The JOBB Vocational Empowerment Public Welfare Project has entered the second round of selection
The new enrollment for the JOBB project is in full swing!
The JOBB (Jeunesse of Bakers & Barista) project, under the Shanghai Reyfeng Urban Public Welfare Development Center and co-initiated with the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation, aims to provide free, practical, and high-value vocational training to young people aged 17 to 23 for a period of 4 to 6 months. The training is supplemented with internship opportunities in related enterprises and job recommendations after completion. JOBB stands for Jeunesse of Bakers & Barista (Youth Bakers), and it also resonates with the word "job," symbolizing our mission to help young people in difficult situations find direction in life, start career planning, and become self-reliant.
Adhering to the principle of "transparent enrollment," the JOBB project maintains open recruitment channels and transparent admission standards. Following the launch of the 2024 enrollment, we have received strong support from all sectors of society. Notably, the Kashgar Prefecture Command of the Shanghai counterpart support for Xinjiang has recommended four Uyghur students from four counties: Shache, Zepu, Yecheng, and Bachu.
These four students come from Yecheng County and Zepu County in Kashgar Prefecture, Xinjiang. Among them are graduates of tourism management and students who studied Chinese cuisine at vocational schools after graduating from junior high. They all have backgrounds related to baking and cooking and cherish this opportunity.
Kashgar, located in the southwestern part of Xinjiang, China, at an average altitude of 1,289 meters, has a population of 4.62 million. It is a region where multiple ethnic groups, including Uyghurs, Han, Tajiks, and Hui, live together. With over 2,100 years of history, Kashgar was an important hub on the ancient Silk Road. It is known for its unique location, rich history, diverse culture, abundant resources, and strong ethnic characteristics, making it a representative city in Xinjiang.
In previous baking public welfare projects operated by Reyfeng, we also supported students from ethnic minority areas, such as the Lisu from Diqing Prefecture in Yunnan Province and the Tibetan children from Guinan County in Qinghai Province. The new JOBB project will not solely use economic hardship as the admission criterion but will focus on the growth of young people, skill acquisition, and entrepreneurial encouragement. We aim to provide substantial help and gradually expand our target group to include all those in need of reemployment.
The program "Voice of Aid," jointly produced by the Shanghai Municipal Cooperation Exchange Office and Shanghai People's Radio, has also featured our project. In an interview with "Voice of Aid," Wang Jiajia, the chairwoman of Ruifeng Public Welfare, mentioned that during her recruitment visits to Yunnan and other places, she found that many local left-behind youths often immerse themselves in virtual worlds and video games to compensate for the lack of comfort and encouragement in the real world. She believes that encouraging these young people to master a skill can help them break free from their virtual obsessions and establish a positive connection with the real world, benefiting themselves, their families, and local society.
Huang Jinquan, a 22-year-old from Diqing, Yunnan, left his mountain home last year to join the JOBB project in Shanghai to study Western-style baking. In an interview with "Voice of Aid," he said, "I wake up at 2:30 a.m., start work at 3:00 a.m., and have to deliver goods by 6:30 a.m. every day, making a lot of bread. Initially, I wasn't very good at communicating and felt very nervous, but through systematic learning, I not only mastered baking skills but also became more willing to integrate into society and communicate with others."
Next, we will hold a written test on May 13 and interviews on May 15. Both the written test and the interview will be conducted remotely. Candidates need to join the "Ruifeng Vocational Empowerment JOBB Special Fund Exam Group" and turn on the front camera of their mobile phones during the written test. The exam duration is one hour. Students who pass the written test will enter the interview stage. On May 26, Wang Jiajia, the chairwoman of Ruifeng Public Welfare, will personally visit Xinjiang to conduct field inspections, visit the families of the registered students, and understand their real situations.
Compliance, transparency, and credibility are the cornerstones of public welfare organizations. Ruifeng Public Welfare is committed to inclusive public welfare and technological empowerment, hoping to inject new vitality into China's public welfare sector and bring new concepts and trends to public welfare.
Stay tuned!