Making a Difference in Central China

By Linda Fraser Jacobsen, President & CEO of Global Vision Strategies, LLC

It started back in 2000, when I was invited to join a businesswomen’s summit in Beijing. The incredible women I met on that journey inspired me to do even more, to reach out on another level, to make a greater difference in the world. I’d like to share that story with you now.

After the Beijing conference ended, several of us were invited to come south into central China, where few foreigners had been. A Chinese-American visionary, Dr. Shawn Chen, was realizing his dream and wanted our help. He’d begun a university in Henan province, the most populated province in all of China, around 100 million people. His goal was to offer US degrees in China through an academic partnership with Fort Hays State University in Kansas, and to orient the admissions toward rural Chinese students, the poorest of the poor, to give the more remote regions in China a chance at development in a more balanced way. This plan made sense to me, and so I visited. It changed me forever.

When I think about our own three children, all of whom have access to higher education and our total support while doing so, I wondered how the average rural Chinese village family would cope with that same dream for their own children. Now I know. The struggles and sacrifices are often beyond description, and these families would not want to be praised or admired for doing whatever it takes to help their son or daughter move ahead in life. But their determination and commitment is nothing short of humbling. These are not the top two percent of China’s high school graduates who will compete for the key university spots in Beijing or Nanjing Normal University, for example. These young men and women would not otherwise have a chance at bettering their own lives, without an opportunity like the one Dr. Chen created. I was so impressed by his vision and his own personal financial commitment that I joined the SIAS International University Foundation Board when invited. I have been serving on it ever since, trying to raise awareness and funding for these promising lights in China’s future, an instrumental part of global peace long into the future. SIAS International University now welcomes over 10,000 students on its beautiful campus some eight years after opening its doors. You simply must come and see it for yourself! You are most welcome there.

Many of these rural Chinese families have more than one child. Most of the families do not have access to capital, federal school loans, and so forth. They borrow against crops that may or may not be plentiful at very high interest rates (shades of the company store?), and live in poverty and struggle on a daily basis. Many of them live on less than $100 per month. They are proud and hardworking people, and it is a joy to know them. It is an honor to help them help their children. For about $1,500 a year, I have adopted a student, Coco, a junior at SIAS International University in Xinzheng, Henan, PRC. That money covers Coco’s tuition, room and board for a full year. It helps her family survive, eat better, and take better care of one another while she works hard to study, so she can in turn help them, too. For me, it means writing a totally tax deductible check to the SIAS University Foundation, based in southern California. The Foundation is a 501c3 that welcomes any and all contributions. It is a small thing I do, but the impact is profound and long term.

The SIAS University Foundation is one of many commitments I have made to do my share to improve life on earth for all. I am not a wealthy person, but I am rich in many ways that call for giving back. As a former teacher, I found a natural sense of belonging and commitment to this powerful cause. I love visiting the SIAS campus whenever I can, meeting the students and speaking with the faculty and administration, and finding out the myriad ways my small contribution has an impact. I was honored to attend the past spring graduation celebration, and handed out scholarships our foundation had raised, and was able to hug each student who worked so hard to earn such recognition. This is the real side of giving back. These young people may not remember me, but they will remember that someone was there who cared, and hopefully, will learn in their own ways to give back to others what was given to them. This is the hope for our future on planet earth. It is my constant commitment to man’s ability to create global peace and harmony through mutual understanding and the sharing of resources. It is the only way, one man or woman at a time.