China Heritage Program Expands to Include FCC Children

The China heritage program or Root-Seeking Summer Camp program, thanks to its outstanding and well-arranged activities and services, has grown into an acclaimed annual event for overseas students of Chinese heritage. Through this program, every year several thousand kids gather together in China and personally witness the natural beauty, rich culture, long history and economic revival of China. It has benefited thousands of students of Chinese heritage from all over the world, since its inception in the 1980’s.

However up to now, the China heritage program has been largely limited to kids of Chinese families who have manageable Chinese language abilities. For the last few years, as the coordinating institution in West US Coast, we’ve kept receiving requests from FCC parents and school teachers, for expanding the program to include Families with Children from China. With careful deliberation, consultation, planning and preparation, China Overseas Exchanges Association has entrusted to announce here the launching of a special 2008 FCC China Heritage Program along with the regular program.

The purpose of the FCC Tours is to help the FCC children, through their visits to scenic, historical and cultural sites and direct contacts with the people and culture, learn to appreciate and take pride in their Chinese heritage and roots and establish in them self-respect, confidence and a healthy personality.

In consideration of FCC’s special circumstances, this program:
     · Encourage the parents to participate with their children, sharing their China experiences.
     · Age requirements for participating FCC children have been lowered to 7 to 18.
     · An English interpreter will be assigned to each FCC group of 30 and above.
     · Apart from the opening and closing ceremonies of the regular Chinese only program, all other
       activities are specially arranged for the FCC program.

Please pass this information on to your FCC friends so that the program can benefit as many adopted children of Chinese heritage as possible.

For detailed information and the relevant forms, please visit our website at www.nanhai.com or contact us at: (650) 259-2106, or stephanie@nanhai.com.

好消息! “2008中国寻根之旅”将惠及华裔领养儿童

中国海外交流协会上个世纪八十年代发起的每年一度的海外华裔儿童寻根之旅以丰富多彩的活动内容和细致入微的接待服务吸引着越来越多海外华裔儿童，正在成为一个有口皆碑，享誉世界的文化品牌项目。

每年数千名来自世界各国的华裔儿童相聚中国，大家一起游览名胜古迹，参加各种互动性文化活动，零距离接触和体验中国社会的方方面面。通过亲身感受中国秀美如画的自然风光，博大精深的传统文化，沉重悠久的历史以及今日的经济腾飞与发展，参加活动的华裔儿童不仅开阔了视野，加深了对于中国文化的了解和认同，更增加了他们作为华裔的自豪感和自信心，有利于他们在海外作为少数族裔的环境中健全人格和心理的培养。很多参加活动的学生感言，寻根之旅是自己人生成长历程中难得和难忘的经历。

然而，出于语言等方面的考虑，寻根之旅一直主要局限在有一定掌握能力的华裔家庭儿童。过去几年不少华裔儿童领养家庭的家长和这些孩子的老师曾多次要求，希望寻根之旅能够将领养的华裔孩子也包括进去。经与各相关单位协商和精心筹划准备，中国海外交流协会决定接受这些家长的建议：2008年寻根之旅将包括领养华裔儿童，并对于领养家庭寻根之旅给予了慷慨的赞助！

根据华裔领养儿童的特殊情况：
     o 参加活动儿童的年龄限制由原来的12岁至18岁降为7岁至18岁；
     o 为每个不少于30名成员的团组，专门配备了精通中英文和了解中国文化的翻译；
     o 并鼓励家长和孩子一起参与这一活动，分享他们难得的寻根经历。
     o 除了开闭幕式，使用其他活动均专门根据领养家庭的特殊情况专门另行安排。

对于华裔领养儿童这是一次难得的文化寻根活动。为了能够让更多的华裔领养儿童受益，希望大家能将这一好消息通告给自己领养家庭的朋友和您周围领养家庭的家长，请他们与我们联系或上网下载相关资讯和表格。

我们的联系方式：
电话：（650）259-2100
传真：（650）259-2108
电邮：stephanie@nanhai.com