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Introduction

The Zigen Fund is a Chinese-based non-profit organization that was founded by Hsu-Lin Tung and Pat Kwei-Ping Yang in New York 1988, with the main goal of providing assistance for basic development in rural China while also promoting the beliefs of human-centered sustainable development. The Zigen Fund provides educational, social and economic developmental support to poverty-stricken areas of China, especially to women and children.

Initiatives

As of 2008, Zigen has accomplished various projects in 265 villages in 17 provinces and has provided more than 90,000 scholarships to students to cover the costs of tuition and textbook.

Zigen supports:

1.	Education – To provide sponsorship for basic (children) and adult education and to fund basic infrastructure for schools.

2.	Basic healthcare – To provide paramedical training programs and health clinics in rural areas.

3.	Environmentally sound technologies – To promote integrated and sustainable socioeconomic development to improve the livelihood of villagers on the basis of grassroots participation and environmental awareness.

4.	Rural village development – To provide small loans to joint economic projects between villagers and to support cultural events.

5.	Migrant workers community – To sponsor and organize community events, competitions, educational and self-improvement classes for migrant workers.

6.	International partnerships – To organize international educational exchange programs and encourage mutual understanding between rural villagers and overseas communities.

Consequently, the projects supported by the Zigen Fund help to fulfill the NGO’s final goal of the participation and mobilization of local resources.

2008 Expenses on projects by Zigen

Source: http://www.asia.youth-leader.org/?p=4788

Funding

The Zigen Fund relies on a wide network of volunteers in many cities and states in the United States for its fundraising, administrative and project selection, and coordination activities. In addition, some of the resources are secured through personal donations, volunteering, child sponsoring, and small business partners.

Current undertakings

More recently, the Zigen Fund has started the One Village, One School initiative in: 10 villages and 10 schools in Guizhou Province; one village and one school in Henan Province, four villages and four schools in Shanxi Province; five villages and five schools in Hebei Province. In every village-school project, the general project is 60, 000RMB – 80, 000RMB (approx. USD9, 500 – USD12, 700). The initiative aims to strengthen ties between the village and the school, resulting in communal integration of the philosophy that “Life is our education and society is our goal.”