Shaking hands thousands of miles apart at HNH

In the westernmost primary school in China, the Jigen Town Primary School in Uchia County, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, children were sharing with our children at Huili Nursery Hangzhou about their dreams and daily life.  

It was a heart-warming scene captured while our nursery children were enjoying their project named “How we differ”.  Ms Ling, mum of Nemo from EY4, discovered what Jigen Primary School needed during her trip and helped us build the connection with them. Then we had an activity organised by the nursery children themselves and supported by both the teachers and parents, imparting the beauty of individuality to the children, while they explored the distinct value of each individual and demonstrated our Huili values of kindness, respect and responsibility.  

In spite of that, children at Jigen Town are confident and cheerful, assertive and enthusiastic. They shared their lives with us and found that we each have our own happiness in our daily lives no matter how different our lifestyles may be.  

The lifestyle of the children at Jigen Town broadened the horizons of Huili children. They were amazed because "wow, they can ride horses to school!", and marvelled at the fact that "children of my age can cook meals for their whole family every day!"

Delving into the lives of children in Jigen sparked Huili children’s interest in the unique Xinjiang culture. They started to wonder about the meaning of Children’s Day and how to build links with their new friends. They wanted to remotely celebrate the festival that belongs to them and learn from the children in Jigen through mutual support. 

Huili children wanted to strengthen their connection with the children at Jigen on Children's Day this year. They thought carefully about how they could help them and finally decided to raise funds through a fair to purchase teaching materials for children at Jigen Village. 

We transformed this event into a Children’s Day themed celebration named “Huili and Jigen: mutual help and connection.”The children learned that although living under the same sky, people have different lifestyles and that we respect each other’s unique values. Through this activity, children from both schools learned from each other and witnessed happiness in each other’s eyes. It enabled the children to deepen their understanding of being Inclusive, which is also a characteristic of the Huili identity.