In April, Harker’s Global Empowerment and Outreach (GEO) club was visited by Lauren Roach, a representative from the Toronto-based nonprofit Free the Children. Roach updated the students on how the money they raised was being used to improve conditions in rural China. In December 2008, GEO had organized a fundraising effort that generated more than $14,000 for Free the Children.

In the village of Quanyuan, a school has been built that is attended by about 300 children, Roach said. A pig was also given to every family that had a child in the school. Roach’s presentation included a quote from Zhou Xialong, 11, who said, “My happiest memory is the first day I went to the new school.”

Elsewhere, in the village of Gufubao, money was used to purchase goats, which can be used for milk and fur, as well as trade.