Written by Publicity Assistant Yin Yueyuan

Jin Man is the deputy project manager of the Preschools of the Future project in Qiaojia.

The story of her relationship with HPP begins with the "Preschools of the Future" project.

In 2018, because she didn't get into the university, Jin Man, who had just graduated from high school, became a teacher in the preschool class in Shuitang on the recommendation of the teacher at the central school.

It was also in this year that the HPP Preschools of the Future project reached five village-level preschools in Qiaojia County. Shuitang was one of them, and Jin Man naturally became one of the first teachers of the Preschools of the Future project.

In 2018, after obtaining part of the World Bank's special preschool education loan, the Education and Sports Bureau of Qiaojia County, Yunnan Province, invited HPP to provide technical and consulting services on preschool education, launching a pilot project and opening five rural preschool classes in the area, focusing on improving equipment, facilities, and teaching skills, recruiting and training teachers, promoting learning through play in the curriculum, and strengthening home-based co-education in order to help rural children aged 3-6 to access high-quality preschool education services.

After that, HPP actively sought and mobilized social resources, and has obtained support from many caring organizations and individuals, such as the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children, the Lipoid Foundation (Germany) Beijing Representative Office, Boehringer & Ingelheim (China) Investment Co. Ltd, Tin Ka Ping Foundation, . Dadikid Early Childhood Education Group, ASML, Societe Generale Banking Group, Anne MARION-BOUCHACOURT,HanXu etc.and the Preschools of the Future project continuously expanded in the local area, reaching a total of 54 village-level preschool classes and helping more than 4,000 young children gain access to quality preschool education.

After the HPP preschool program reached her class, Jin Man began her indissoluble bond with HPP.

According to her introduction, the management and operation of Preschools of the Future project is very different from the original preschool. When the project staff arrived at Shuitang preschool, they greeted Jin Man and make some changes to the classroom.

Because the Shuitang preschool used the school's utility room, it was filled with discarded desks left over from the primary school. After some reorganization, the class began to look like a kindergarten class.

"Before this, the conditions of the class were very poor, but this project is supported by the Bureau of Education and Sports and the central primary school, and I believe it will help us become better and better" Jin Man said.

After a semester of continuous improvement, the Shuitang Kindergarten Class has more and more complete equipment, facilities and toys and teaching aids, including desks and chairs that are suitable for young children. Different materials are placed in corresponding corners, and indoor and outdoor settings are suitable for children to learn and play. The living environment of the kindergarten class has become almost the same as that in the city.

People in the village are very familiar with Jin Man, knowing that she is not a teacher specialized in preschool education, and everyone was skeptical about her ability to teach children well.

Jin Man knew her own shortcomings and Jin Man worked harder than ever. Especially in the training organized by the project, she participated on time, carefully pondered the key points and difficulties of preschool education, and applied the expertise she learned in her daily teaching activities. In addition, she focuses on the physical and mental health of the left-behind children in her class, as well as hygiene, nutrition and health.

Jin Man said, "Most of the children in the Shuitang preschool class have parents who have gone out to work, and they all live with their grandparents. They live with their grandparents, who are busy with household chores and easily neglect to take care of their children. I will cut their nails every week, teach them how to wash their faces and hands, and buy them baby cream to wipe their faces in winter. ....... They are not only my students, but also my friends. While teaching them well, I also have the responsibility and obligation to take good care of them".

Bit by bit everybody could see it and in regard to this "young" teacher, parents were more and more assured and trustful.

When it comes to the knowledge of HPP, Jin Man said this: HPP is like a bright light that lit up that period of my Preschool education industry career, and it's also more like the light that guided me to continue to move forward, so then due to a chance opportunity, I joined HPP's program team, which was a challenge for me, but a better opportunity to grow.

In 2022, Jin Man joined the HPP Qiaojia County project team. Jin Man adapted very quickly to the project management. In her words, it was her previous experience in the preschool, classroom that helped her, and she was able to quickly and accurately see the essence of the problem from the teacher's point of view, as well as have her own way of getting along with the teachers and children in the project.

Other colleagues describe Jin Man as a person who says little but does a lot. It is precisely because of her character of "saying little and doing much" that she is still remembered by the children after she left the preschool class, and that parents continue to praise her even after she stopped working as a preschool teacher.

Jin Man describes HPP as a bright light for her, but a love boost for young children in the countryside, helping them to gain a better future and hope.

"I cherish this opportunity, I love the HPP family, and I want to work with everyone to help the children in my hometown become better and better."

Project introduction:

POF Qiaojia is funded by Dadikid Early Childhood Education Group、China Charities Aid Foundation for Children、Lipoid Foundation (Germany) Beijing Representative Office、Boehringer & Ingelheim (China) Investment Co., Ltd、Tin Ka Ping Foundation、Mr. & Mrs. Koo Ti Hua、China tomorrow education Foundation、IREAD foundation, POF Qiaojia project takes preschool education as the breakthrough point, to provide a safe, comfortable learning and playing environment for children in remote rural areas. The curriculum focuses on health, language, society, science and art, so that preschool-age children living in rural areas can get all-round development in morality, intelligence, physique and aesthetics. The project focuses on two modules: upgrading teaching hardware as well as teaching and playing aids, and improving teachers' professional ability. At the same time, the project supervises and manages the daily operation of the preschool, assists teachers in training parents, creates a safe and healthy learning and living environment for those children, thereby achieving the joint education of family and kindergarten. Quality preschool education provided by the POF will make the rural children fully prepared for entering the primary school.

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the donor.