History
V.E.T. is a registered Chinese charity and volunteer organization. Laurie MacKenzie, a former Canadian professor and Owen Buckland, President of Buckland International Education Program, founded the Program in October 2004. Since that time dozens of English speaking tourists have given hundreds of hours of instruction and classroom time to our village schools. Benefit to the students and teachers is very evident in the improvement in English test and exam scores and improved self-confidence when speaking to foreign teachers.
All of our staff are volunteers who do not receive any remuneration for their work.
The specific need being addressed
China's remarkable economic rise in the past 25 years is well documented and known throughout the world. Education has also seen tremendous changes in this period but the reality is that the less developed smaller urban and rural areas still battle with extreme poverty. The local Education Authorities and the individual schools can't possibly afford the luxury of a foreign teacher to practice oral English with the students. V.E.T. is highly praised and recognized for its great contribution to the children by all levels of education administrators. The Rongshui summer school was an initiative of the local Chinese Charities, a Chinese Communist Party unit similar to our social services departments. They absorbed all of the costs for the four volunteer teachers for the two weeks. With this kind of local support V.E.T. has every reason to believe that we will succeed in extending the service to other remote impoverished areas. However this organization cannot support the daily work of V.E.T. nor can any other government department.
The cycle of poverty can only be broken through education. Poor peasant farmers struggle to pay the annual school fees for their children to go to primary school but very, very few can afford the higher costs of sending the children to Junior Middle School or beyond. We know that if the children can learn to be comfortable with foreign visitors and speak some English they will be able to get work. Volunteer English Teachers are committed to helping these children realize a better future.
Many local business people support the Program financially and publicly displaying recruiting posters, however the funds raised locally are not sufficient to meet costs that is why we solicit support from foreign sources.
Benefits of Volunteering
1. Flexible time - you choose the number of hours or days. One day consists of a about 3 hours including travel time there and back; in the morning leave Yangshuo at 9:30 and be back for lunch. If the lessons are in the afternoon the time is from 2:30 to 5:00. All classes are 45 minutes long and we ask our volunteers to teach two 45 minute classes.
2. Opportunity to meet the children and see the real countryside.
3. Free accommodation and meals for volunteers teaching one week or more.
4. Free transportation to and from the village schools.
5. Assistance and suggestions for lesson planning, teaching materials and in classroom help.
6. Official "Letters of Invitation" to assist with obtaining a Chinese Visa. Volunteers are NOT required to have more than a visitor (F) visa.
7. Official Volunteer identification cards and badges are provided for volunteers teaching a week or more.
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Program Objectives 
reness.