Song Xiuyan (L), vice-president and first member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and president of the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF), together with a child [Women of China English Monthly]

Women of China English Monthly (WOC) published a special report, "25 Years and Counting! Spring Bud Project Helps Impoverished Girls Return to School," in its November edition. A report on the implementation of the Spring Bud Project, during the past 25 years, will be published this month. WOC recently conducted an exclusive interview with Song Xiuyan, vice-president and first member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and President of the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF).

WOC: What achievements have been made by CCTF over the past 25 years?

SONG: The CCTF launched the Spring Bud Project in 1989 to help female dropouts return to school, and to improve conditions in schools in impoverished areas. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the project. To summarize the experiences and achievements of the past 25 years, and to set the direction of the project's future development, CCTF has entrusted a third party, an appraisal agent, to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the project. Over the past 25 years, the project has collected 1.458 billion yuan (US $238.23 million) in donations, and that money has helped finance the construction of 1,154 Spring Bud schools. The project has also supported 2.517 million girls and provided technical training to 523,000 adolescent girls. It has also distributed 1 million copies of Children's Handbook and Parents' Handbook. Both handbooks address — and provide tips on how to prevent — the sexual abuse of children.The project, which has been conducted in 31 provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions, is one of the most successful and influential charitable projects involving girls' education in China.The project advocates gender equality and safeguards girls' rights to education and participation in family, cultural and social life. In addition to benefiting girls, the project has had the following positive effects on society: First, the project has played a vital role in the implementation of the basic State policy of gender equality. Through the project, CCTF has advocated the nine-year compulsory education among girls, and it has helped protect girls' right to receive an education. As a result, both the school enrollment rate of rural girls and the average level of education among girls have increased over the past 25 years. In addition, the project has helped change the centuries-old mindset that women are inferior to men; Second, the project has helped protect children's rights and interests. The project has been used to educate girls, and various activities have been held under the project to promote children's safety. It has been used to safeguard children's rights to development and protection, and to create a desirable social environment for the healthy growth of children;Third, the project has helped promote ethnic solidarity, and it has helped maintain social harmony and stability. Under the project, Spring Bud schools have been built, and countless girls have been helped, in remote areas of China inhabited by minority groups. Also, the project has helped nurture many talented women who are members of minority groups. Thus, … the project has helped create an atmosphere of ethnic unity and social stability; Fourth, the project has helped cultivate core socialist values. It has provided a platform to make it easier for people to get involved in charitable activities that benefit children and promote the traditional virtue of helping others. The project has helped inspire people, from various segments of society, to be charitable and act on their core socialist values; and Fifth, the project has received international acclaim for its participation in addressing international issues related to girls' development. In 1997, then-UNICEF official Alan Brody told a seminar (in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province) on girls' development, "The Spring Bud Project proves to us that China has adopted substantial measures to deal with the issues related to girls." In March of this year, Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, was named UNICEF Special Envoy for the Advancement of Girls' and Women's Education. "It is a worthy cause … China has basically eliminated illiteracy among adult women. The Spring Bud Project and other charity projects have helped millions of girls return to school," Peng said at the time.

WOC: Many of the project's beneficiaries have grown up and begun contributing to society. What can you tell us about some of these people?

SONG: Since the project was launched 25 years ago, many of its beneficiaries have grown up and become teachers, doctors, soldiers or civil servants. They have expressed their gratitude, and they have expressed their determination to contribute to society and the country. Mihelunsha Abudu, an air force officer stationed in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, dropped out of school when she was in Grade 2. With support from the "Blue Sky" Spring Bud Project, an initiative under the Spring Bud Project, she returned to school and finally graduated from university. In 2009, she was recruited by China's air force. She has since helped more than 40 impoverished students. In 2011, she was named one of the inspiring figures who have been involved in children's charities over the past 30 years. The next year, she was honored as an Advanced Individual of the PLA (Chinese People's Liberation Army). Chinese President Xi Jinping met her during the First Session of the 12th National People's Congress, in March 2013, in Beijing. Pan Shengqiong, from Pingle, a village in Kaili, in Southwest China's Guizhou Province, received support from the project in 2003, when she was a middle school student. In 2006, she was named one of China's Top 10 Best Spring Bud Girls. Two years later, she enrolled at Harbin Medical University. Last year, she began to work at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guiyang Medical University, in Kaili. She says she hopes to relieve the pain of patients in her hometown. Dong Feifei, from Xinjiang's Altay, received assistance from the project when she attended a local senior middle school, and then again when she attended Shanghai's Tongji University. She is now a policewoman in Shanghai.

WOC: What plans do you have for the project's future development?

SONG: In June 2009, CCTF launched four actions, under the project, to assist primary and junior middle school students, support senior middle school and university students, provide technical training to adolescent girls, and help care for stay-at-home children. In 2013, CCTF initiated an action to prevent girls from being hurt, especially from becoming victims of sexual assault, and to provide assistance to victims. CCTF also compiled a handbook on the action, and it distributed 1 million copies of Children's Handbook and Parent's Handbook. In the future, CCTF will improve its fundraising and reinforce the project's brand image. CCTF will expand fundraising channels and adopt different approaches to collecting donations. It will also provide donors with details of the project's benefits, and it will enhance volunteer services and encourage wide social participation. It will boost innovation in the project, and it will expand the influence of the project. CCTF will establish a unified and scientific information-management system, and it will strengthen social supervision to help ensure the healthy growth of children, especially girls.

(Women of China English Monthly)