18 | Wednesday, August 18, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY YOUTH China’s aid for schools welcomed by kids in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD — Sharafat Afridi, father of three daughters in Khyber district of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunk- hwa province, eagerly awaits the completion of 50 schools being gifted by the Chinese govern- ment to the children in his dis- trict to restart their education by getting back to school. Khyber district is part of a trib- al region of the country that suf- fered the menace of terrorism for over a decade, a situation that has improved in recent years. The poor security in the prov- ince has taken a toll on the edu- cational system, and many children in the area either do not get quality education or are out of school due to the lack of educa- tional institutes. “Terrorism hit us really hard, we lost our businesses and there was no peace, but it was my daughters’ education which suf- fered the most. My eldest two Founded in 2008, Inner Mongolia Early Youth Choir won the top prize at the China International Chorus Festival in Beijing in 2012, and achieved gold medals in daughters were in their early pri- the mixed chorus and folk music categories at the European Choir Games in Austria in 2013. provided to china daily mary years in 2015, and one morning when they went to attend their school, the building was no longer there because it had been blown up,” Afridi says. However, he says his daugh- ters, who did not lose hope and continued their learning at home, later found a school far away from their house and In tune with their talent attended regardless of trouble and harsh weather conditions Veteran conductor nurtures children’s choir from Inner Mongolia to global success, Chen Nan reports. during winter. “My youngest daughter is now at the age that she will start or Yalungerile, being a visiting families and persuading conductor usually takes the students Muqir upon graduation. Translat- school soon. We are so happy that conductor of either a sym- the parents to let their children to perform and take part in music ed as “red bud troupe”, Ulan Muqir she will be able to study in a new phony orchestra or a choir receive musical education. competitions around the world. is the Mongolian name for troupes school built near my home.” is a job about musical “Though there were no school Unfortunately, one of their that travel from one site to anoth- According to data compiled by Fdirectorship. She has the power to fees, many parents still couldn’t shows, which was supposed to be er, performing for herdsmen who the provincial government, up make decisions about the ensemble understand what we were doing, so staged at the National Center for live in some of China’s most until 2015, over 1,000 girls’ under her baton, its schedule and, we had to explain to them over and the Performing Arts in Beijing on remote areas. schools had been attacked, 555 of most importantly, how to commu- over again,” she says. Aug 12, was canceled due to a recent At 16, she was enrolled to study which were completely nicate with an audience through Despite the initial hardships, she spike in COVID-19 cases. conducting at the Shanghai Con- destroyed. music. succeeded in her endeavor and her “These kinds of public perform- servatory of Music in 1981. As the Muhammad Humayun, sub- She has lots of experience to draw first classroom, with about 50 stu- ances make the children confident only girl in the class, Yalungerile divisional officer of the building on, such as founding the Inner dents that were all from herder and appreciate their own culture. recalls that she had to work extra division in Khyber district, says Mongolia Youth Chorus in 1987 for families, finally convened in Sep- They also share a bond with the hard to keep up with other stu- the government has rehabilitated young adults and being its conduc- tember 2008. people listening. It also helps to dents. In 1995, she furthered her 895 damaged schools and schools tor for 15 years, as well as conduct- Half of the school hours were tak- build up a high reputation for the study as a conductor at the Central being built with Chinese dona- ing concerts featuring the choruses en up by middle school courses like choir, which attracts more children Conservatory of Music in Beijing, tion also include some of those of the China National Symphony mathematics, Chinese language, to join,” she says, adding that the trained by conductors Yan Liang- that had been destroyed. Orchestra and the Shanghai Opera science and history, while the rest songs the choir performs are mostly kun (1923-2017) and Wu Lingfen, “There are no good schools in House Chorus. of the time was dedicated to profes- Mongolian folk songs, such as now the director of China NCPA the area. The available schools However, when she was invited sional music training, such as Beautiful Grassland My Home, Chorus. are very small with two class- to become conductor and artistic musical theory, solfeggio and learn- Father’s Grassland and Mother’s Yan once called Yalungerile “a rooms for primary classes and no director of Inner Mongolia Early ing the piano, which was a require- River, Four Seas and The Hanggal sculptor of vocal music”. more than four for the middle Youth Choir in 2008, the veteran ment for all students. The training Yalungerile speaks at a news Concerto. Wu speaks highly of Yalungerile’s school children. They are far was hesitant, because she knew of traditional Mongolian ethnic conference for a performance at In 2012, the choir won the top devotion in popularizing Mongoli- away from each