Yan (Clara) Huang

Yan 'Clara' Huang _{Local SEED Coordinator, China}

"…on the way to will, each passenger encountered on the way could be a teacher to give diverse and precious lessons…"

 

I was born in 1974 and spent the first 18 years of my life in Naning, capital city of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China just next to Vietnam. With its 15.5 million population, Zhuang ethnic minority is the biggest among the 56 ethnic minorities in China. However, I'm a Han, not Zhuang ethnic minority.

In 1992 I set foot in Beijing, 2650 km from my hometown, after a journey of 38 hours on a train, striding over the Yangtze River and spanning the Yellow river just as in the propaganda that high school teachers posted on the door frame of our classroom to encourage young people to seek dreams as far as they can. I studied Human Resources Management in Renmin University, the first and the only university in China at that time that delivered diplomas for Human Resources Management study. Six years turned the little provincial girl into a young woman, but what remains unchanged is the heart that is always flying towards dreams.

The stay in Beijing fully prepared me for another more fantastic and challenging journey. How could I resist the temptation of experiencing another life -- knowing nobody in a country, speaking another language, living with people who are leading a completely different life - everything is new, 100% adventure. In 1998, I set off for France to continue my studies. It was a destination that I had dreamed of since my childhood. Two years' hard study turns out to be two diplomas. What's delightful is that thanks to my untiring "preaching" among friends, neighbors and classmates, China, a country that always remains a mystery, has become more concrete and attractive.

In 2002, I joined Schlumberger as a personnel administrator. With honor and excitement, I accepted the mission to sow the 1st SEED in China, an immense country where great efforts need to be invested to the education of young people. With my own experience, I deeply understand how it is important for a child to get an opportunity to be educated. SEED is a truly meaningful program to help children from remote regions to approach the real and wonderful world. I was really touched when I saw SEED-connected school children touch a keyboard gingerly and with great curiosity - they had never dreamed of owning a computer. Their life has been changed since that moment. What's funny is that I was definitely treated as a hustler when I called at the initial phase to introduce SEED to schools, it was true that the people I was interfacing with hung up the phone on my nose-for them, donation of computers, was a lie too beautiful to believe, just like a pie falling from the sky. Involvement in SEED is a great source of pleasure, from the questions from children, which give me much inspiration; to the sincere people from the remote region I met, to the culture and life of the region I discovered and all thanks to this SEED program.

The quote I believe in is "where there is a will, there is a way". It's also true that on the way to will, each passenger encountered on the way could be a teacher to give diverse and precious lessons.