One Year of Progress for D.E.E.P.:
Past Successes and New Opportunities

By Amber Chang and Josh Fenn

February 2006 marked the first anniversary of Operation D.E.E.P.’s inception. From the beginning, we have been deeply committed to creating possibilities for the elementary children of rural China and for their futures. We were blessed with the opportunity to improve ourselves intellectually through education, and we believe they deserve the same opportunity.

Though we are a young club, we are proud of our accomplishments this past year. To aid the children’s learning experience, we sent six computers and over $200 in school supplies in July of 2005. Also, we fundraised by selling wristbands and co-sponsored Casino Night in the Robert Purcell Community Center.

To get D.E.E.P. off the ground, we decided to fundraise by selling wristbands. The wristbands have two intertwined bands with our organization colors and our motto—Create Possibilities—engraved. We sold them outside Willard Straight Hall in Ho Plaza. The purpose of the fundraiser was twofold: to raise money to fund other events, and to raise awareness for our organization and our benevolent mission.
Casino Night was a huge success. We offered “gambling” aficionados a chance to play some poker, win some prizes, show off their skills, and relax. Pop music blaring out of the twin speakers gave the event a boost of excitement. But the most exciting noises were the cheers and shouts of the people playing and watching poker. With the lively music and exuberant shouts of the poker players setting the mood, the players and volunteer dealers at the Black Jack tables, wheel of fortune, Roulette table, and Chinese dice game also had a good time that night.

As a continued effort to support the school, we will carry out our annual “Teaching and Training Project " (TTP) starting July 4th of 2006. The project entails sending four Cornell students to China’s rural Jiangxi province for three weeks to teach English to school children and train the local teachers at the Jin-Ni Lake Forest Academy Hope School. This year, the selected participants are Michael Goulet ’06, Josh Fenn ’07, graduate student Hannah Rogers and D.E.E.P. chair and founder Richard Zhao. Both Hannah and Josh have teaching experience in rural and urban China, respectively. Michael has taken part in a service project in rural areas of the Dominican Republic and recently worked on a water treatment plant project in Honduras. Richard has extensive teaching experience in Jiangxi, and will act as both project coordinator and a fellow teacher. On top of covering all living expenses for these Cornell students during their stay in China, D.E.E.P. is providing up to $500 in subsidy for air travel per student. D.E.E.P. plans to continue its support for the Jin-Ni Lake Forest Academy Hope School by donating an additional 15,000 RMB Summer of 2006.

This volunteer project seeks to provide a unique experience to all participants—Cornell students, Chinese schoolchildren, teachers—that would otherwise be unavailable to them. Cornell students will have the opportunity to participate in international social work and learn more about China's current economic gap between the upper and lower classes. The children at Jin-Ni will learn and interact with international students. The teachers at Jin-Ni will be able to expand their English speaking and teaching abilities.

Upon completion of this year’s TTP and donations, D.E.E.P. will be shifting its focus toward a new and ambitious goal: raising money to build a new school in Asia. With the support of both the local and international community, we know this goal is within reach. We would like to thank the following people and organizations who have contributed and supported Operation D.E.E.P. in the past; we couldn’t have made it this far without them: the Bartels Family, the Ginsberg Family, the Guo Family, Mr. Jeff Thompson, Cornell Public Service Center, ISPB, CPB, and Lake Forest Academy.

If you are interested in joining Operation D.E.E.P. to help us make a difference in elementary school children’s lives, please email info@operationdeep.org for information.