Volunteer Program China: Summer, Snacks And Familiar Faces!| 4 min read
It’s been a busy few months, with new helping hands being warmly welcomed into our partner NGOs, facilitating a heart warming reunion with our first sponsored volunteer, seeing some old faces return and not to mention some fun events being planned with the charities we partner with! Seems it’s going to be busy summer for the volunteer team and we can’t wait!
In the past few weeks ImmerQi has welcomed volunteers Mimi and Laura, both from The States, to undergo summer projects working with visually impaired orphans at our partner foster home and education centre in a village in Beijing.
Mimi, who is studying elementary education in The States, has been doing some fantastic work over the past few weeks with the English immersion pre- school class, a specialized role, which she is embracing so positively bringing in new ideas surrounding creative ways to teach fine motor skills and communication to children with visual impairments.
After a busy orientation period at the start of June we transferred with our newest volunteer, Laura over to the project where she has been settling into village life and has been learning the ropes over at the foster home. Laura will be helping with the English immersion class alongside Mimi and also assisting in some one on one work with children who are soon to be adopted to help prepare them for their new lives.
We have also been very blessed to witness a special reunion over at the foster home this month as ImmerQi sponsored the visa for Abby, who was adopted from the NGO 5 years ago as she returned to volunteer for the summer, now a mature and independent young woman it really was wonderful to see her return.
As ImmerQi push for diversity in volunteer projects abroad, we are striving to lead the way in China by creating more inclusive opportunities for volunteers with disabilities through our programs and Abby is evidence that it is possible!
Abby is making her mark by showing that people with visual impairments can live fulfilling lives as equal members of society and gives motivation to others to follow their ambitions as she gives back a helping hand to the charity that took care of her and taught her important life skills, before moving to America with her new family. We are so happy to have Abby leading the way for others to come!
Watch this space for more news on ImmerQi’s push for diversity in study abroad projects and Abby’s full story soon!
Now, we must also give some virtual high 5’s now to two other awesome people in this month’s updates, both of which participated in our volunteer projects over a year ago and have returned to our partner NGOs this summer.
Child Psychologist Priscilla has returned from Costa Rica to work on a project assisting one of the charities as they prepare for a number of adoptions over the coming months by helping prepare reports on the children and ensuring they are prepared to join their new families overseas. Ami, from the UK has also returned to Beijing to a centre for children with multi disabilities to work closely with the children and to help train staff. They are doing fantastic work and have become wonderful ambassadors for the NGO.
So what else is in the pipeline?
As part of our ongoing work to develop projects within the local community, the ImmerQi volunteer team have planned a summer themed snack making class at a drop in community centre for teenagers and adults with intellectual disabilities this week. In line with our partner charities’ mission to promote important skills and independence – we’ll be showing the trainees how to whip up some fun summer treats!
We also have some exciting plans underway for a fun filled field trip next month with a group of children from an NGO that supports both migrant and street children by providing foster care and education. We’re currently in the midst of planning a fun and educational trip to the Beijing National Museum for a fun city day out!
