2001 shook the world. It was a year of many shakes to SOAR as well, but we have stood tall. Despite the economic downturn, we raised enough money to reach the goal of supporting 1400 students. We resolved the office facility crisis by finding a new home, centrally located in the SF Bay Area, where SOAR volunteers are able to meet and work regularly. In the middle of a difficult transition, we also completed a reorganization, shifting some responsibilities among our volunteers, and now have a stronger team to carry out our tasks.
By the time you read this Newsletter, the 2002 scholarship application forms are already on their way to the nominated candidates. This year we plan to add 300 junior high school scholars. We plan to focus more on the most needy regions in our selection of scholarship recipients. We will also strengthen our collaboration with the teachers who have recommended the students.
In the past, because of a lack of manpower, we had some difficulty tracking the SOAR scholars. To alleviate this, we have added a new liaison office in China. Its principal responsibility is to follow up on the scholarship recipients. Have they received the stipends we sent them? Are they attending schools and doing well? Are they following the regulations and corresponding with their mentors?
In our new office in Union City, we have at least two volunteers there every day to answer inquiries and to carry out the important tasks. I invite all of you to come and visit the place. I am sure that, after you have watched the volunteers doing their work, you will be moved by their skills and enthusiasm.
In closing, on behalf of SOAR, I would like to share some good news with our members and supporters. As you may already know, SOAR has spawned a number of new efforts. Some of the SOAR members have founded or joined new organizations, such as Evergreen, Peach, Force, and Shin Shin, Although these are totally independent organization, each brings a new approach or a new objective; yet they all share with us the same ultimate goal: the enhancement of basic education in China. We are very pleased to see how all these new streams begin to flow through one arid patch after another, and their joint force will surely transform the whole landscape!
—Shirley Chen
Auntie Kwong,
How are you? Perhaps I should address you as Mrs. Kwong. But, as I found out during our meeting last year, to call you Auntie makes me feel so much closer to you.
Thank you so much for your letter. Actually I have been waiting for it. As Winter turns into Spring, my hope had begun to fade. Yet I told myself that you were simply overburdened by your other businesses. I am very sorry to hear that the actual cause for your silence was the sickness of your father. May I use English to say, "I am sorry to hear that". You are a very kind person, and I am sure your father must also be the same. Thus may I extend my good wishes: may calamities skirt away from nice people!
The few hours of our get-together last year is something I will never forget in my life. Your smiles keep on coming back in front of my eyes, your words keep on floating into my ears. At our meeting, the great joy of meeting you made me forget to do what I should have done, and to say what I should have said. Only if we had a full day! Then we would know so much more about each other… Perhaps we may see each other again? Perhaps in the United States?
When you left you gave me some candies. I could not resist eating a piece on my way back. Although it went into my mouth, I felt the sweetness in my heart. I gave one piece to Mr. Lin, the class teacher of my senior high school, and two pieces to Mr. Li, the principal of my primary school. I want more people to share your affection.
I did not give the candies to my parents. Instead, I told them over and over the details of our meeting. This brings brightness to their faces. My Mother was delighted to hear that you liked the shoe cover I gave you. Since then, when she had free time, she would put on her glasses and start to sew again. She has made many things, and they will be sent to you. My parents are peasants. Deeply rooted in them is the old Chinese tradition: when you drink, do not forget the person who dug the well!
I had always been pampered by my teachers. But I am having some trouble with my new class teacher. He is a good person, very focused on learning. He demands too much from me. Perhaps it is because I had asked him to let me join the Party. In any case, he kept me in the classroom for more than twelve hours a day to study, and still criticized me for being lazy. This affects my ability to learn. I am an outspoken person. I told him several times that I needed more rest. Each time he only criticized me. I realize that we live in a highly competitive world, and will have to struggle hard. In addition, my rural background put me far behind the city boys and I need to catch up. Yet all that readings have taken a toll on my eyes; my nearsightedness is getting worse. It also depressed me. I try to build myself up, running one thousand meters every day. What else do you think I should do?
