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Chinese New Year Continued
If you were born in any of these years - 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982 or 1994 - you've got something to howl about, you lucky dog. According to Chinese lore, "dogs" are honest and faithful to those they love, but they are also a bit eccentric and even stubborn, at times. Famous "dogs" include: tennis player Andy Roddick, Bill Clinton and Jennifer Lopez.
The Chinese New Year is marked with festivities in China and in Chinese-American communities throughout the United States and Canada. The observance, also known as the Spring Festival, starts with the new moon on the first day of the lunar new year (Year 4704 on the Chinese calendar) and ends on the full moon falling 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, a time when Chinese young and old gather together in parks carrying homemade paper lanterns of all sizes, mostly in bright red hues, the color of joy and festivity.
If you'd like to experience the colorful traditions of China firsthand - and build bonds of friendship with its people - Global Volunteers invites you to join one of its volunteer teams to China, which was recently named one of the hottest travel destinations for 2006 by travel expert Pauline Frommer. You can share your conversational English skills with eager learners in the city of Xi'an, the farming village of An Shang, both located in central Shaanxi Province; or in the city of Kunming, the capital of southern Yunnan Province. No teaching experience required.
Join Global Volunteers in China
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Join the "Global Volunteer Network" Nationwide
Consider this: More than 30 percent of our new volunteers are referred by returning volunteers like you - and there are over 16,000 of you! There are many ways to pitch in:
- Let us know you are willing to make presentations in your community if we receive requests for them at the Global Volunteers office.
- Agree to arrange and give a presentation or two over the next few months at your professional association, house of worship, or to other groups in which you're involved.
- Get creative! Host a Global Volunteers party in your home. Share photos of your trip with friends and family over a meal representative of the community you visited.
- If you want to take a more active role, agree to become an Encore Team coordinator or representative and help us mobilize other volunteers in your area.
In all cases, we will provide the support you need to be successful and we welcome and encourage your participation! Please contact Ivy Kaminsky Zupka, Encore Manager, at ikaminsky@globalvolunteers.org or (800)487-1074 for more details and to become involved in the Encore Program.
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"Student Raises Funds For Chinese Classroom
On her first program, Meah met a special woman who made a lasting impression. This woman was An Lin, who worked as Global Volunteers’ consultant in China and was quite popular among the volunteers for her warmth and personality. Tragically An Lin died in a car accident in 1999 while studying in the United States. In An Lin’s memory, Global Volunteers and its China partner, the Sino-American Society, embarked on “Project Peace,” a joint project to build a school and library in the remote village of An Shang, China. Ground was broken in 2002 and the structure was completed in 2005. A child-sponsorship program was initiated last year to provide additional funding to enable hundreds of village children to attend this wonderful new school.
Meah Nisenson’s fundraising efforts – along with personal and family donations – garnered over $1,000 that will go toward child sponsorships in An Shang. As a “thank you,” Meah gave each donor a handmade clay figurine that she learned to make at Rockville Chinese School, the once-a-week Chinese school she attends.
Meah’s generous deed is all the more meaningful because it honors the memory of An Lin, the young woman she met so many years ago in China, and a very special bridge of friendship and understanding across cultures.
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back to LINK newsletter Vol 52
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