Reading Summer Camp Gives Me a Different Summer Holiday

10-year-old Xiu Ping experienced a different summer holiday this year. She used to spend her summer holiday in helping her grandparents to do farm work or looking after her little cousins. But this summer holiday she can read and play with her little friends, gaining knowledge and friendship. “I’m really happy!” she said with a big smile on her face.

Xiu Ping studies at the fourth grade this year. She lives with her grandfather in a remote village of Fuchuan County. Her parents are migrant workers so she has to do the farm work and house work with her grandfather. Most children in her village are left-behind children. But due to poor resource, there is neither special place in community or school for them to play, nor extra-curriculum activity. So children often play in farmyard, help family with farm works or sit around in holidays. 

But this summer holiday is quite different. World Vision and local NGO jointly launched a summer camp activity in Xiu Ping’s village. The theme of the activity is “Inheriting Classical Poems”. In order to develop children’s reading interests and habits, World Vision has built a reading room in school. While this summer camp activity can help children learn reading skills and enrich their summer holiday.

Xiu Ping (middle), who was a quiet girl, takes an active part in the summer camp and makes new friends.

Xiu Ping signed up as soon as she learned the recruitment. She said, “I hear that there will be many interesting activities, so I sign up at once.” A total of 24 children have signed up for this summer camp activity. There were different games in the activity, bringing children into contact with poems and helping children to learn poem reading skills. The “reading note” task was especially designed for children to reflect on the books they read. It required children to write down the names and notes of the books they finished and share their feelings with others.

Xiu Ping is elected to be the group head. She organizes her group members to play games in order. She works carefully.

On the first day of the activity, Xiu Ping did very well and she was elected by the volunteers and other children to become the group head, who will be responsible for mobilizing group members, making job division among group members, and assisting volunteers. Though Xiu Ping was a quiet girl and seldom communicated with others actively in the past, she held the position as group head bravely after being encouraged by the volunteers. She took an active part in the activity and organized her group members to play as required.

Xiu Ping enjoys the activity very much.

Most of the games in the summer camp were fresh for the village children, so they really had a good time. “I hope we can take part in more activities like this, so that we can learn interesting knowledge and develop reading habits while we are playing games.” Many children expressed their love for the summer camp. Xiu Ping said, “The summer camp makes me like reading poems and I want to know more about our Chinese poem culture.”

“Now she’d like to share her ideas with us more than before. And now she likes reading extra-curriculum books at home very much. She will also share something interesting in the book with us.” Xiu Ping’s family members were delighted when talking about her change.

The summer camp has made this summer holiday different, as well as the village children.(written by Lu Zhenyan)