A trove of learning and opportunities

The Jiuqian Voluntary Center in Shanghai helps underprivileged children secure a brighter future with extracurricular education, which would otherwise be hard for them to get, Cao Chen reports in Shanghai.

Pushed to the brink of depression because of family issues and a punishing learning environment in school where teachers only cared about making their students exam smart, Huang Ting stopped studying two years ago.

Huang, from Meishan, Sichuan province, was prepared for a premature entry into the work force when her sister told her about a program offered by the Jiuqian Voluntary Center based in Shanghai. Jiuqian means "forever hand-in-hand" in English.