Thursday, July 13, 2006

From the Intergenerational Team

Higher Education is on the minds of many of the families we talk to here in China. Parents who spend long days repairing bicylcles or worn out shoes on the streets are gathering every cent to send their children to University. That is where we are seeing a large generation gap occurring. The young students go to University without any parental advisory, because their parents are uneducated and haven't a clue what university life entails. Four years later, the students graduate without passing the exit examination and have nothing to show for their time at the University. The parents are devastated because of their hopes of leaving their poor lifestyle.

We spend our mornings talking to friends we have made here in eastern China. They share their stories of how their childhood is quite different from their children's at present. Most of the families always mention how much food there is now for the children. We have had a few opportunities to visit their homes, seeing the vast difference between the educated and uneducated. In our tour of the growing city we observe that the "houses are being built but nobody's home!"

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