The children of Holland College’s Child Development Centre, their parents, and centre staff raised funds recently to help the children in Wenchuan Province, in China, which was devastated earlier this year by a massive earthquake.

The centre has a special affinity for the children of that area, due to the college’s close ties through the CIDA Enhance Rural Teacher Training pilot program in which staff have participated for the past few years.

Centre staff member Marlene Harding said her coworkers and the children at the centre wanted to find a way to help.

“At the daycare we have been involved with the China project because of our close ties to the college’s Early Childhood Care and Education program. Whenever the Chinese delegates came to Canada, they would join us in the daycare to visit the children and enjoy a meal. When the tragedy happened there, we were all touched. We spoke to the children about it, and wondered what we could do to help.”

At the time, parents of the children in the centre were interested in having class photographs of their children, so Harding arranged to take the pictures, accepting donations for China in lieu of fees.

“Alex Murchison and Jean-Sebastian Duchesne of the college’s Photography and Digital Imaging program offered the use of their professional studio for two days to take group and individual pictures of the children. It went over very well, and through the generosity of the parents, we were able to raise $600.”
 
The money has been added to the $18,000 that staff at the college raised earlier this year. The money will be used to build a computer lab for students in one of the schools that must to be rebuilt. For more information about ongoing fund raising efforts for China, contact Jolene Chan, Manager, International Development, Holland College at (902) 566-9584.