Since the A Yi Charity Library was put into use in April last year. It has been dedicated to helping A’Yis (meaning children in Yi language) develop good learning and reading habits, and broaden their horizons. During the Spring Festival holiday this year, the library held a ten-day event from January 28 to February 5, bringing students an exciting holiday.
This activity aimed mainly for junior high school Yi students. The team recruited a group of volunteers to conduct the activities. The activities covered cultivating reading interest, developing a positive learning attitude, learning writing skills, English and physical exercises. The ten days amazing activities won the appreciation of the students.
1. The library is a secret base;
The library not only provides A’Yis with a place to read, but also becomes a secret base for them to acquire knowledge and communicate freely with others. The first meeting between the A’ Yis and the volunteers seemed cautious, but through the first self-study class,
the mutual communication was greatly enhanced and it created a good start for the subsequent activities. In the following lecture sessions, whether it was writing skills or music theory knowledge sharing, the volunteers adhered to the concept of teaching through fun. They led the A’Yis in the interaction with games, which not only enhanced their understanding of the knowledge, but also inspired their creativity. Outside the classroom, the A’Yis quickly befriended the volunteers and rid of their inhibitions. they took the initiative to pose in cool poses in front of the volunteers’ cameras.
2. The library winter holidays’ activities enriched life experience.
The library is funded as a charitable entity, not a tutoring institution. The purpose of this service is to bring children the joy of seeking knowledge and enrich their experience in life and life itself. The winter holiday event focuses on the mental health and happy growth of little A’Yis. It designed the course on-how to be the master their emotions & to help A’Yis learn how to manage emotions and deal with negative feelings. This will help the A’Yis who are about to enter adolescence to grow up healthily and happily.
3. The library promotes cultural learning and inheritance
The children are basically from the Yi tribe. Volunteers shared the traditional culture of the Yi tribe with the A’Yis taught the children the Yi language, and learned to sing the Yi song (Take Me to the Top of the Mountain-);. As children of the Chinese Nation, the A’Yis also learned classics such as ‘Man Jiang Hong’ etc.
Just a few days is not enough to change too many things, but the A’Yis gradually opened their hearts and showed confidence. ‘Traveling thousands of miles, reading thousands of books’; reading is the way for A’Yis to connect with the world. By cultivating interest in learning and extensive reading, their knowledge and desire to explore will lead them to their own journey of thousands of miles.