To Mountains Far Away China Close Up

At the University of Sichuan in southwest China,

it's the start of the new academic year.

But for these students, this year will be different,

in ways they can't even imagine.

China is campaigning to reduce poverty

in its western regions,

and they've signed up to work as volunteers

in the remote mountains of Sichuan.

AIRPORT HUBBUB

For young people, who rarely travel far from home,

the year ahead promises to be a life-changing experience.

TANNOY ANNOUNCEMENT

3,000 metres up,

Daliangshan - The Great Cool Mountains.

They're home to one of China's largest

and most intriguing ethnic minorities -

the Yi people.

There are 6 million Yi

and the most isolated community lives in these mountains.

This is the fourth year that Sichuan University

has sent volunteers into the area.

The boys will work as assistant teachers

in one of the local schools.

The girls will join the office of the Help The Poor scheme.

CAR HORN TOOTS

TRADITIONAL CHINESE MUSIC

Day one - a traditional welcome at the primary school

where the boys will be teaching.

The Yi have links with Tibet and their culture is quite different

from that of the Han Chinese, the dominant racial group in China.

CHILDREN SING

Spending a year here will give the students an understanding of life

among people very different from themselves.

In turn, they bring knowledge and expertise from the outside world.

RAIN PATTERS

The Yi may be isolated,

but the outside world is closer than it's ever been.

A brand-new road, 150 kilometres of it,

has just been completed,

providing a long-awaited link with the valley below.

Change is now inevitable.

China's wild west is being opened up.

Improving education is a major line of attack

in China's drive to reduce poverty.

The goal is to provide every child with nine years of schooling.

WHISTLE BLOWS SHARPLY

CHILDREN CHATTER

Today will be a tough test for the new volunteers.

They've had some teaching practice

as part of their preparation for coming,

but now it's for real.

SHE ADDRESSES CLASS IN CHINESE

HE SPEAKS MANDARIN

The Yi speak their own language

and much of their learning happens in Yi.

Huang Song's task is to teach Mandarin -

China's official language.

Without it, the children's access to Chinese culture

and everything it offers, will be limited.

For some, it's the first time

they've heard Mandarin spoken correctly, and it's a challenge.

Next door, Rong Yi is teaching something even more foreign -

hygiene and health care.

Rong Yi has no visual materials to help him.

THE CHILDREN SING ALONG

Books are not the only thing that schools in this region are short of.

The youngest children often have to do without desks,

making teaching and learning anything at all even more difficult.

In all the local schools, funding is a huge problem.

The smallest schools have to rely on charity to keep going.

The volunteers have bought gifts

from Sichuan University's sponsorship scheme.

In China, education isn't free.

And with large families, the sums mount up.

Enough to stop parents sending their kids to school.

Equipment for sports and games is the ultimate luxury.

The drive to get children into primary school is starting to work.

Secondary schooling is a different story.

As children get older, their parents expect them to help out.

And they argue, what's the point of education anyway?

Hunag Song finds such attitudes hard to understand.

14-year-old Huhe is the only child

in his family who's gone on to secondary school.

Huhe's brother went to primary school, but now that's it.

His job is to graze the family's buffalo.

Huhe's family grow just enough to feed themselves and their animals.

Their only cash income comes from occasionally selling a pig.

Like many village girls,

Huhe's sister hasn't been to school at all and speaks no Mandarin.

While villagers struggle for funds,

development in the county town seems unstoppable.

The main streets have been ripped up

to be replaced with concrete and tarmac.

There's no shortage of government investment or developers here.

Hotels, offices and shopping malls are rising out of the rubble.

"Think big" is the slogan.

In five years' time, this town will have changed out of all recognition.

It's market day,

and the students have come to town to stock up on food.

Fresh vegetables are plentiful now,

but in the depths of winter they'll be hard to get and expensive.

They're on a tight budget.

Back at their digs in the village,

the boys are trying to make the best of things.

They finally managed to get some cooking appliances,

but now the electrics are playing up.

They're living in two rooms,

and there's no washroom or toilet except for the public ones outside.

The students' digs may be basic,

but luxury compared with where their pupils live.

If Rong Yi is to teach children hygiene, he needs to see for himself

what people are up against.

This village is better than many.

There's running water from communal taps.

There are even communal toilets.

Drainage is poor, though,

and animals roam freely, often spreading disease.

Medical help is almost non-existent and going to hospital too expensive.

This boy has recently lost two close relatives

through lack of health care.

There are long months ahead in which to try and achieve their ideals.

Though the students see the need for change, they are also

discovering aspects of life which are missing back in the city.

Not least the genuine sense of community.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd