【德威慈善】回馈社会，奉献爱心，培养社会责任感 | Charity Work at Dulwich
慈善活动在苏州德威国际高中一直以来都是学生生活很重要的一个部分，参与慈善活动不仅是德威价值观的体现：尊重爱护，诚实正直，合作共赢，换位思考，还符合学校对学生的期望：为学校和社区做出积极的贡献，培养领导能力，从成功、挑战，错误和失败中学习并进步，对自己的学习和发展进行反思。作为德威慈善活动协调员，Michael Gates先生向我们详细介绍了苏州德威国际高中慈善活动的愿景使命以及具体的项目。
Gates先生说，德威的慈善活动使命是：在学生中培养一种有同理心和服务意识的文化，鼓励学生参与，赋予学生权力去做出影响力。慈善项目以德威的四个学院分成四类：
紫色Fan学院：艺术与文化传播
绿色Grenville学院：健康关怀
红色Raleigh学院：开拓与创新
蓝色Spenser学院：教育领域
每一类活动都从不同的方面让学生通过亲身体验提高了技能，沟通能力，更重要的是建立了更加独立与健全的人格。
德威学生首先从苏州地区着手，在“艺术无边界”项目中，学生们运用自己的艺术才能帮助木渎学校的学生，教他们基本的绘画和手工艺，并将他们制作的手工艺品售卖出去，用所得的收益购买当地学生的学习生活用品。近期三位德威学生接待英国约克市市长及夫人的机会就是慈善活动帮助建立起来的联系（相关文章：英国约克市市长与夫人来访，对德威学生印象深刻），三位学生是“拥抱苏州文化”项目的成员，他们在此之前经常来苏州博物馆担任导游和助手，不仅服务了社区，还为这千载难逢的机会做好了准备。
德威健康慈善项目与“大爱清尘”基金会合作帮助因职业而得病的尘肺病患者。大爱清尘基金，源自2011年6月15日由著名记者王克勤联合中华社会救助基金会共同发起的“大爱清尘·寻救尘肺病农民兄弟大行动”，是专项救助中国600万尘肺病农民工，并致力于推动预防和最终基本消灭尘肺病的公益基金。该组织将请到专业人士来到学校讲解中国尘肺病现状以及尘肺病知识，让学生们关心社会问题，培养社会责任感。
德威医疗项目组织学生去苏州大学附属儿童医院服务，他们会定期去医院慰问生病且没有亲人照顾的儿童，陪伴他们，为他们做一些力所能及的事情。一位已毕业的学生Vicky Bu是这个项目的创始人之一，她不仅成绩优异，还凭借自己丰富的经历申请到了比牛津剑桥还难录取的英国利兹大学牙医学院（相关文章：比牛津剑桥还难申请，德威学子卜雪凡圆梦利兹大学牙医学院）
德威慈善还与“牵手中国”慈善组织合作帮助没有四肢的儿童，希望利用3D打印机打印出人工义肢，这样的技术不仅降低了成本（约500人民币一支），还可以根据病人需要定制，有很好的抓取功能，且很容易穿脱，免去了手术的风险。这个项目将得到其他德威学校以及第三方机构Venture Avenue（深德公益）的支持。
德威SPARK线上支教组织主要帮助贫困地区的孩子学习英语，在此之前，SPARK已经给中国各个受助学生提供了Wi-Fi，电脑等设备便于学生进行长期的线上学习。SPARK国际组织在2017年获贝塔斯曼基金会年度最佳公益大奖。至今，受助学生数量超过十万，德威SPARK也与苏州的其他SPARK组织拓展非洲肯尼亚学生群体。
除了苏州地区外，德威的慈善活动还希望帮助到非洲肯尼亚的贫困孩子。慈善项目肯尼亚赤道计划旨在改善非洲肯尼亚马赛当地地区学校的学生状况，包括学生的教育质量和生活。根据学生们这次肯尼亚之行的研究结果，他们注意到，虽然政府在高中之前为公立学校学生支付大部分的学费，但由于家庭没有足够经费购买校服，许多学生仍然不能上学。文具和书籍是极其缺乏的，大多数学生只有一支铅笔和一本笔记本来写和重用笔记几次（有些已经坏了），连多余的笔都还需要支付额外的钱。他们还参观了当地小学为女童开放的救援中心，没有自来水管，也没有足够的床位。他们计划筹款为当地学生买书本，较新的衣服和基本文具，他们还会为当地出色的学生提供学业帮助，筹款搭建水管和添加床位。
Gates先生提到，在中国并不重视对慈善的教育，很多学生从公办学校考来德威并没有养成对慈善活动的热衷。最开始，由于服务社区是爱丁堡公爵奖的一部分，很多学生是为了参加爱丁堡公爵奖而加入了慈善活动的。但是在加入后，通过切身帮助弱势群体，了解社会上存在的一些问题，学生们逐渐爱上了做慈善，还有一些学生会主动提出新的慈善项目，让慈善活动变得更丰富多彩，且帮助到从当地到海外更广泛的弱势群体。另外，学生们参加慈善活动服务社区，帮助弱势群体也为他们申请大学增加了砝码，也让他们在进入世界顶尖大学后能更好地适应大学生活，积极参与到大学社团活动中去。
更多慈善项目请关注“苏州德威国际高中”微信公众号，点击“学校简介”菜单栏选择“德威慈善”。
Why Charity Work is so Important at Dulwich
Charity activities have always been a very important part of student life in Dulwich International High School Suzhou. Participating in charity activities is not only a manifestation of the Dulwich values of respect, integrity, collaboration and empathy, but also align withour desire for our students to contribute positively to the school community. It helps them to develop leadership skills, to learn and develop through successes, challenges, mistakes, failures and reflect on their own learning and development. As the coordinator of charity work at Dulwich International High School Suzhou, Mr. Michael Gates gave us a detailed introduction to the vision and mission of our charity work across several specific projects.