Your financial support has made me even more self-conscious about my performance. To tell the truth, I always felt that I was pretty special. Coming from a very poor family, I had earned good grades. Then SOAR came in and enabled me to continue my education in the city. Such good fortune! Yet there is another side to the story. You did not visit my home, and probably do not know how poor my family are. My parents worked hard in the field, year after year, and harvested only injuries and debts. Of course I know that adversity builds character: a person who never experienced adversity is not likely to accomplish great deeds. Whether it is Lincoln in the United States or Chairman Mao in China, their success was forged in their struggles. I had to remind myself of this all the time.
I am a senior in high school now. Yet I feel a little lost. I had planned to apply for entrance to the Military Academy. This is now out of question because of my eyesight. I probably will try to go to a law school. I believe the complexity of new century can only be regulated by laws. At the same time I realize that law schools are hard to get in. I am also making little progress in my English. In my last exam, although I did well, I got the right answers where others did not, and I gave the wrong answers where the others were able to find the right answers. What is wrong with me?
You are the first mentor I have had. In the past I had corresponded only with the Mentor Committee. Seeing your kind face, I felt a swell of warmth. I am sure that under your guidance, I will begin to find myself. I am known as person who speaks his mind. I am very frank with you. I hope you understand how I feel. Even with such a long letter, I still have not been able to tell you all about me. I hope to hear from you soon, and to find out what you think.
Best wishes,
—Jiang Lein Ping
(translated by T. Y. Shen)
The stated objective of SOAR Foundation is to assist promising children from poor rural families to obtain a high school education, so that they will become catalysts for economic development in their villages. The questions on the scholarship application form solicit information on the socio-economic background of the applicants. While the selection process by the SOAR Foundation staff stresses neediness as a principal criterion, in this story we try to quantify it with tabulations based on some key indicators, for the latest cohort of successful applicants.
Table One presents the geographical distribution of new SOAR scholars. It shows clearly that most — but not all — of them live in provinces at a great distance from the coast. As is well known, the per capita income in China generally declines with this distance, so that it is safe to conclude that the children we are helping are from the poorer regions. Table One also reveals that three-fifths of the scholarships go to girls. This may be the result of better academic performance of girls in lower grades. But it is also appropriate because following old tradition poor rural families are less inclined to commit their scarce resource to advance the education of their female children. SOAR Foundation provides a counter-balance weight to this prejudice.
Table Two (see page 3) shows the parental income status. The division of family income between father and mother is of course quite arbitrary, especially for a family that engages mostly in farm activities. What is striking is the large number of children whose father is deceased (more than 15%) or whose mother is deceased (more than 10%). Where both parents are alive, the number of fathers and the number of mothers who have income are about equal. Female participation in the labor force is clearly quite high.
Table Three is a cross tabulation of family annual income and family size. At first glance it may appear that family incomes of the SOAR scholars have a large dispersion, many of the families have an income four to five times larger than others. This conclusion, however, is misleading. An annual income of 2000 Y is only about $250. This would hardly place the family above the "needy" category. Furthermore, even this meager income is usually generated by the hard work of both parents.
The picture is sharpened further as we take the family size into consideration. It is well known that farm families and minority families receive some exemption from the government policy of one child per family. This is reflected by the tabulated statistics. Two or three children per family are much more common than one child. Extended family also appears to be the norm. Most families have two grandparents living with them, so that the family income must be divided among a larger number of family members.
The pie chart provides a quick glance of the academic performance of SOAR scholars. 73% of the scholars ranked in the top 5% of their class and another 16% of the scholars ranked between 5% and 10%.
This quick review should satisfy us that the SOAR scholars have been properly targeted.
