All of our volunteers are greatly appreciated but a few have made special contributions. We consider them stars!

Sebastian Fehringer, Austria      Oct 2009 - Jan 2010

Austrian volunteer Sebastian Fehringer taught German and English in Shanghai Pudong Secondary School for more than three months at the end of 2009. Sebastian has a flexible personality: he often says: "it is fine for me." I observed one his lessons once and found it to be interesting and attractive. I could see that his students liked him very much. The students love to talk with him after class.

He always prepared his lesson very well in advance. He tried to make his lessons interactive and fun to the students. He prepared teaching materials in advance, such as the time he brought in rubber gloves and a syringe when he introduced the lesson about doctors. He took the volunteer teaching job seriously. S ince the first week induction week, he started preparing lessons and making Powerpoint presentations. He asked his Mom post him a big packet of Austrian traditional sweets and he distributed them to all of his students in the class. The students enjoyed the sweets while learning about the culture of Austria.

In his spare time, he spent much time exploring China and its culture. He went to learn Tai Chi with me during the weekend and learnt Nanchakus from me. He is such a nanchakus talent! He went to see Chinese traditional opera with other volunteers, tried all different type of Chinese food, and asked questions about the differences between Chinese and Western cultures.

At the end of his placement, he traveled to Beijing before returning to Austria. We wish him all the best in the new year and welcome him to be back China again in the near future.

Tom Zeng, Volunteer Coordinator, Nov 2009

Photos from Sebastian

John Millspaugh, USA      Sept 2008 - Dec 2008

I got to know John several weeks before he first came to China. I still remember that our director, Jessie Duanmu, was very excited to tell me about him. John already had talked with Jessie on emails and John asked many questions about how to teach in China. He even made teaching videos for the kids before coming. As far as I know he was the first volunteer who made his own teaching video for the placement. Apart from that, John learnt Chinese before coming. I was surprised to hear that because, in China, I do not think I know any people aged sixty-plus that learn a new language. All that he did has impressed me so much. I really admire his attitude toward the volunteer job.

John is friendly, easy going and a flexible volunteer. You can see he always greets others on ChangXing Island. There are few foreigners on the island apart from our volunteers. Therefore, local people are very curious about foreigners. Although they could not speak English to John they still used body language to communicate each other. It worked. John made great friends with local people. He has always been invited by local people. When he walked on the street near the school, you can see that all the people we met say hi to him. He really became the superstar around the school.

John is fond of Chinese culture. He learned all he could about China during his weekends and holidays.

After his placement with us, he became our webmaster. He built, and now maintains, our website. Moreover, he helps us to communicate with our overseas partners and our current volunteers, supporting them, sharing his experiences, and offering suggestions. John will return to China in 2010 to volunteer again. We are looking forward to seeing him again!

Tom Zeng, Volunteer Coordinator, Jan 2010

Photos from John