Luo Yuan is a county located on the eastern coast of Fujian Province, China.  Its geo-political position and its vulnerability to natural disasters render it the second-poorest county in Fujian province.  Luo Yuan’s impoverished community of 252,000 people relies mainly on fish farming, land farming and quarrying for a living. From time to time, natural disasters have destroyed their homes and livelihoods hence many still live in abject poverty.

MILK focuses on providing:

• Education and nourishment to the school children: MILK’s first line of programs focuses on providing education and nourishment for the poorest of the poor among the children.  The Chinese government and people value education and the development of their local talents.  However, due to poverty, some of the children in Luo Yuan are unable to reach their fullest potential.  Often, children from poor families are malnourished, which in turn affects their educational abilities.  MILK endeavours to enhance these children’s opportunities, present with chances for these children to break out of the poverty cycle and plant the seeds for uplifting the community as a whole.  MILK supports 2,610 primary and secondary school students through the education grants including 983 children who are on the nourishment program in addition to the education grant.
   
• MILK also helped garner support for the building of a hostel in Luo Yuan Middle School so as to enable 1,000 students from the remote rural areas to continue school.  Through the Friendship School Programme, a group of 20 students from the Anglo Chinese Junior College (ACJC) visited Luo Yuan Middle School in November 2006.  They organised English Camps and activities in addition to helping the school set up the English resource section of its library.
   
• Bursaries and scholarships for university education:  A university education presents great opportunities for children from poor families to break out of poverty. However, many intelligent children from poor families are unable to pursue university education because their families are unable to afford.  MILK provides bursaries to 50 such students with good academic records and strong character references.
   
•  An important strategy to uplift a community is to focus on the development and retention of local talents.  To develop these local talents, MILK initiated scholarships for 100 university and pre-university students who are top achievers in the national exams, in addition to bursaries for university students from very poor families.
   
•  Sustainable livelihood programmes:   Having sustainable livelihood or employment is critical to help families get out of the poverty cycle.  Hence, MILK is now focusing our efforts on developing livelihood and apprenticeship programs for students who are unable to further their studies.  Through the Livelihood programs, MILK brings together local business leaders, plants the seeds of social responsibility within the business community and creates partnerships that work together on uplifting Luo Yuan.

MILK plays a pivotal role in building bridges between the County Government and the Luo Yuan Church through facilitating a partnership based on trust and common good.  This joint involvement of government, business and community augurs well for sustainable local efforts within Luo Yuan.  With the young, especially the beneficiaries, the emphasis is on value education; on self-help and on giving back to society.  We are very encouraged that our programs have indeed been catalytic and inspirational - in providing the spark that light up a brighter future for Luo Yuan.