—T. Y. Shen
with help from the Program Committee
We began this year on a note of trepiation: we were presented with a budget of $300,000 to meet! However, we are pleased to report that, by the end of the year, we have raised a total of $471,175, partly due to a magnanimous donation of $200,000 from Maurice Ngo of Berkeley. Our sponsors have, once again, come through this year. We received $166,935 from old and new sponsors, even though we are disappointed by the fact that only 66% of our old sponsors had elected to renew their sponsorship this year. This is a significant decline from the 80% renewal rate that we had experienced in the last three years. Fortunately, 40 of our 43 major sponsors — "supporters," each sponsoring at least ten students — did renew their sponsorship. We also netted $40,000 from out annual Fund Raising Dinner this year. Membership dues contributed another $2685 to our revenue.
As we had reported previously, each of our senior high school, vocational school and normal school students will receive a scholarship award of $255 annually. Furthermore, any student who is accepted for admission to an accredited college or university will also be given a on-time grant of $255. Scholarship awards for students in the junior high school will remain at $85.
Our honor list of donors this year is headed by Mr. Maurice Ngo of Berkeley ($200,000), Mrs. Doris Chiu of Kensington ($13,375), Mrs. Ping Chuan Gan of Fremont ($11,900), Mrs. Alice Wangand Mr. James Chang of Los Altos Hills ($10,000), Pao Hua Foundation of San Jose ($8,500), Mrs. Diana Wong of Palo Alto ($6,250), Ms. Ellen Li of Moraga ($5,100), Mrs. Lei Wah Wong of San Ramon ($4,445), Mrs. Grace Woo of Edison, NJ ($4,250), Mrs. Chin Ho Yao of Seattle ($4,250), Mr. Theodore Tong of San Leandro ($3,000), and Ms. Francis Watt ($2,500). To each of you and to all our other donors, our thanks.
— Margarent and
Leong T. Tan
Our most important agenda this year is to update our mentor data base. We are mobilizing the local coordinators to verify the status of each mentor by making more than 400 personal phone calls to find out if the mentors are satisfied with the correspondence that they are carrying out with their students and if they would like to continue. This is a very tedious job, but our volunteers have accomplished it.
We urge all mentors coming to our new office in Union City to check the records of your students. The other day a mentor from New Hampshire stopped by and got the updates on all her six students. She was very relieved.
We still have 450 students without personal mentors. The Committee has stood in to carry on a correspondence with them. Would you help us by telling your family members or friends to volunteer for this wonderful opportunity? Mentoring is very important to SOAR. "Money" alone cannot chart the life course of a person, but "caring" can. The sample letter from a student to his mentor, reproduced in this Newsletter, suggests how much help a mentor may offer.
If you wish to volunteer or have suggestions on our work, please contact Sue Tsan or Shirley Chen at the SOAR office, Tel. 510-675-0680. Or you may contact your local area coordinator, as listed on your manual.
The application forms for the new school year of 2002 have been distributed to the agents in China. We plan to select at least 300 new students from all over the country. They will be graduating from the elementary schools and going on to the junior high schools. We are exploring the possibilities of supporting the needy students in Taiwan, especially the minorities.
The biggest challenge for this committee is to follow up the status of out students. Our coordinators in China made tremendous effort in contacting the students who are out of the school for reasons such as family tragedy, relocation, or school closing. Yet we still have about 10% of the students who have not informed us concerning their status. This makes it difficult for us to complete the transmission of scholarship money on time. Hopefully this problem will be alleviated with recent addition of a third liaison group in China. We have also requested the local agents who have recommended the candidates to keep close contacts with the students. It is our goal to complete the scholarship award process from beginning to end according to our time table so that the students need not be concerned about the continuation of their schooling.
We are very proud to announce this year that a large number of the SOAR scholars have gained admission to universities and colleges after their graduation. For children from rural areas, this is an unusual feat. Many of them have to labor in the fields after their classes, yet they managed to pass the examination to enter the prestigious universities. It is a good proof that, given a chance, rural youths can compete well with city kids. Too often the only thing they lack is opportunity; and that is what SOAR is offering to them.
If you have any comment or suggestion, please contact the committee members: Stella Kwoh, Ben Tze, Julia Tung or Albert Tso, at the SOAR office, Tel. 510-675-0680.
4 Union Square, Suite C
Union City, CA 94587
(510) 675-0680
soar@sbcglobal.net