Young American couple John and Belinda make handiworks with pupils in a small village in Tang County, northern China's Hebei province. (Source: Chinanews.cn) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, April 26 -- Teaming up with their volunteer partners, a young American couple John and Belinda have devoted over two years in their voluntary teachings to Chinese rural students at a small village in Tang County, northern China's Hebei province.

    According to a head-teacher surnamed Hou at Gaochang Town of Tang County, the volunteer American couple kept teaching rural school pupils English classes very two weeks for over two years. The way the American couple chose to teach in poor rural schools at Tang County was because the country was where great Canadian volunteer doctor Norman Bethune and Indian doctor D.S. Kotnis once worked during their voluntary aid to the Chinese War against Japanese Aggression in the late 1930's. The couple admired their international pioneers very much.

    Teacher Hou said at the beginning of the couple's classes, pupils were too shy to talk to them, but now they are quite talkative and even become good friends with their foreign teachers.

    Thanks to vivid and interesting teachings at the bi-weekly "English Corner" classes offered by the American couple, the local teacher said their students have greatly improved their English language abilities in listening and speaking.

    Yang Sufang, a Chinese volunteer teacher who worked together with John, told Chinaview.cn that the 37-year-old John, who came from California, the United States, established a hand-in-hand association to help global poverty-stricken children get better education. John once worked as an English teacher at a language school in Shijiazhuang, capital city of northern Hebei province in September, 2004. The couple later came to visit a small village in Tang County by chance in 2005 and decided to devote some time there teaching Chinese rural children to learn English and get to know more about the outside world.

    The principal of Zhuangtou School, Cui Rongyao introduced that apart from teaching English, John and his team workers also set up other courses like handiwork and outdoor games. They even established a library for their students.

    John told Chinanews.cn that since they have limited teachers and money, he has not been able to help more Chinese rural students. He said that he is planning to establish another volunteer teaching center in another county in Hebei province later.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)