According to Mr. Gates, the mission statement for charity work at Dulwich International High School Suzhou is: To foster a culture of empathy and service, to clearly enable student participation, to empower students to make an impact. The charity projects are divided into four categories by school’s four houses: Fan House: Art and Culture; Grenville House: Health; Raleigh House: Pioneer; Spenser House: Education. Each type of projects allows students to improve their transferrable skills and more importantly, to become independent and wholesome characters through hands-on experience.
Our students started their charity work in the Suzhou area. In the “Art without Boundaries” project, students teach children about art and crafts in schools in and around Mudu. The children then sell the crafts they make in order to buy study material and living supplies.
Three students that were part of the “Embracing Suzhou Culture” charity were recently called upon to act as tour guides for the Lord Mayor of York and his wife while they were visiting Suzhou (related article: Lord Mayor of York’s Visit). As part of this project, the students attend the museum in order to serve as tour guides and assistants. It was their participation in this activity that gave them the opportunity for this once-in-a-life time experience.
The Dulwich Health Charity Project works with the “Love Save Pneumoconiosis Foundation” to help patients with pneumoconiosis who developed the illness due to their occupations. The “Love Save Pneumoconiosis Foundation” was launched on June 15, 2011 by the famous journalist Wang Keqin and the China Social Relief Fund, it started the “Seeking Pneumoconiosis Farmers Brothers” campaign to specifically help 6 million pneumoconiosis suffers in China. The foundation is committed to promoting the prevention of and ultimately to eliminate pneumoconiosis. The organization will invite professionals to come to the school to explain the current status of pneumoconiosis in China and spread knowledge of pneumoconiosis, so that students can learn about social issues and foster their sense of social responsibility.
The Dulwich Medical Project organizes students to go to the Children's Hospital in Soochow University. They will attend the hospital on a regular basis in order to meet children who are sick and have no family care available. Our students accompany them and offer their support. A graduate student, Vicky Bu, is one of the founding members of this project. She not only has excellent grades, but also has lots of Charity experience, both of which helped her admission into Dental school at the University of Leeds in the UK, which is even more difficult get into than Oxford and Cambridge (related article: Vicky's Dentistry Dream Realized).
Dulwich International High School Suzhou also cooperates with the Handson charity to help children without limbs. This charity aims to use 3D printers to print prosthetic hands. This technology not only reduces the cost of prosthetics (about 500 RMB), but also means that the prosthetics can be customized according to the unique needs of the patient. The artificial hands’ grip function is driven by mechanical transmission, they are easy to wear and take off and eliminate the risk and requirement for surgery. This project will be supported by other Dulwich schools in the group and a third-party institution called Venture Avenue.
The Dulwich SPARK Online Education Organization now helps children in poor areas to learn English. Prior to this, SPARK provided Wi-Fi, computers and other equipment to students in China for long-term online learning. In 2017, SPARK International won the Bertelsmann Foundation's Best Public Welfare Award. To date, the number of students helped by SPARK exceeded 100,000. Dulwich SPARK and other organizations in Suzhou want to expand the project to Kenyan students in Africa.
In addition to charity work in the Suzhou area, charity activities in Dulwich also help poor children in Guizhou, China and poor Kenyan children in Africa. The student charity organization Ripple is a joint initiative of three students, Kitty Y., Irene F. and Kate F., who hope to improve the education opportunities for students in poor areas through their own actions. They first held a Ripple charity concert at the school to raise funds, and then used these donations to visit Wengzuo Village, Southeast Guizhou, to buy clothes and books for them, teach them knowledge and promote environmental protection concepts among villagers, and help them classify garbage. The three students said that the event was more meaningful than simple donations, it not only helped local students and villagers both physically and psychologically, but also made the three students more grateful and cherish the present. “The Equator Project” aims to improve the quality of life of Kenyan Kids in the Masai Mara, which includes both their education and their quality of life. According to our students’ research during the Kenya trip, it was apparent that although the government covers most of school fees for public school students until high school, many students still can’t go to school as they don’t have a uniform. Due to the lack of stationery and books, most of the student only have one pen and one notebook to write in and are forced to use old and worn out textbooks (some of which are already damaged beyond repair). They also visited the rescue center in a local primary school for girls where there was no running water and not even a bed. They plan to raise money for local students to buy books, newer clothes and basic stationery, and they will also provide academic help to outstanding local students, raise funds to build water pipes and add beds.
Mr. Gates mentioned that Chinese education doesn’t generally tend to place much emphasis on charity work. Many students who come from public schools haven’t developed the empathy and passion for charity work. Initially, as community service was part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, many students joined the charity projects as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. However, after involvement in charity work, including helping people in need and being aware of some problems in the society, the students gradually fell in love with charity, and some students even proposed new charity projects, expanding the school’s charity work repertoire and helping a wider range of underprivileged people both locally and overseas. In addition, participating in charity work also help students to get an edge in college applications. It also enables them adapt to life at the world's top universities and actively participate in university clubs.
To learn more about charity projects of our school, please subscribe the "Dulwich International High School Suzhou" official WeChat account, click on the "School Profile" menu bar to select "Dulwich Charity".
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