Rewi Alley seeking money for his new‘Gung Ho’ school

Press, 24 May 1985, Page 17

Rewi Alley seeking money for his new‘Gung Ho’ school

By

GARRY ARTHUR

China’s most venerated New Zealander, Rewi Alley, needs financial help to rebuild one of the famous Gung Ho Bailie schools, which was destroyed by an earthquake at Shandan, in Gansu province, in the early 19505.

His plea has been passed on by one of his former pupils, Sun Guang-Jun, who is on a six-month study project at the Wool Research Organisation at Lincoln. Mr Sun, now 59, was taught by Rewi Alley at the Bailie school in Lanzhou for four years in the 19405. He is here under the auspices of the Lincoln College Foundation, through the Christchurch-Lanzhou sister city arrangement.

Mr Sun says Rewi Alley, now 88, taught him English and about the operation of small co-operatives. He also helped him to get to England in 1947 to study at Nottingham Technical College. When he returned, in 1950, the Communist revolution had taken place, and the schools were being entirely supported by New Zealand’s C.0.R.5.0. fHe returned to tj-ie Shandan

Bailie school for two years, then worked in the school’s own textile mill for two years before moving to the textile mills at Lanzhou to work as a mechanical engineer.

The Bailie method, based on a combination of work and study, trained technicians for the industrial co-operative movement. Rewi Alley says that today the great need of the Shandan and West Gansu area is for more forestry, better agriculture, and animal husandary.

If the old Bailie school at Shandan can be rebuilt, it will be able to produce trainees who can take the lead in bringing about an essential change in local methods, and who will have the knowledge to participate in the badly needed reforestation programme.

“The whole of West Gansu, of which Shandan County is a part, has suffered and is still suffering from age-old deforestation, overgrazing, and loss of good grasses, often due to the pulling up of their roots for food during winter grazing,” says Rewi Alley’s appeal letter. ’ , “Trees were cut’ to build cities

that are now covered with desert sands. In an effort to appease deities, huge temples were erected — over 50 in the vicinity of Shandan city alone.” The area is too poor to employ foreign technicians to assist in the work of modernisation and must train local youngsters. That is why the idea arose of setting up a new Bailie School at Shandan to give practical training to children in their middle school years through the “half-study, half-work” method. Although the Gansu Government could be counted on to provide some funds, much additional help is needed to provide buildings and equipment for a new school. Rewi Alley says that anyone who wishes to help can send drafts to the Bank of China, Lanzhou, China, Account number 81-80-37, in the name of Chen Quiling, treasurer for the promotion committee. Sun Guang-Jun visited Rewi Alley in Peking before leaving for

New Zealand. “He’s still quite well,” he reports, “although he had an operation last year.” Mr Sun says he hopes to gain more knowledge here about wool fibre testing, scouring, and the properties of New Zealand wool. He will be studying wool classing at Lincoln College to learn about our wool types.

Some New Zealand wool is used at the textile mill where he works, and before he left a decision was made to buy more to be woven into blankets and woollen cloth. As a result of a visit to the Wool Board in Wellington, Mr Sun has cabled China and expects to get an answer soon as to what is required. New Zealand wool has a longer staple, is stronger and cleaner, and has a better colour than wool grown in Ganzu and neighbouring provinces, he says. It will be used to produce new products for the region, which experiences very cold winters. Local textile mills already produce very thick and heavy pure wool blankets which are exported to the Soviet Union.

Mr Sun’s connection with the Bailie schools continues through his son. The one at Lanzhou is now called the Oil Technical School. Mr Sun’s son studied there and is now drilling for oil in Gansu province, i