Yilina's dream: Building a school in inner Mongolia

Several weeks ago a friend told me about a concert of Mongolian music that was coming to town. Since I am captivated by the world and its variety of cultures, traditions and mindsets, I ran to get tickets. The show turned out to be a blend of styles, from traditional Mongolian, to jazz, to percussion, to traditional Japanese. The pieces were performed by Mongolians, Chinese, Japanese and an American: a true blending of the world spirit in its many manifestations. But there was something else that made this concert very special. It was given for charity.

The singer, a Mongolian Chinese, was a student here in Japan. Her name was Yilina, which means “Winner” or “Someone who cannot be defeated”. And indeed, her name fits her determined, yet very idealistic personality.

Yilina’s paternal grandparents lived in a Pao, a traditional Mongolian home, that had no electricity or running water. So, they lived close to nature and learned to be self-sufficient. They were extremely musical, so their household was a constant festival of song and dance. Of course, Yilina’s father, too, had music in his genes, which he generously passed on to his daughter.

Yilina’s mother, on the other hand, had no musical ability whatsoever. This embarrassed her very much, so she was eager for her children to learn music. (The minorities in China can have more than one child. In Yilina’s family there are three children. Yilina is the oldest.) Yilina’s mother was a doctor, so in her way, too, she planted a very important seed into her daughter’s heart: the desire to live selflessly and to serve others.

In China counting a person’s age begins at birth, so as soon as a baby is born, it is age one. (Therefore when a Western child became age one, a Chinese child would turn two.) Counting in the Chinese way, when Yilina was seven, she left her family to attend school far away from her home. She had to travel two full days by train and then another eight hours by bus to get there. The first three years her father went with her, but after that she went alone. Her family selected that distant school because it was the very best in Inner Mongolia. Yilina went on to finish high school, specializing in music, and then to university, majoring in Music Education.

During her university years she gave concerts for children. That was when she saw poverty for the first time. The impact was so great that it changed her life forever. It broke open the seed that her mother had planted. As it started to sprout, Yilina vowed that she would do all she could to help those less fortunate than herself, especially children.

When she was in university Yilina also heard Japanese music for the first time. She fell in love with it. The gentleness of the shakuhachi and the delicacy of the koto captured her heart so deeply that she was determined to study in Japan. Soon she won a scholarship to study Music Education in northern Japan.

In that new country her dream would gain momentum to the point of becoming a reality. More than anything Yilina wanted to build a school for the poor children of her country. So, in April 2003 she gave her first charity concert. It was very well received, so since then she has given about thirty or forty small concerts a year.

Slowly her savings built up and with the unending help of her supportive father she was able to make connections with government officials and to hammer out a policy. The Mongolian government realized education was extremely important, so was eager to work with Yilina and her father.

Wisely Yilina realized her kindergarten and elementary school should be public, not private, so the government would provide the teachers, dormitory supervisors, and kitchen staff. She would provide the building and help out with equipment. With this arrangement the school could keep going, even if Yilina moved on to other things.

Yilina’s school had the very first kindergarten in Inner Mongolia. So, from the start parents were eager to send their kids there. On the first day there were 300 children, ranging from three (two in Western countries) to twelve (eleven). Now there are 400 pupils, 30 teachers, two dorm “mothers”, and two cooks. One hundred children board at the school.

Yilina said that the hassles involved in getting the school going were almost insurmountable, but true to her name, she persevered and has indeed become a “Winner”. She said that when she visited the school and saw the gorgeously happy faces of the children, she forgot all the problems involved and could only feel deep joy and satisfaction.

Yilina’s first grand success is only the beginning. She hopes to build another school, opening in 2008. And in the distant future she dreams of starting a children’s musical exchange program between Japan and Mongolia. In fact, the first stage of this program has already begun. Next year ten youngsters from Mongolia will come for a week on a cultural exchange. They are dance students, so will give several performances during their stay.

The tide flows both ways. Last year eighteen oldsters from Japan went to visit her school. So, young and old are involved in this budding cross-cultural dream.

Before she came to Japan, she knew so little about other countries, but now she wants to explore the world. She would like to go to Italy to study opera. But eventually Yilina sees herself as returning to her own country. She wants to further develop her cultural exchange program so children from Japan and Mongolia can widen their horizons. Also she loves making friends, and says that some day she wants an enormous house where people can meet, sing, dance, and celebrate life together.

Yilina is only thirty, but has already done many impressive things. She is making a successful, meaningful life not only for herself, but for many others as well. Her dream is indeed coming true, as the name of her school proves: “Yilina’s Dream Kindergarten and Elementary School, Inner Mongolia.”