Report submitted by Jennifer Shan XUE, Student Affairs Office, MBA Programs, School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University.
The Tsinghua School of Economics & Management (SEM) MBA Ray of Love Association (ROLA) kicked off its 100-Day Wenchuan Charity Drive on May 12, 2009, with the aim of benefiting Sichuan school children who were affected by the Wenchuan earthquake. May 12, 2009, marked the first anniversary of the Sichuan Wenchuan Earthquake. Since then, Sichuan has embarked on its recovery process, and there is still much to be done. About 1,300 schools have been reconstructed, but many local schools are highly lacking in books and other teaching materials to resume their normal classes.
Our goal is to set a “Tsinghua ROLA Book Room” at Mianzhu Middle School in Mianyang County, Sichuan Province. To achieve this, we have been collecting book donations from students, and holding charity sales to raise funds. We disseminated the call for donations to all our MBA classes, and put up publicity posters throughout the Tsinghua campus at canteens and student dormitories. We set up a collection booth at SEM, during the week of May 12, 2009, to take in donations, and further promote the cause. The MBA Office also arranged for shelves to be placed in front of the office for donors to deposit their books.
Within a few weeks, ROLA collected almost 3,000 books and other reading materials, and also raised over 2,000 RMB from charity sales and donations. About 1,000 books were donated by SEM teachers, staff and students. Another 1,000 children’s computer related books were generously donated by two companies who went through the MBA Office. Another 1,000 new books were donated by a MBA Spring Class classmate on behalf of his company.
For the donated items, those which are suitable for use by Sichuan pre-primary / primary / middle / senior high students will be donated to the book room or directly to schools. The remaining items were sold to raise funds, which will be used to buy books for the book room in Sichuan. For remaining unsold items, ROLA is donating them to other suitable needy organizations.
We started our charity sale on May 24, 2009, and held it every Sunday morning over four weeks. Besides raising funds, our larger motivation was to spread the spirit of sharing across the Tsinghua campus. We picked a location near the 10th Canteen, as it enjoys good crowds during the peak lunch hour. We employed our creative grey cells to attract attention from the people walking or cycling past the Canteen area. We came up with catchy slogans, and acted out little skits. During the sale, we asked buyers to price the items themselves, as these were donated items and all proceeds would be for a charitable cause. We received encouraging responses from passers-by, who were not only students and staff of Tsinghua, but also campus visitors.
Besides our efforts on campus, ROLA also partnered with the Tsinghua SEM MBA Alumni Mentorship Program (AMP) and the Asia Psychological Counseling Council on a related project to provide psychological counseling to Sichuan Mianzhu Middle School Level 3 students. The project is led by AMP mentor, Ni Zijun, and it seeks to provide psychotherapy and counseling services to help the students alleviate stress and regain confidence. A total of 11 volunteers went to Mianzhu Middle School from May 30 to June 1. The group also delivered the first batch of 1,000 books, which was much appreciated by the school principal and students. Seeing the smiles on the students’ faces has encouraged us and convinced us that our efforts will make a positive impact to the students’ lives.
Established in November last year, ROLA now has over 150 ROLA members from the various MBA classes. Through our various community projects, we hope to spread the message of sharing and contribute to the community.
