Community

Two decades ago, many schools in rural Xinjiang lacked IT hardware. Schools that could actually afford the resources for hardware still struggled with the know-how on effectively utilizing them. Since 2012, the Esquel-Y.L. Yang Education Foundation has supported STEM education by introducing learning tools such as NXT, SCRATCH and App Inventor to train students and teachers in rural Xinjiang. 

Understanding the digital divide and finding appropriate solutions, the Summer Learning Camp mobilizes university volunteers to harness technology for the benefit of the underprivileged. Through robotics or app programming software, university volunteers have helped hundreds of students in rural areas develop problem formulation and solving abilities through computational thinking. 

The Foundation’s IT hardware donation and knowledge transfer initiative to the rural communities have proved to be a timely help amidst COVID-19, since the Xinjiang Summer Camp has had to move online. We also expanded the impacts to Vietnam rural areas by donating computers and organizing computation thinking workshops. With an app connecting students with their volunteer teachers, it is amazing to see children from different parts of rural Xinjiang having live interaction with their university volunteer teachers in Beijing with no less enthusiasm and fun. This new initiative has also opened up great opportunities for educational and cultural exchange in the future. 

Esquel strives for expanding its impact through partnership with goals. The Gobi March is part of the 4 Deserts series, a well-known seven-day endurance event organized by RacingThePlanet (RTP). the event attracts the best ultramarathon runners from all over the world. Since 2005, Esquel Group has been an event partner and a participant team. 

In 2013, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Gobi March, we set up the Esquel-RacingThePlanet Scholarship program to identify talented teenagers from ethnic minority communities who excel in academics and sports. The program allows these students to attend universities. 

In 2015, the Esquel-Y.L. Yang Education Foundation donated some of our team entries to support the Christian Zheng Sheng Association. Zheng Sheng is the only rehabilitation school in Hong Kong but they have never received any government financial support. The Gobi March provides broadening and mentoring opportunity for both students of the schools, as well as representatives of Esquel to serve and learn from one another. The Gobi March is challenging, which is apt as teenagers also face challenges with their poverty limiting their educational opportunities. Throughout the program, Esquelers have demonstrated their persistence and provided financial support for these students.

The pandemic has hit people in developing countries especially hard due to their limited access to medical and hygienic supplies. Many do not wear masks simply because of economic hardship and inadequate supplies, facilitating a faster spread of infection in public spaces for the more impoverished populations. Meanwhile, single-use disposable masks used by billions of people worldwide every day has also been adding to the burden on global landfills. 

Spurred by the crisis, Esquel quickly developed DET30™, a three-ply reusable cotton mask with anti-bacterial and water-repellent fabric treatment that is washable and reusable up to 30 times. We have donated 1.02 million units since the start of the pandemic to schools and NGOs in many regions around the world including Hong Kong, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Republic of Congo, potentially saving 30.6 million single-use disposable masks and helping to hinder the spread of COVID-19. 

While the economy and livelihood of the communities we operate in have generally improved over time, we saw a need for our next generation to understand the impact of environmental pollution and the need for sustainability. Since 2004, the joint efforts of EcoMobile and Esquel-ECP Green have reached out to 440,000 students.

The Esquel-Y.L. Yang Education Foundation launched the EcoMobile in 2004 to promote environmental education to schools in rural Xinjiang. Exhibitions, videos, games quizzes, competitions and tree planting activities were organized to increase the knowledge and awareness of students. In 2007, the EcoMobile was launched in the greater Foshan area.

Since 2011, we are pleased to have partnered with China Light & Power to further develop our initiative and relaunch the EcoMobile – it is now called the Esquel-CLP Green Studio. It is a hybrid vehicle equipped with a 3D theatre, exhibitions, videos, games, quizzes, and other fun activities, promoting environmental education in an even more engaging way. 

Investment in rural education is inadequate, so even teachers full of passion may not have the resources and expertise needed to provide quality education to the students. Therefore, the Esquel-Y.L. Yang Education Foundation has partnered with Hotchkiss School, a private school founded in 1891 in Connecticut, US, to provide an educational and cultural exchange program since 2014. The Hotchkiss team of teaching staff and students spend two weeks in Gaoming to train over 130 local teachers. They share their creative pedagogy in teaching English, how to motivate students to learn, as well as how teachers can keep themselves motivated. The fruits of the exchange have been seen in the improved teaching quality of the participating schools and the more engaged classes. 

As our educational initiatives in rural Xinjiang sustain over years, we have come to notice that poor vision is a major obstacle to children. The locals at large do not have access to eye examinations, not to mention the lack of eye care awareness.

In 2012, the Esquel-Y.L. Yang Education Foundation collaborated with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Optometry to conduct the first free eye examination to students in rural Xinjiang. The students were curious and excited to get their eye check and eyeglasses for the first time. Since then, the Foundation has helped more than 12,000 students in rural Xinjiang and Guangxi achieve better vision. Through our collaboration with governments, schools and hospitals, we have come to better understand how the restoration of sight can help children and teenagers learn better and excel, leading to better opportunities in life.

In June 2019, the Foundation was selected as one of the 50 NGO projects receiving a funding award from the Ministry of Civil Affairs in China, recognizing our efforts in the area of social service. We are pleased to report that at the end of 2019, the funding has been used to provide low vision treatment for students, giving them the vision for a brighter future.