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A Celebration Worth Hearing: DCB Meets iHearU
On 21 January, Junior School students at Dulwich College Beijing (DCB) welcomed 11 children from the iHearU Foundation to join our Chinese New Year festivities. This visit, initiated by the iHearU Young Ambassador Programme (iHearU YAP) representatives, was a meaningful step in this collaboration with iHearU which aims to foster inclusivity and share the joy of celebration and connection.
What is iHearU?
The iHearU Foundation is a non-profit organisation supporting children with hearing impairments through funding, rehabilitation, and reintegration into society.Mr Ji Xiaojun, Vice Chairman of iHearU and an award-winning TV personality best known for being the announcer for the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics, also joined us during the children’s visit where he shared the foundation’s story. "In 2012, around 30 famous TV hosts started the iHearU foundation. Then one of the founders, Wang Juan, left her job to run it full-time. We decided to start a charity for children with hearing impairments because, in our roles, many people listen to us, but these children – who live in a world of silence – don’t get that opportunity.”
He pointed out that, of the nearly 30 million people in China with hearing impairments, around 200,000 of them are children. Many require cochlear implants, which are most effective when received before the age of seven, with a 90 percent success rate. However, these implants, ranging between 100,000 - 300,000RMB – often becomes a significant financial burden for many middle-class families, especially those with multiple children facing the same challenge, sometimes pushing them below the poverty line.
And so iHearU’s mission extends beyond helping the children – it also supports the families.
And so iHearU’s mission extends beyond helping the children – it also supports the families.
Building Bridges Through Sound and Connection
Their first step was to raise awareness. Over the Christmas break, they invited twelve Junior School students to visit the iHearU Centre, engage in activities, and better understand the challenges and realities the children faced on a daily basis.
This led to the creation of DCB’s iHearU Young Ambassadors Programme (iHearU YAP). In partnership with the iHearU Charity Fund, iHearU YAP aims to support the charity in creating opportunities for children with hearing impairments and help nurture confidence to participate in community events while also raising awareness of the challenges they face.
Weeks later, they secured funding from the FoD Enrichment Fund, funds raised by our parent community, Friends of Dulwich, to support student groups and their special projects to help enrich and supplement students’ experiences at school.
This led to the creation of DCB’s iHearU Young Ambassadors Programme (iHearU YAP). In partnership with the iHearU Charity Fund, iHearU YAP aims to support the charity in creating opportunities for children with hearing impairments and help nurture confidence to participate in community events while also raising awareness of the challenges they face.
Weeks later, they secured funding from the FoD Enrichment Fund, funds raised by our parent community, Friends of Dulwich, to support student groups and their special projects to help enrich and supplement students’ experiences at school.
Chinese New Year at DCB
During their Chinese New Year assembly, Max and Daniel took to the stage to share their journey and inspire their schoolmates to get involved. On this special day, Year 4 buddies partnered with our young guests from the foundation to take part in the festivities, fostering an immersive and warm environment where they played and connected.
Active Citizenship is a core pillar of global citizenship at DCB. Here, we believe that meaningful community engagement empowers our students to become compassionate and responsible members of society, embodying our mission Live Worldwise. Ms Jacinth Gurdon, our Head of Junior School, shared how encouraging it is to see students transition from learning about active citizenship to taking the initiative in pursuing causes close to their hearts. “While we may not know exactly where this journey will lead, as educators, we are here to support and guide them in developing these skills further,” she added. “Our goal is to ensure that this partnership is not just a one-time event with iHearU, but a lasting collaboration with community partners. We are proud to let the students take the lead, as they exemplify our Dulwich Values—being open-minded, kind, and respectful—through their actions.”
Xiaoxiao Qin, our Director of GR and Public Affairs, added: “While adults naturally play a role in this initiative, our students are encouraged to be part of the process and take ownership – thinking of solutions, leading initiatives and driving real change.”
Looking Ahead
Upcoming opportunities for in-person engagement between DCB students and the iHearU community include Performance Poetry and a collaborative painting session, where participants will create art projects to be sold at our annual Founder’s Day to support fundraising efforts.Reflecting on this collaboration, Mr Ji Xiaojun expressed his gratitude: “We want to highlight the challenges these children face, but also the hope that comes when these children can finally hear again. It’s lonely in a world without sound, where you can’t hear people talk, you can’t hear music – you won’t even be able to dance. But we don’t want to isolate them; we want them to know that they’re one of us, and they’re part of a community.”
As our students Max and Daniel said during their presentation, “iHearU YAP is a win-win collaboration benefiting both DCB and children with hearing impairment and their community, where we can learn from each other. We are committed to building the iHearU Young Ambassador Programme into a long-standing DCB tradition that future students and members of the DCB community can benefit from and be proud of.”
Photos: iHearU Charity
Photos: iHearU Charity
