Procter & Gamble

On July eighth, thirty-five employees from Procter & Gamble, the USA Pavilion and Nielson traveled together from Shanghai by train and bus to deliver the “Expo Experience” to school children at a Lu’an elementary school that was built last year by Procter & Gamble. Known as a “P&G Hope School,” the school is one of the two hundred sponsored by Procter & Gamble in rural Chinese areas since it began operating in China many years ago. The group was led by both Procter & Gamble and USA Pavilion senior staff.

After the Procter & Gamble and Nielson employees gave a brief presentations on the history of the World Expo, members from the USA Pavilion Student Ambassador program literally brought the Pavilion to the children through a mixed media presentation, one that culminated with helping the students build a Pavilion of their own out of recycled Procter & Gamble goods. Like the over one hundred and fifty national pavilions inside the Expo grounds, the goal of the activity was to have the children build something that represented their home, and to that end it was agreed by all on hand that they performed masterfully. Afterward, the students and volunteers had a chance to hang out for a little while before parting ways. It was nice to see how excited the children were to not only be in school, but also learn something new (over summer, nonetheless!).

I remember quite vividly the week before my first day of elementary school when my older sister Karlie and brother Peter told me that I was starting my education at the worst possible time. I asked them why, and they told me that the old playground had been recently torn down in lieu of a new one. That sounded just fine to five year old me until they explained (and in way not just a little bit patronizing, either) about how I’d never get to experience the playground or—they dropped their voices and leaned in, and I wish I could see again the narrowing of their eyes when they said this—the celebrated and feared “Blister Machine”—a series of Monkey Bars and rings that, if navigated forwards and backwards twice in front of your friends without touching the ground, placed you on a celestial level.

Naturally, I cried after they informed me of this and told my parents that I didn’t want to start school in the fall. No Blister Machine? There was nothing worse thing in the world. At least nothing that I could have possibly been aware of then.

Then end of my story is trivial: I started school come September and spent my recesses swinging from brand new swings and sliding down brand new slides and—this was my favorite part—talking to my friends through these specially placed voice boxes that used echoes to transmit our voices across the park to other locations. The new structures were a joy, and my earlier distress was immediately forgotten the second my foot first pushed off the ground and pumped my body skyward.

I had always taken my education for granted until coming to China in 2007. Sure, I’d read about people not having schools, but the reality of the situation never actualized for me until I met those very people who had to overcome incredible obstacles—like lacking a school to learn in—in order to get to where they are today. My five year old self was worried about there being something fun enough to play on, let alone a park or school at all. I asked a Procter & Gamble senior staff over lunch why he does the work he does. A native of Lu’an, he said to me, “I am myself a nongcun haizi (a village child). I understand the difference that an education opportunity makes in these people’s lives and want to provide it for them as best I can.”

Old park or new, at least I had a place to from which to take off. And I think it is wonderful that Procter & Gamble is providing a similar base—education—for these otherwise unable children take off and fly skyward themselves.