一个在美国慈善机构工作的中国人

Children can be seen playing games at a self-defense class at Zhi Quan Primary school in a shanty town in sub-urban Changping district, Beijing.

"Sunshine Project" is a charity aimed at helping children of migrant workers improve their self-defense capability. In charge of the project is Peng Xiang, the secretary-general of Amway Charity Foundation.

She says American companies have very strong traditions in the field of philanthropy. And they tend to be far-sighted when conducting charitable projects.

"Charitable work in America is quite mature and I think China can learn a lot from them in this area. The idea of corporate responsibility was imported from the west. Instead of putting commercial concerns at the top of the priority list, our foundation emphasizes social influences and how children can truly benefit from the programs."

Peng has been with the Amway foundation for six years. She says a series of accidents involving children, like the recent campus stampede in Kunming, Yunan Province in China, have raised public concerns about a host of issues related to children's safety. She hopes the project can help vulnerable children, especially those who may lack parental care.

Peng explains that the company doesn't look at children as a target market. Rather, they launched the care-for-children project for the sake of children's growth.

She adds that childhood is a very important period in a person's development, making investments in this area more than worthwhile.

Before joining the Amway foundation, Peng had more than twenty years' experience as a government official and NGO official, which gave her experience working with charitable programs.

Peng points out the optimistic, and long term outlook of many American charities.

Instead of pursuing immediate effects, she says American companies tend to look at the whole picture.

"Our goal is to help under-privileged children gain equal right for future development. How can we talk about equal opportunity, when we can't secure safety for the kids? Like you see this primary school is in sub-urban area of the city and most of the students come from families with both parents being migrant workers. Their parents are poorly educated and don't even have the time to take care of them. These children know little about the city. Some of them even don't know how to get across zebra lines. We launch the project to help children get away from harm."

Peng believes what she and her company are doing really can make a difference for the future of China.

Apart from charitable work, she says it's the corporate philosophy that impresses her most about American companies.

"For example, the company doesn't require employees work within fixed hours and come to the office every day. It's very flexible. Everyone is allowed to work according to their own schedule. And they have a lot of freedom in accomplishing their tasks. The company gives you opportunities for career development. For me myself, instead of changing myself to follow others' steps, I can do many things in my own way."

Peng adds American companies emphasize cooperation in choosing the right person. Employees are supposed to be supportive and active in accomplishing a project. They are encouraged to offer ideas and work as a team in solving problems.

"being cooperative is an important criteria in choosing right employees. It's part of our corporate culture. For example, when a project involves cross-department cooperation, an email can make it. After sending an email listing clearly what support you need, you'll receive feedback and advice from various departments to help you solve the problem. People won't ignore your request just because it's not their duty."

Peng says she finds great happiness in her work, saying she likes to keep a positive attitude in dealing with problems every day.

"This American company gives me a lot of opportunities in personal development. And being in charge of the charitable work, I received a lot of positive energy everyday, which helps me keep a very good state of mind."

Peng adds she likes the charitable work and she plans to carry on working on it. She hopes that the foundation can help more children join the program and benefit from the project in the future. And she believes American cooperate philosophy like cooperate responsibilities can also have positive influences on various areas in China.

For CRI, I'm Spencer Musick.