Yun's Introduction

Hello, my name is Yun Gong. I migrated to New York from
China ten years ago with my family. Growing up in a rural area in Taishan,
Guangdong, I have both experienced and observed poverty. Imagine a small
village where young girls hike up mountains to streams to help their parents
wash their clothes since the parents are too busy farming and children walk a
few thousand kilometers every day to get to school, that's where I lived.
Therefore, the issue of poverty is very personal to me. When I returned to
China this past summer to visit my grandparents, the first thing I noticed was
the village's development over these past years thanks to technology. Many of
the dirt roads are now paved, there are wind mills on almost every mountain
top, and many had cell phones. When I was little, the whole village had only
two telephones, so imagine my surprise. Call me selfish, but I am mostly
interested in learning about these issues because they have affected me
personally. As for international development, I am interested in learning about
how other countries deal with the issues of poverty and steps they take to
advance.