Tonglin Elementary School sells kimchi to raise travel funds for students' overseas exchange trip
Tonglin Elementary School in Xinyi Township, Nantou County has only a little over forty students in the whole school, but its students have delivered impressive results in martial arts, samba drumming and other talents, and the school has been invited to an elementary school in Singapore for an exchange visit. The trip is expected to depart this June, but the travel funds are still not secured, so the entire school - teachers, students and parents alike - is making pickles to sell for charity, hoping to raise enough money to make the students' Singapore exchange trip possible.
Tonglin pickled radish, also one of the charity sale items. Provided by/Tonglin Elementary School
Yang Zhuqin's child is in the third grade at Tonglin Elementary School this year, and she is in charge of rallying the parents to make pickles together. She said: "The cabbage and golden Chinese cabbage we grow locally are all grown without pesticides. We parents help make the pickles, and whenever orders come in we make them. We hope everyone will show their support - one jar per person - so the children have a chance to go abroad for an exchange."
The pickle charity sale has been running since the start of the year, and although it has only been a short week, it has already brought in 50,000 to 60,000 in revenue. Zhang Suzhen, the director of academic affairs at Tonglin Elementary School, said: "Although remote villages do not have many resources, we do not want to just sit and wait for outside help. Selling pickles made from locally grown vegetables is the solution we came up with - it lets outsiders taste good ingredients and also helps the children."
At present, Tonglin Elementary School's pickle charity sale is still ongoing. Tonglin pickles (made from high-mountain cabbage), Tonglin golden pickles (made from high-mountain Chinese cabbage) and Tonglin pickled radish (made from high-mountain white radish) cost 150 yuan per jar. Interested readers can contact Zhang Suzhen, director of academic affairs at Tonglin Elementary School: (049) 2701483, 0910260563.