The Chinese New Year Celebration, co-sponsored by the Chinese Association of West Michigan and Grand Valley State University, takes place 7 p.m.-midnight on February 3 at the Eberhard Center, downtown Grand Rapids.
Zhu and Huang, professors at the East China University of Science and Technology, made their first trip to the United States last summer to attend GVSU's School of Social Work. Their goal is to earn their master's degrees in Social Work at Grand Valley, and then return home later this year to begin a social work program at East China University ¿ the first such curriculum in the six surrounding provinces, they said.
Getting the degree is very important, but it's not why we're here, said Huang, 38. The reason [we're here] is to develop a social work program in China. She admitted that it will be a challenge to apply what they learn here to China's social system. This is American social work, she said. We need to work with Chinese clients.
We need to connect with government and other organizations and communities, explained Zhu, 36. Both women already have master's degrees in other subjects.
Social work has just begun to gain ground in communist countries in the last 5-8 years, said Rodney Mulder, dean of GVSU's School of Social Work. As China moves toward a market economy, functions like social work, which were once the domain of the government, are now being performed by the community. There are now, in China, close to 25 universities that are starting schools of social work, Mulder said.
Zhu and Huang's attendance at GVSU is part of an exchange program between Grand Valley and the East China University of Science and Technology, initiated by President Arend Lubbers in a trip to Shanghai in 1998. Since then, GVSU Social Work faculty have made a half dozen trips to Shanghai to give workshops and seminars.
Besides a full class schedule, Zhu works at the Child and Family Resource Council in Grand Rapids, and Huang at Bethany Christian Services. They are staying at the home of a friend in downtown Grand Rapids.
The women have much more than career and country to return to in fall: both have husbands and young children, ages 6 and 8, waiting for them in Shanghai.
