August 30th 2013

Bequest helps bring students from Guilin

A monetary bequest, administered by Hastings District Council has helped bring two students from Zhongshan Middle School in Guilin to study at local high schools.

Nova Lowe left $28,380 in her will to “assist in the education in New Zealand of students from Guilin.” Yuting Huang and Kelin Li are the first to arrive in Hastings from Zhongshan Middle School which is a sister school to Hastings Girls’ High School. The students travel costs have been covered by the bequest.

Yuting Huang is spending six weeks at Hastings Girls’ High School and Kelin Li is attending Havelock North High School. Both students will be hosted by families who have sons or daughters at the local schools.

Mrs Geraldine Travers, Principal of Hastings Girls’ High says “We are proud to be able to host a student from Guilin. This is an amazing opportunity for Yuting to immerse herself for a short time in the culture of Girls’ High. We hope that this opportunity makes a real difference as she embarks on the next steps of her life.”

Director of International Students at Havelock High School Jamie Kitchin says “The students will benefit is many different ways from their visit. They will not only learn to live in a society that is very different from the one they experience every day in Guilin but they will also have the opportunity to improve their grasp of the English language.”

Hastings and Guilin have had a Sister City relationship since 1981 and is the oldest NZ-China relationship in New Zealand. Mrs Travers, visited Guilin and Zhongshan Middle School in October 2012 to finalise the exchange agreement.

Nova Elizabeth Lowe died on 6 January 2005, and was a member of the Hawkes’ Bay Branch of the New Zealand China Friendship Society. She visited China on a trip organised by Fred Chu in 1995. It is anticipated that Yuting Huang and Kelin Li will be the first in a number of students to travel from Guilin to experience the New Zealand education system in their sister city.

Two students from Hastings are to travel to Guilin later in the year to complete the exchange.
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