Hi, my name is Megan Zhao, and I’m a Grade 10 student at York House School in Vancouver, Canada.

For the past two years, I’ve volunteered as an online English teacher for students in rural Yunnan, China. Every week, I teach English to hundreds of students from under-resourced schools—many from Indigenous minority communities who live on campus all year round.

This past Spring Break, I visited these schools in person. It was inspiring—and eye-opening.

Learning English without ever hearing it—isn’t that almost impossible?

In many remote areas of Yunnan, students are required to study English and take national exams in it—but they have no access to audio. Many of the students are from ethnic minority backgrounds and attend boarding schools far from home. Due to concerns about learning and the challenges of managing devices for boarding students, no phones, internet access, or electronic devices are allowed in dorms or on campus. For these students, English is just a printed subject—not a living language.

Most of these students come from Indigenous families in remote mountain villages. Their parents have left home to work in cities as migrant laborers, leaving the children behind with their grandparents, who are elderly farmers with very limited income. These “left-behind children” grow up without parental support, without technology, and without the means to experience real English communication.

But language is sound. And without hearing it, how can they truly learn?

I’m fundraising to provide 70 MP3 players preloaded with English listening materials for dormitories at Mojiang Ethnic Middle School. Each dorm houses about 10 students in Grades 7 to 9, and students will follow a structured daily listening routine—before breakfast, after lunch, and before bed.

These simple devices can make a huge difference. Just one MP3 player brings spoken English to an entire dorm room of 10 students.

My mom, Linda Yan, will help manage purchases and shipping. Local teachers will handle daily use and implementation on the ground.

This is a low-cost, high-impact way to make education more equitable—and to give these children a chance to hear, understand, and dream beyond their hometowns.

Thank you for helping these students hear English—and believe in bigger futures.

With gratitude,

Megan Zhao

All photos included in this proposal were taken with permission and are shared with the authorization of the school administration.

$20.00 MP3 player