According to announcements posted on its website, the Amity Foundation will is currently undergoing preparations to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The anniversary celebration has been slated for November 1 thru November 9 of this year. The celebrations will include current Amity project visitations and social development consultations in Nanjing, China.
From November 1 thru November 5, participants have the option of traveling to four provinces in China to visit ongoing projects that the Amity Foundation is involved in. The four provinces include Ningxia, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Sichuan. The consultation event is planned for the last half of the celebrations on November 6 thru November 9.
Currently, the Amity Foundation is involved with activities including medical health, integrated rural development, micro-finance projects, blindness prevention and special education, and basic education in various locations throughout the Ningxia Province.
The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region is located in northeastern China, and covers an area of 66,400 square km. The region is considered the cradle of Chinese civilization, with archeological records spanning a total of more than 30,000 years. The province is dotted with various archeological sites including royal mausoleums and cliff carvings in Mt. Helan. The region is home to 20 ethnic minorities, of which ethnic-Huis form a third of the province’s total population. This fact has led to the province’s nickname “Land of the Hui.”
In the Guizhou Province, the Amity Foundation has embarked on an ongoing campaign for education, integrated rural development, micro-finance, blindness prevention and special education, medical and health, and establishing church-run projects. Guizhou is a province located in southwest China. The province’s land mass is mainly rugged, with mountain ranges and hills dominating 97 percent of its total topography. The province is home to various ethnic minorities, most notably the Miao, Buyi, Dong, Yi, Gelao, Shui, Hui, Bai, Yao, Zhuang, Maonan, Mongol, Mulao, Qiang, and Man.
In the southwest province of Yunnan, the Amity Foundation has been involved with activities involving church-run projects, HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, integrated rural development, blindness prevention, and special education and relief rehabilitation for the blind and mentally challenged. Yunnan’s ethnic minorities including the Yi, Lisu, Bai, Hani, Zhuang, Dai, Miao, Hui, Lahu, Va, Naxi, Yao, Tibetan, Jingpos, Blang, Achang, Nu, Primi, Jino, De’ang, Mongol, and Derung. In ancient times, Yunnan was one of the stopping points for Silk Road Caravans. The province is famous for natural wonders including the Stone Forests.
In the Sichuan Province, the Amity Foundation is involved with charity activities including the integrated rural development project, church-run project, rural-education project, blindness prevention and special education, and social welfare. The province is home to the giant panda. Mountains and heavily wooded forests largely dominate the province. Sichuan is also home to ethnic minorities including Tibetan, Yi, Qiang, and Naxi. Known for its diverse cultural traditions, the province annually hosts lantern festival, the flower festival, horseracing, the torch festival, and mountain pilgrimages.
The Amity foundation was established in 1985 in the interests of promoting voluntary Christian charity work. Since then, the organization has been consistently active in charity work throughout much of China working mainly in social services, health and rural developments, and education.
More recently, the organization has been active in gathering and contributing funds to victims surviving the killer-tsunami that swept through South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Africa on December 26, 2004.
