The third round of our charity auction, which kicked off in November

Our annual charity auction continues this month – here are some of the great prizes up for grabs

AS BUSINESS TRAVELLER ASIA-PACIFIC enters its 14th year of association with the Chi Heng Foundation (CHF), we are proud that our efforts, and those of our many partners in the hotel and airline industries, are making a real difference to the lives of so many young people in China. At the same time, we are humbled by the hard work and dedication of CHF’s staff and volunteers, who deserve our greatest respect and admiration.

Over the past 17 years, CHF has fulfilled a long-running commitment to provide educational sponsorship and psychosocial support to AIDS-impacted children in China, from primary school through to university. In spite of the large number of students spread over a vast geographic area,

Chi Heng doesn’t use intermediaries, preferring to disburse funds for the children directly through its own staff and volunteers. This pragmatic approach has ensured quality and continuity within the programme.

By July 2017, CHF had cumulatively sponsored over 26,000 students from AIDS-affected families, and more than 4,000 have graduated from universities since 2002. CHF is the largest and longest running nongovernmental operation in China providing comprehensive assistance to AIDS-impacted children.

In addition to formal education, CHF also supports vocational training and runs psychosocial programmes for the children. Experience has shown that this has a strong and positive impact on children’s academic performance and mental health. CHF’s psychosocial programmes include home visits, art counselling, summer camps, memory book projects and other school-based activities.

In spite of the challenges, CHF has built more than 28 reading rooms in China this year, 16 of which were built with the support of Business Traveller. As well as providing muchneeded reading materials, these reading rooms also serve as a meeting point and location for staff and volunteers to provide extracurricular activities and companionship to children in diverse areas of rural China. Continuous funding of these and other meaningful programmes, along with educational support, is critical in alleviating the suffering of thousands of innocent children, and providing the chance of a bright future for all.