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I still remember the feeling I had watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008. As a Chinese-Canadian, it was a proud and joyful moment seeing such a grand and elaborate spectacle that expressed to the rest of the world the true vibrancy and richness of China’s culture. I think it was also an eye-opening opportunity for people all over the world to see how much China has advanced over the years. Messages in the media also moulded my perceptions of the conditions in China. In the news, I mostly see and hear about China’s booming economy and its rising status as the world’s next superpower. So for my first visit to China last year, I was expecting to see cities filled with high-rises and thriving commercial districts. Going into the urban city of Guangzhou, it was what I imagined it to be if not more. The streets were filled with skyscrapers, luxury cars and mega shopping centres. One day, my uncle decided to take me to the rural village my grandfather had grew-up in, just two hours away from the city. The visit unravelled to me a completely different side of China. A family with four young children had taken refuge in the small 18th-century home that my ancestors had built and resided in, but the wooden house was now in shambles and the family struggled to earn a living by selling peaches that grew on a single tree planted in the backyard. I was devastated and heartbroken. I did not expect to see such a stark contrast in the quality of living between the urban and rural areas.
Shortly after returning back home to Toronto from China, I was inspired to search for organizations that helped the rural poor in China. A few simple searches on Google lead me to discovering Wokai. Not only was I attracted to Wokai’s sustainable giving model of online microfinancing, I also liked how it used a grassroots method to grow its online user community through planting local chapters across the world. I immediately saw a large potential for a Toronto Chapter to be established. Toronto is home to a very large Chinese community with over 600,000 Chinese visible minorities and ranks second in Canada in terms of monetary donations given each year. Upon receiving approval and encouraging remarks from Wokai’s CEO Casey Wilson to build Canada’s first Wokai Chapter, I set-out to search for other members interested to steer the establishment of the chapter with me. The timing played out so wonderfully because Toronto hosted its first annual Microfinance Conference and it was there that I met other young professionals who were also interested in growing microfinance in China. I told them about Wokai and within a few weeks, we had a team of seven enthusiastic individuals for our Toronto Chapter Leadership Team. We organized our first launch event this year in March and we had over fifty attendees come out to our cocktail event. Since then, we began to receive emails from people who wanted to volunteer and become Chapter Reps.
As our chapter begins to grow, we are planning more exciting initiatives and events to further Wokai’s presence in Toronto. We recently established a collaborative partnership with Young Bay Street Professionals, a large network of working professionals who seek to give back to the community through philanthropy. We are also planning the launch of a Wokai Campus Ambassador program, to help spread awareness of microfinance and the need for it in China through high schools, university and college campuses. Finally, we are looking to host a Summer Patio and a Wokai Amazing Race event over the next few months.
I once read in Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point” that a key determinant for something to “tip” in wide-scale popularity is the Stickiness Factor – how compelling an idea or concept is to stick in one’s mind. With Wokai’s unique mission of alleviating poverty in China through its P2P online microfinancing platform, I truly believe that Wokai will continue to grow its online community of microloan contributors. Without a doubt, microfinance is a highly sustainable means to eradicate global poverty, a method which is built upon one simple belief: small donations can make a great impact on the lives of the poor, through harnessing the power of chapter networks and a virtual global community.
Presentation to Introduce Wokai at the Toronto Chapter Launch – March 18, 2010
Toronto Chapter Leadership Team
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