After she had finished writing her guest post over at my blog, I emailed Katie a few questions to answer while she waited for her brother to arrive at the Pudong International Airport.
Q: What was your main reason for coming to Shanghai?
A: I wanted to live in a country and culture drastically different from my own and picked China to be a part of their very new and developing social good sector. The ideas of philanthropy, social enterprises, and the laws, culture, best practices, and ideas surrounding them are still being formed in China---the opportunity to experience that sounded fascinating to me.
Q: What non-profits are you working with?
A: I'm volunteering with the Non-profit Incubator's, The Nest program, developing English content for them since most everything is in Chinese at this point. The Nest enables the rapid growth of outstanding social enterprises in China by mobilizing local communities and facilitating cross sector, cross border collaboration. The Nest's location at Gongyi Xintiandi is accessible to all and open to the public and businesses alike to visit, work, train, support and get involved in establishing social enterprise development in Shanghai.
The first few weeks I was in Shanghai I also helped out at an organization called GoodToChina helping to organize a farm to school CSA box program. The people at GoodToChina are freaking awesome! I wish I had the time to work on projects with them. The box program I helped develop during my short time there has up to 1,000 box deliveries going now--crazy!! GoodtoChina's four main focuses are urban farming, biking, sustainable design, and cool living.
Q: What do you plan on doing with the knowledge and experience you gain while in Shanghai?
A: Hmmmm....In a very predictable way, China's made me appreciate where I'm from. I've also learned that while relationships you make while living transiently are certainly valuable and you can contribute to the world that way, it's difficult to bare other's burdens from afar and visa-versa. I've just observed back in the States, and then its been reiterated in Shanghai, that staying put and getting your hands dirty (sometimes literally like with farming) is less glamorous but is really what seems to make the most impact. It's been a year since I left what was "home" for two years post college. Traveling, working with nonprofits in the States, WWOOFing (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms), and now working in a consumeristic metropolis like Shanghai has made me really value taking life slow. Maybe I'll just move back to South Carolina, have WWOOFers live with me to farm my yard & nearby community gardens, and start selling wheatgrass.
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To learn more about GoodtoChina, the Non-profit Incubator or WWOOF, visit their websites!
Check out Katie's guest post about the Design, Art & Fashion Fair over at my blog!
Q: What was your main reason for coming to Shanghai?
A: I wanted to live in a country and culture drastically different from my own and picked China to be a part of their very new and developing social good sector. The ideas of philanthropy, social enterprises, and the laws, culture, best practices, and ideas surrounding them are still being formed in China---the opportunity to experience that sounded fascinating to me.
Q: What non-profits are you working with?
A: I'm volunteering with the Non-profit Incubator's, The Nest program, developing English content for them since most everything is in Chinese at this point. The Nest enables the rapid growth of outstanding social enterprises in China by mobilizing local communities and facilitating cross sector, cross border collaboration. The Nest's location at Gongyi Xintiandi is accessible to all and open to the public and businesses alike to visit, work, train, support and get involved in establishing social enterprise development in Shanghai.
The first few weeks I was in Shanghai I also helped out at an organization called GoodToChina helping to organize a farm to school CSA box program. The people at GoodToChina are freaking awesome! I wish I had the time to work on projects with them. The box program I helped develop during my short time there has up to 1,000 box deliveries going now--crazy!! GoodtoChina's four main focuses are urban farming, biking, sustainable design, and cool living.
Q: What do you plan on doing with the knowledge and experience you gain while in Shanghai?
A: Hmmmm....In a very predictable way, China's made me appreciate where I'm from. I've also learned that while relationships you make while living transiently are certainly valuable and you can contribute to the world that way, it's difficult to bare other's burdens from afar and visa-versa. I've just observed back in the States, and then its been reiterated in Shanghai, that staying put and getting your hands dirty (sometimes literally like with farming) is less glamorous but is really what seems to make the most impact. It's been a year since I left what was "home" for two years post college. Traveling, working with nonprofits in the States, WWOOFing (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms), and now working in a consumeristic metropolis like Shanghai has made me really value taking life slow. Maybe I'll just move back to South Carolina, have WWOOFers live with me to farm my yard & nearby community gardens, and start selling wheatgrass.
---
To learn more about GoodtoChina, the Non-profit Incubator or WWOOF, visit their websites!
Check out Katie's guest post about the Design, Art & Fashion Fair over at my blog!