The Finnish Charity School Project 芬芳  芬兰援建四川小学

Why Wouldn’t You Build a School?  为什么不建一座学校呢？

The Finnish Community in China builds a primary school in Sichuan
Press release September 29th, 2009

A truly unique charity project has been taken to its conclusion. The construction of a primary school in Sichuan has been completed. The opening ceremonies of the school were held in GuiYuan village in Guanghan city, Sichuan on September 29th.
To commemorate this event the project celebrated the opening of the school on site in GuiYuan village in Sichuan on Tuesday September 29th 2009 in the presence of 20-some representatives of donors, local officials, and hundreds of inhabitants of GuiYuan village. The Finnish Embassy in Beijing was represented by Minister Mr. Kimmo Lähdevirta, who in his speech recognized and commended the spontaneous and private initiative taken by the project members.
Mr. Oskar Helling, the project manager, and the key driver of the project said in his speech that he is very happy to see the school become real after more than one year’s effort by hundreds of people of the Finnish community and the Chinese society.
In addition to cash donations and construction materials, people have found various ways to show their care and concern for the children of Sichuan. Paintings, drawing, books, etc. have been donated to the school. Mr. Helling gives a special recognition to the sets of School Uniforms donated by a Shanghai family. “This has been distinctive characteristic of our project; people have felt that they can participate in real charity and do something that has immediate, concrete, and visible results.”
Mr. Helling also mentions that ties to the Finnish society have been established in the form of informal collaboration with the Meilahti primary school in Helsinki where Chinese is taught among others by Mrs. Pia Näsman-Hao. Mrs. Hao’s class had prepared a special greeting to the students of GuiYuan for the opening ceremonies. “It is our wish that this type of simple and informal collaboration could continue between the children of GuiYuan and Meilahti” concluded Mr. Helling.
The work of the Finnish Charity School project will continue in the form of the FenFang foundation, aiming to offer small and midsized organizations high quality, targeted, transparent, and cost effective alternatives for corporate social responsibility.

Project Background:
After 512, the Wenchuan Earthquake, individuals, corporations, and governments donated millions in emergency relief. However the structural damages could be measured in billions – if not trillions. A charity project was spontaneously formed by Finnish and Chinese individuals, working with Finnish companies in China. The Finnish Community wanted to contribute to creating lasting infrastructure in the society that has so kindly accepted them as their guests. Building a school matches very well the Finnish mentality and values which holds education in very high regard. The project was named “FenFang project”.
The charity project raised funds and built a primary school in GuiYuan village of Guanghan Town in Deyang District of Sichuan Province. The school, named Fenfang Chunlei School, is a primary school, grades 1 through 6 with a capacity for 250 students. The total project budget was roughly RMB 4.2m. The project was supported by China Children’s and Teenagers Fund (CCTF) and the local government.
The charity project is unique in the sense that it has been initiated by a group Finnish and Chinese individuals with the aim to show that highly targeted and cost effective charity projects can be initiated and run as a grass roots level project together by individuals and Small and Mid sized companies.

More information

In English, Finnish, Swedish: Mr. Oskar Helling e-mail: oskar@startupshanghai.com telephone: +86 139 1861 0405 www.finnish-charity-school.org	In English, Chinese: Ms. Cindy Zhang e-mail: cindy.zhang@storaenso.com telephone: +86 139 1825 5418 www.fenfangchina.org
The Finnish Charity School Project… Was initiated by members of the Finnish Community in China as a spontaneous response to the tragic events of “512” Was given the Chinese name “FenFang” as a reference to Finnish Funding, showing the nature of the project. Was administered in assistance of the oldest independent charity organization in China, China Children’s and Teenagers’ fund, CCTF with 20 years of experience or building schools in rural China. Resulted in a primary school for 250 children in the village of GuiYuan northeast of Chengdu. Was about creating long lasting infrastructure with the potential to touch the lives of thousands of children in the years to come. Channeled 100% of the donations to construction work. All administrative work was done with volunteer efforts. Had no administrative budget. All marketing was made by “word of mouth” Was managed and overseen “24/7” on-site by our “own” construction managers - a donation by the Pöyry Construction Consulting Company. Has been a very convenient way for an organization to practice highly targeted and cost effective Corporate Social Responsibility. Was supported by donations from almost 30 corporations, almost 100 individuals, the Embassy of Finland in Beijing, and numerous volunteer workers. Will continue its work in the form of the FenFang Foundation.

 

The FenFang-SpringBud Primary School in GuiYuan Village, GuangHan town, shortly before opening ceremonies on September 29th 2009. GuiYuan village is located in GuangHan town, roughly 1 hour’s car ride to the north east of Chengdu. High resolution versions of these and other photographs are available upon request.