, from shy silence to active questioning, the children gradually adapted to urban sights and slowly opened up.
The Shanghai Natural History Museum allowed the children to truly experience the charm of modern technology and biological evolution, enhancing their awareness of loving learning, life, and science and culture. Jinjin, who is in the eighth grade, said it was her first time seeing so many animals, plants, and minerals, and she plans to write many essays to share with her younger siblings who haven’t been to Shanghai.
After the museum visit during the day, the children and volunteers prepared to head to the Bund together.900Senior guide Teacher Yu from the You platform interacted warmly with the children on the bus, vividly recounting the history of Shanghai’s development and even spontaneously singing a distinctive Shanghai dialect folk song and the majestic “Sky Road,” earning rounds of applause and cheers from the children.
As the children toured the Bund, listening to the guide’s lively explanations, it was as if a century of Shanghai’s history unfolded before their eyes. “Falling behind invites aggression. What you see before you—the Expo of International Architecture—is both history and a national humiliation. Although we are now in a time of peace, every Chinese must remember this history. A strong youth makes a strong nation!” Teacher Yu told all the children at the Bund.
For mountain children, leaving the mountains for the first time is of extraordinary significance.900You, as a social enterprise, consistently pays attention to social development, practices social responsibility, and actively engages in public welfare. This summer camp has brought the children a broader perspective and greater knowledge, but more importantly, we hope to convey care and encouragement. For those orphaned children who are in poverty yet thirsty for knowledge, we want them to feel the warmth of society, build a positive and optimistic mindset to face the pressures of growing up, and pass on this emotional journey and love.