Around Danfeng County
on Kirsten VSO (China), 25/Apr/2010 02:47, 34 days ago
Yesterday I went on a (fairly pointless) trip around the rural parts of Danfeng County. There were over 150 of us driving around in convoy to see 8 schools. It generally took around an hour if winding around dangerous mountain roads with hundred feet drops at times and occassional evidence of landslides across the roads, followed by a 15 to 20 minute pit stop visit at each school. No-one asked any questions or discussed anything. We all just charged round admiring the newly built fountains and sports areas (and occassionally, if we were lucky, the classrooms!)Shang Zhen Primary - one of the schools I work at regularlySome excited school girls at a very remote school a two hour winding drive up scary mountain paths. I was the first foreigner they'd ever seen.Teachers playing on the gym equipment of a primary school!Wandering rounda schoolI'd already been to most of the schools and I'd expected this trip to be able to speak to some teachers about how they felt the new landscaping/equipment had changed their school, but there was either no-one to ask or they gave one sentence answers.Photo op since I couldn't do anything practicalAnyway, it did give me a chance to take some rural China people pics so here goes...Village schoolgirl who was chosen to introduce her school to all us visiting teachers (hence the make-up and fancy clothes!)A very interesting old man who gave us a speech at a war memorial we passed en route. His claim to fame is that his father put up the red army in his house when they passed through his village in the 1940s.And amazingly enough, a few hours later I was wandering through the village with my interpreter (while everyone else was at a meeting that I couldn't understand) and we met the father. Nowthat'sold!And....his son! As if you couldn't have guessed...