Scholarship student from CPDOC tells his experience in China

The student of economics of EPGE, João Vitor Osborne, participated in the scholarship program offered by CPDOC, the Global Internship Program (GIB) - conducted by the School of Social Development and Public Policy (SSDPP), from the Beijing Normal University.  From July 2 to 26, João had the opportunity to get to know both sides of China: a country with a high degree of economic development, but with many social problems. The program was held in two stages - during the first four days the scholarship students attended lessons in Beijing about the current economic and social development of China. In the last week, they conducted a field work in the city of Tianshui, located in the Gansu Province.  João explains that the research was done through interviews with questions formulated by the scholarship students.My group investigated about the different personal perspectives of economic development between different generations: do the young people from the rural community of Tianshui really wish to migrate to big cities like Beijing and Shanghai? What types of jobs do they really seek when they migrate? What are the new ambitions when it comes to education? Do they intend to enter college or the job market as soon as possible? And how attached to its land is the older generation?- These were some of the issues he raised to the locals.  Certain that the experience was enriching for his personal and professional life, João highlights the program model, which ensures living the reality of the country. The knowledge gained was beyond the theory: the almost daily interaction with the locals allowed us to understand in detail, from unique and personal perspectives, the limits of a more economical than social development. The entire SSDPP team contributed, so that we had a great stay both in Beijing and in Tianshui, providing us all the necessary assistance regarding the conduct and methodology of the field research.  The objective of the Global Internship Program was to make a research in a rural community on one of the subjects studied by scholarship students in the capital.