UK teacher aids migrant child education

As the director and founder of MCF, Boyle organizes volunteers to assist at schools for migrant children, where pupils often have little access to the variety of educational offerings available to many Beijing students. She arranges for native English speakers to give language lessons and has convinced professors from the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics and the University of Science Technology Beijing to donate time to teach at migrant schools. She has also organized donations to pay for much-needed health checkups for the students.

Boyle steps in when she sees a need, from fundraisers to classroom expertise, using her 20-plus years' experience in education as a teacher in the United Kingdom.

Boyle and her husband initially came to China not for charity but to visit their daughter, who was living and working in the country. Boyle took a yearlong sabbatical to travel the nation that had captivated her daughter.

In Beijing, Boyle soon came across a migrant school, set up to serve the children of migrant workers in the capital.

"I was really taken aback by the enthusiasm of the kids. They were so happy and they were so enthusiastic to learn, despite the fact that the resources and condition of the school wasn't anywhere close to what (I) was used to," Boyle says.

With her husband often away for work and her daughter happy and settled in her China life, Boyle realized helping at migrant schools is a good way to channel her energy.

"I wanted to give something back and this is how it started," she says.

She soon found a willing band of helpers through her personal networks, and just as her efforts were starting to bear fruit, the call came from the United Kingdom - her sabbatical was over and she had to return to work. She didn't want to go, but her employer declined her request for an extended leave or redundancy.