Founded in February 2012 Bridging Education And Mobility (BEAM) is a student-run non-profit organization currently operating in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. BEAM serves as a platform to launch independent service projects, which hope to improve the quality of education in migrant schools as well as the quality of life for students in urban areas.
BEAM’s ultimate mission is to “…revolutionize the philosophy of education and method of teaching in migrant schools to better fit the needs and unique circumstances of students.”
BEAM’s first initiative is Project S2S (Student-to-Student). S2S looks to collect second-hand, but barely used, daily necessities from international students. Flea-markets will be set up at migrant schools and communities around the cities to sell these items. For the Spring 2012 project, BEAM is collecting from international students at Peking University, Tsinghua, Beijing Normal, BLCU, Fudan, Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, as well as study abroad programs including CET, CIEE, SYA, and ACC in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing.
BEAM urges for international students who are returning home after their semester(s) abroad to donate the things they have accumulated; no longer need or cannot bring home. No doubt it is a much better option to donate than throw everything out. Items include things like clothing, bedding, cookware (pots, pans, etc.), kitchen utensils (bowls, plates, cups, etc.) appliances (hot plates, kettles, heaters, humidifiers etc.), and school supplies (books, dictionaries, notebooks, bags etc.).
BEAM warns that all donations should be of good quality and fairly new. Clothing and bedding should be washed and folded, while kitchen supplies and appliances should be clean, undamaged, and still in good working order.
Check here for collection sites and dates.
BEAM is also looking for volunteers to help sort out the donations. After the collection time which lasts from May 15-June 15, volunteers will be needed to help sort out the collected items before they are distributed to migrant communities around Beijing.
On June 16-17 10am-5pm BEAM will be sorting out donations at Tsinghua Science and Technology Park located at 1 Zhongguancun East Road, Haidian District
Check here for more information on Project S2S Sorting Event.
