Jon O'Brian, associate professor of history at Jamestown Community College, was featured in a recent newsletter published by the YMCA in Chengdu, China.
O'Brian, who also serves as director of the Jamestown Area YMCA's Camp Onyahsa during the summer, was invited by a counterpart at the Chengdu YMCA in Sichuan Province to present lectures at Southwest University for the Nationalities on campsite construction, the development and history of social work, and the history of the U.S. Progressive movement.
Chengdu YMCA representatives and O'Brian toured Bei-chuan, the county seat hit hardest in the 2008 earthquake, and visited several historical and cultural sites. O'Brian also explored the YMCA's schools and outreach efforts in Jintang, located in southwestern China.
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Children at play at an orphanage in Jintang, located in southwestern China.
As part of a collaboration between the Chengdu YMCA and JCC, a six-credit internship is being offered to JCC students at an orphanage in Jintang next spring. Two interns will be selected to lead activities in English, tutor in English, and give children the chance to interact informally with a native English speaker.