Yangqu County
Encyclopedia
Yangqu County is a county of Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....

, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. It is under the administration of Taiyuan
Taiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...

city.

History

In 1920, Peder Torjesen, a Norwegian missionary, went to Yangqu County in Shanxi Province and established various social and community services as part of his ministry. In 1989 the Shanxi provincial government invited Torjesen’s descendants, who had since emigrated to the United States, to return to Shanxi and resume this charitable work. In response, the Torjesen family and their friends established Shanxi Evergreen Services. (‘Evergreen’ is a reference to the Chinese name that Torjesen used, 叶永青). The organisation has since grown steadily.

Work has included long-term training programmes for local health professionals in family medicine and maternal and child health. A ‘Samaritan Fund’ covers the costs of essential medical treatment for impoverished people in Yangqu County.

SES provides scholarships for children from poor families to remain in school, and has established a community centre that includes a library and computer equipment. Various activities for local children take place at the centre, which also oversees a mobile library service that lends reading materials to rural schools.

An Evergreen Agricultural Training and Demonstration Centre facilitates training in appropriate agricultural technologies, provides assistance in marketing produce, and helps farmers to form cooperatives and technical associations that improve productivity. New, low-cost biogas digester technology is now being tested, for incorporation into agricultural development projects.

Other ongoing projects include English language training for people with limited access to foreign teachers – such as health workers in urban hospitals, rural middle school teachers; assistance to Chinese and international businesses and organizations looking to bring foreign investment to Shanxi, and facilitation of foreign experts and cultural exchanges in military, publishing, academic, religious and economic sectors.
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