SOAR Foundation

SOAR Foundation 2008 Membership Meeting Announcement

Pledge a scholarship may get a new CD from singer Wang Lee Hom, please click here

SOAR Kunming Career Training Program 2007 Year-end Report (in Simplified Chinese)

SOAR Foundation asks your help

SOAR Foundation 2007 Third Quarter Newsletter Want to sponsor a college student? Click here! 2007 China Student Visit Trip Want to sponsor/mentor a student? Click here! A Short Story of SOAR Touching Stories

The SOAR Foundation is a nonprofit and nonpolitical organization created in 1995 in California, U.S. A. It is dedicated to provide educational opportunities to those impoverished yet deserving children in rural areas across China to acquire a basic education through scholarship awards. Up to 2005, it has granted 3500 plus students with scholarships. Since the first donation by the founder, Ms. Siu Fong Chang, there have been more than 2000 organizations and individuals supported the SOAR scholarship program.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: China is becoming a very prosperous country. I have read about all the cell phones, personal cars, and even overseas vacations acquired by Chinese people. Are you sure poverty is still a problem in China?
A1: Yes. Poverty is still a major problem in China because the economic development has been very uneven. The economic prosperity you have read about is concentrated in urban areas, primarily along the East coast. There is still a great deal of poverty in the rural areas, particularly in the inland parts of China. For example, current Chinese statistics show 85 million people as "destitute", meaning people with annual per capita income under US$75. Incredibly, the number of people in this category increased by about a million people in the past year. Current Chinese statistics also show that the average annual per capita income for rural families in Sichuan province is only $300. To put these income figures into perspective, it costs a family roughly $100 per year to send a child to junior high school, and $250 per year for senior high school. Such poverty is clearly a factor in keeping many Chinese children from receiving a proper education.

Q2: With all the newly rich people in China today, why aren't they contributing more to fight poverty?
A2: When we study the history of personal wealth around the world, we will find that the first priority of people who become wealthy is not to give their money away, it is to use their wealth to make more of it. The generous giving usually comes when their wealth has become solidly established, usually near the end of their lives. Major philanthropic foundations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation, the Getty Foundation, and the Hughes Foundations were established near the end of the careers of the founders, often near the end of their lives. Even Bill Gates, did not establish the Gates Foundation until fairly recently. We believe that wealthy Chinese people, can be just as generous as people elsewhere. They just haven't been wealthy long enough to feel comfortable about giving away a substantial portion of it, but as their business interests become more solidly established, and as they approach the end of their careers, they will no doubt contribute very generously for charitable causes.

Q3: Why isn't the government of China doing more to fight poverty?
A3: News about China's recent prosperity must be put into its proper context. Stories of China's recent "prosperity" is newsworthy primarily because it has been such an extremely poor country throughout our lifetime. Based on World Bank statistics, China's per capita national income for 2002 was only $960. In comparison, the per capita income in 2002 for the USA was $35,000, for Hong Kong, $25,000, for Singapore, $21,000, and for Taiwan, about $15,000. It is easy to overlook the fact that China remains a very poor country, despite their recent economic growth. Being such a poor country, it is understandable that the government's spending priorities are focused on projects that bring the highest economic returns, such as transportation, water, power, and business development rather than on health, environment and education. China has taken the position, and a very reasonable one, that it would be better to fight poverty by providing jobs, than by subsidizing government services. As in the United States, China has adopted the policy that funding education is the responsibility of the local government. Unfortunately, when people are so poor in the rural areas, the local governments have little or no resources to fund education properly. Hence, there aren't enough funds for building proper schools and there aren't enough funds to subsidize education for the poorest students. With China's rapid economic progress, there probably won't be the need for private charities to fund projects such as new schools, libraries, and student financial aid in twenty years, perhaps even in ten years. However, there is clearly a need today and we in America can help by making better education possible for these children today.

The SOAR Foundation
32980 Alvarado Niles Rd, Suite 854

Union City, CA 94587
Tel: (510) 675-0680

Fax: (510) 675-0160

Email: office@soaronline.org

http://www.soaronline.org