Safeguarding Girls' Education Rights: 20th Anniversary of Spring Bud Project in Jiangxi

Students stage a poetry recital. [Jiujiang Women's Federation]

The Jiujiang Women's Federation held an activity to mark International Children's Day and the 20th anniversary of the Spring Bud Project in Jiujiang, a prefecture-level city of east China's Jiangxi Province, on May 29.

The Spring Bud Project, started by the China Children and Teenagers' Foundation (CCTF) in 1989, aims to help girl dropouts return to school. Since Jiujiang City launched the charity campaign in 1995, a four-level mechanism consisting of sponsors, the municipal women's federation, county-level women's municipals and beneficiaries has been formed to carry out effective supervision of donations to ensure that they are used to sponsor the poverty-stricken girls.

Over the past two decades, more than 10 million yuan (U.S. $1.6 million) has been raised and provided for more than 20,000 impoverished girls in Jiujiang City, with support from charitable enterprises and the people.

Advanced collectives and individuals have received awards during the activity. For example, Shen Zemin, president of Jiangxi Ganji Group, has donated more than 800,000 yuan (U.S. $128,960) to establish eight Spring Bud classes and sponsor 243 Spring Bud girls since 2013. In addition, he has planned to help 1,000 girls to finish school in the following five years.

On behalf of the sponsored girls, Jiang Fugui, a woman teacher from Hexi Village Primary School in Jiujiang's Wucheng Town, shared the story of how she benefited from the Spring Bud Project to become a teacher. She pledged that she would pass on the Spring Bud spirit.

Spring Bud students staged various performances, such as poetry recitals, singing and dancing, to attendees at the activity, winning warm applause.

Vice-Secretary of the Jiujiang Municipal Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Zhan Yong, Vice-President of the Jiujiang Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Director of the Department of Children of Jiangxi Women's Federation Huang Taoqing and other officials attended the activity.

Students put on a poetry recitaal. [Jiujiang Women's Federation]

Students put on a poetry recitaal. [Jiujiang Women's Federation]

Students stage a dance performance. [Jiujiang Women's Federation]

Students put on a poetry recitaal. [Jiujiang Women's Federation]

Students stage a drum performance. [Jiujiang Women's Federation]

(Provided by Jiujiang Women's Federation)