other and are that it would be very difficult and musical art forms and instruments China NCPA August Chorus prize at the China International an folk music with her efforts to overcrowded with students,” he go beyond anything she had done was also provided, such as morin Festival in Beijing on July 28. Chorus Festival, propelling it to train child singers. says. before. khuur (horse-headed fiddle), khoo- provided to china daily overnight fame. In 2013, it achieved Now, teaching as a professor at The schools being built with The choir, the first of its kind mei (a throat-singing technique) gold medals in the mixed chorus the conducting department of Chi- Chinese donations are bigger and from the Inner Mongolia autono- and urtiin duu (also known as and folk music categories at the na Conservatory of Music, Yalunger- better, Humayun says. “Most of mous region, aims to train singers “long song”). recruits students every three years European Choir Games, which was ile travels between Beijing and the new schools have six rooms around 10 years old to sing a cappel- “It’s a pity that some students and is headquartered in Hohhot, held in Graz, Austria. Hohhot often. for primary students and 10 for la — with no conductor or accom- quit for various reasons, such as the region’s capital. One of the biggest reasons why middle schoolers, providing a paniment. The first thing the pressure from their families She adds that, despite all the Yalungerile is so devoted to the Contact the writer at pleasant space for children, who Yalungerile needed to do was to over financial problems or health hardships of keeping the children choir is that she wants children to [email protected] have seen unrest in the region travel around the region to recruit issues, but we didn’t want to give choir going, she finds great joy benefit from learning music, just as since their birth, to enjoy a peace- choir members. up. Since graduation, most of the being with them. she did. ful environment and get a quality “We looked for children with students have been enrolled to “Though these children have no Born and raised in Zalantun, education.” musical talent and the eagerness to study in universities. I am proud background in musical education, Hulunbuir city in Inner Mongolia, Muhammad Rafique Tahir, learn to sing. However, things that 90 percent of them have con- they love to sing,” she says. “It’s real- Yalungerile loved to sing and dance joint educational adviser at the didn’t go smoothly when we start- tinued their musical studies,” says ly beautiful when you start to learn as a child. Her hobby was noticed Ministry of Federal Education ed,” recalls the 55-year-old. Yalungerile. a song, focus on every detail to and supported by her parents. and Professional Training, says, To encourage children to study Supported by the local govern- make it sound perfect and finally At 12, she was admitted to the “The number of out-of-school music, she traveled to remote areas ment and working with Inner Mon- make it happen onstage.” Inner Mongolia Arts School and children is increasing in tribal of the region, going door-to-door, golia Arts University, the choir During summer vacations, the worked as a member of Ulan areas due to the lack of available schools,” noting that Chinese gov- ernment donation “is a big help for the Pakistani government, and a great gift to the people of Kiwi students show language skills the tribal district”.

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand culties due to border closures that help make friends with 1.4 billion XINHUA — Thirty-four secondary school stu- prevent the arrival of more Chinese Chinese people, but will also enable dents from across New Zealand language teachers. However, stu- you to become successful in your showed off their Chinese proficiency dents have still made lots of progress, career development,” Wang says, in the annual Chinese Bridge compe- as indicated by the number and qual- adding that China is the biggest tition held on Aug 8. ity of contestants in this year’s com- trade partner of more than 120 coun- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 15 petition. tries and regions, including New junior high school students and 19 Dong encourages Chinese learners Zealand. senior high school students partici- to become “friendly ambassadors of Andrew Turner, deputy mayor of pated in the 14th Chinese Bridge Chi- China-New Zealand people-to-peo- Christchurch, says despite current nese proficiency competition for ple exchanges”, making positive con- restrictions, the relationship secondary school students via video tributions to promoting China-NZ between China and New Zealand is link. educational exchanges and enhanc- growing in tourism, education, Hosted by Confucius Institute at ing friendship between the two trade, cultural and people-to-people the University of Canterbury, the countries. exchanges. theme of the contest was “fly high Chinese Consul General Wang “There will definitely be big oppor- with Chinese”. Zhijian says the Chinese proficiency tunities in the future for people who Dong Zhixue, education counselor level of the students has been have the skills to build bridges A senior high school student at the Chinese embassy in New Zea- increasing year by year. between New Zealand and China,” who won at the Chinese Bridge land, said at the opening ceremony “Learning Chinese well will not Turner says. Chinese proficiency competi- that the Chinese teaching program only open doors to China’s long and tion in Wellington, New Zealand, this year has been facing a lot of diffi- rich history and culture, as well as XINHUA on Aug 4. meng tao / xinhua