Summer camp offers chance for left-behind children

Adams Musa, known locally as "foreign Lei Feng", was the volunteer teacher for the class. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Twelve left-behind children had a four-day summer camp arranged for them this week in Wuhan, Hubei province.

The migrant workers' children, aged 10 to 14, come from places that include Henan and Jiangxi provinces and Chongqing municipality. Their parents work at a local construction site with the China Construction Third Engineering Bureau, which sponsored the camp.

The camp started on Aug 12 with an English class.

Adams Musa, known locally as "foreign Lei Feng", was the volunteer teacher for the class.

Musa, a Nigerian doctoral student in Huazhong Normal University, is known for his three-year volunteer teaching in Chunmiao Primary School in Wuhan.

The class began with names of professions and fruits. Then Musa began interacting with the children, asking them what they want to be.

After the interaction, Adam taught the children how to say hello to strangers in English, which was a little harder for them. Adam patiently repeated the conversations for every child.

Tu Lang, a boy from Macheng, Hubei province who has just finished his first year in junior high school, said: "I'm so happy. It's my first time attending a foreigner's lesson. I will tell all of my classmates that I met a foreigner here and he lectured me. They will be jealous."

Chen Meng, the youngest child in this camp, comes from Xingdian, Anhui province. The fourth-grader has never attended an English class. "I come here to meet my parents every summer holiday. I spent time on the computer and watching TV before. This time I am so happy because of the English class, and I will study English hard in the future," he said.

What the summer camp brings are not just knowledge, but a rare opportunity to communicate with different people and expand their horizons.

Yang Ming, organizer of the camp, said, "It's really hard for these children to meet any foreigner who can teach them English in their hometown, so I think this is good chance to open their eyes to see the world."

China Construction Third Engineering Bureau arranged a variety of activities in the four-day summer camp, including outdoor and first-aid training, mental health education and a day trip to Wuhan. At the closing ceremony, the children will give a performance.