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 Children at Dong Wang Elementary School, May 2009
 Women in outdoor literacy class; instructor is standing, November 2005
 With Give2Asia and other program partners in Beijing, May 2009
 A lesson on the loom in village woman’s home, Luodian County, April 2009
 Lunch at student’s home in Luodian County, April 2009
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Q - How did the issue of girls’ and women’s education in rural China become important to Moore? How did she choose Luodian County?
"The need to support education for poor children and peasant women in remote Luodian County actually chose me," Moore said. "A New York Times article I read in December 1995 showed the deep and persistent poverty confronting peasants in rural China, many of whom still live like their ancestors lived."
The story featured a peasant man who was raising his two daughters alone in a mud hut, who said, "We don't have money to buy fertilizer, I don't have a cow or ox to cultivate the land and the soil is barren. Living in this kind of poverty makes us too embarrassed to even go out of doors." *
Moore can't explain why she was moved to act. But the next day, she tracked down the Times journalist in Beijing. He, too, had been touched and offered to serve as intermediary between Moore and the farmer's village in Luodian County in Guizhou Province.
As Moore began to learn about life in rural China, she learned that one consequence of poverty is that many families simply cannot afford for their children to go to school. She especially wanted to help girls, who are still dreadfully disadvantaged. Later, she came to understand the value of helping peasant women, too, because the majority of the parents of the children the Fund was helping had never attended school.
* "Deng's Economic Drive Leaves Vast Regions of China Behind," by Patrick Tyler (New York Times, 12/27/95, cover, A6). Copyright © 1995 by The New York Times Company. Reprinted by Permission. Photo by Patrick R. Tyler/The New York Times.
Q - How does the Fund respond to questions about measurable impacts and addressing root causes?
Moore decided very early in the Fund's history not establish a system of performance measurement for the children's scholarship program. The Fund anticipates change that will occur over generations. The children take the first step when they consistently come to school, despite having to sit in unheated classes when they have little warm clothing.
The Fund's goal is for these children to experience the joy of learning. Then, research tells us, they are apt to place a higher value on schooling for their own children.
In the women's literacy program, which concluded in 2010, each woman's achievement was tested each year. But again, what the Fund values most is the immediate impact on women's lives. They gain self-respect from their new knowledge and abilities, including dialing a phone number, making simple math calculations so they can sell extra vegetables in the market, and recognizing pesticides in order to mix them in correct proportions.
Q - How is the Fund structured? Is it financially sound? What if Gwen Moore can no longer provide leadership to the Fund?
To operate today's programs effectively and to ensure Moore's legacy to the children of China, she established two funds at Give2Asia. The first is the Gwen Moore Children of China Fund, where all donations flow today and from which all grants are made.
The Fund's current balance is sufficient to pay for our established children's program for the next few years even if the Fund were to receive no further donations.
The second fund at Give2Asia is the Gwen Moore China Endowment, the beneficiary of Moore's estate. On her death, the Gwen Moore Children of China Fund would close and its assets would transfer to the endowment. Under the terms of the endowment, Give2Asia trustees would continue the mission of the Gwen Moore Children of China Fund.
Give2Asia manages the Fund's grant-making activity. Give2Asia was founded in 2001 by The Asia Foundation to inspire philanthropy and deliver services that help donors achieve their objectives in Asia. We have a program manager in San Francisco, Give2Asia's headquarters, and staff in the Give2Asia Beijing office who do the "on the ground" work of overseeing grant projects for children and women in Luodian County.
The Fund's Advisory Board establishes program objectives and the Give2Asia staff work with local officials to contract for and deliver on those objectives. This type of arrangement is simpler to establish and manage than a separate nonprofit entity would be, especially given our focus in China. A donor-advised fund is an ideal structure for a small, focused effort like ours.
Q - What advice would Gwen Moore give to someone who is thinking of doing something similar in China or elsewhere in the world?
Of course, there is no advice that fits all situations and there are dozens of variables that would change Moore's counsel in a specific situation. But speaking generally, Moore urges others to keep the following points in mind.
- When you begin, don't get caught up in the need for a separate legal entity. Start as a project within a like-minded, established nonprofit or start a donor-directed fund like those at Give2Asia. This will help keep your focus on your purpose, not your structure.
- Learn about the culture of the people you want to help but don't get so hung up with cultural "rightness" that you paralyze your actions. Remember that even though you may be a benefactor, you are also a guest in the countries you serve. Respect and trusting relationships can survive a cultural faux pas or two.
- Remember that operating a charity, however it is structured, is essentially the same as operating a small business. There is always a long list of things you must do, and they are all important—from designing programs to writing for your website to communicating with donors. Be realistic about how much time this will take and how this work will be done.
- Practice patience and be flexible. Trying to make change happen, especially in other cultures and in remote locations, will always meet unexpected bumps in the road. As Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Naht Hahn says, "Smile, breathe and go slowly."
- Just do it! Be realistic about what you hope to achieve but don't try to plan everything out precisely. Moore notes that "if in the beginning I had analyzed the immensity or complexity of the problem I was tackling, I probably wouldn't have reacted at all. Yet, I still marvel that my small act of giving to the children of Luodian County has enriched my life in indescribable ways."
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