Chengdu, Sichuan Province China has the dubious reputation of being the most overcast place in China.  Between July 27 and Aug 9, 2008 I found no reason to dispute this finding, during the 2 weeks I explored the possibilities for implementing TeachUp! as part of Cisco's 21s response to the May 12 earthquake.

The atmosphere in DuJiangYan Model High School and Aba Teachers College was considerably brighter. DuJiangYan, a Tourist City,  is located about 60 Km west of Chengdu. During the earthquake, about 70% of its buildings were damaged or destroyed. There are hundreds of temporary houses located in vacant sites throughout the city of 700,000. While water and sewer are limited still, life is getting back to some balance. The Model High school , where DOT Interns will be working, was not badly damaged, and is expected to open with 4600 day and boarding students and 220 teachers on schedule Sept 1.  Aba Teachers College was not so lucky.  Its original campus was located in the epicenter of Wenchuan, and did not survive.  The national government moved the school to a brand new campus, also under construction, in Pixian, about halfway between Chengdu and DuJiangYan. Its 6200 students and 200 teachers take up residence in time for the opening Sept 1.  Promethean World was busy installing its 2nd generation interactive whiteboards in both locations. DOT Interns will be working with teachers-in-training at Aba and with class teachers at DuJiangyan Model High School . The administrators, teachers and Education Dept. officials who participated in our discussions are enthusiasticly awaiting DOT Interns.

We originally thought our first batch of Interns could participate in a TeachUp! training in Mississippi in late August. Upon arriving in China, it became quickly apparent that this was not going to happen!  We are now looking at a November training for 20 Interns, in China, subject to Cisco approval of the DOT proposal and budget allocations.

It was interesting to see the response taken by the national government to the earthquake.  It has declared that some cities simply will not be rebuilt in the same location. It assigned cities in other parts of China to send money, equipment, technicians and other help to damaged cities.  Shanghai fulfills this role for DuJiangYan. It constructed temporary classrooms and housing within a matter of weeks in the more urban areas; now that the school year has ended, it is dismantling the temporary classrooms and will rebuild them in rural areas for the 2008-09 school year. Most of the 58,000 troops have been withdrawn. Enormous wounds remain-many farmers were unable to plant their crops in this breadbasket of China; an estimated 10,000 schoolchildren died. But the dedication to making a brighter future was evident in the little slice of Sichuan I visited.