Our team's recent trip to China was unlike any other trip in the past. Our chief purpose was to register Blessing Hands as a Foreign Non-Governmental Organization (FNGO). We were very successful in applying, but it will still be perhaps a month or two before the seal and approval is granted as our application makes it way to the highest levels. We had been working on this since January 2017 when the new law concerning all foreign NGOs was implemented.
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Mr. Wu of the Security Department interviewed us. Anna Liu interpreted and Matthew Liu brought the official sealed papers from Beijing, arriving at just the right time for our official interview. |
Mr. Wu met with our team and answered many questions. He told us that Blessing Hands has a very good reputation in Guangxi, especially in Yangshuo where Blessing Hands began during a Sister Cities Summer English Camp in 2005. He said we should ask the Department of Public Security for help if we had any problems.
We generated 16 different documents to show that we are a legally incorporated organization in the United States that has been helping students in China for eleven years. Our proof of the number of students we have helped (1,500) and our financial health needed to be given online and in person to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Department of Education and finally to the Department of Public Security.
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Official US State Department seals were needed on 8 documents that finally were certified by the Chinese Embassy. |
Because we were still in the process of registration, we could not legally visit our students or their schools. We also had to cancel a summer camp planned in Anlong, Guizhou, when the registration went slower than we expected. Later flooding in Guilin Prefecture cancelled a second camp we had planned with the invitation of the Tourism Bureau in Ziyuan.
With the permission of the Guangxi Provincial Education Department, we were able to interview four of our Qinzhou graduates for college scholarships. This video is of He Wenjiao who wants to study Chemistry at Suzhou University. You can sponsor her for $650 or give any amount.
We ask for $650 (4420 RMB) for our scholarship students. or give any amount at this link.
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