In keeping with its founder Pearl S. Buck’s lifelong mission to foster cross-cultural understanding and bridge the cultural gap specifically between the East and the West, Pearl S. Buck International has entered into an agreement with representatives of entities dedicated to furthering U.S. and Chinese cultural exchanges.
Pearl S. Buck International (PSBI) recently met with delegates from People-to-People Exchange (PPX) of San Francisco, California, and the governments of Lushan City and Jiangxi Province, China.
The groups visited the PSBI’s Pennsylvania headquarters to sign a memorandum of agreement for a museum and cultural exchange program, among the three groups.
During their visit, the guests were treated by the head curators to a tour of the Pearl S. Buck House National Historic Landmark Museum, as well as to the limited 60th anniversary exhibit, “Hidden Gems: Fashioning A Legacy.”
Discussions among the group include a launching ceremony for a PSBI educational sponsorship program for students attending The Lushan School, as well as other cross-cultural programs involving the school.
The visit also yielded a memorandum of agreement to establish an ideas exchange among the three institutions, focused on helping the underserved children in the schools and communities of Jiangxi Province. Through an educational exchange and exhibit, which aims to expand mutual understanding between the people of China and U.S. citizens by bringing educational support to elementary, middle, and high school students in Jiangxi, PSBI’s child sponsorship program will also provide nutritional, educational, health, livelihood, and psycho-social support to underserved populations.In addition to serving marginalized and impoverished children, families, and communities throughout Asia, Pearl S. Buck International currently works in China serving underprivileged students attending The Chongshi Girls’ School. Both Chongshi and Lushan boast a personal connection with Pearl Buck who – as an American – spent half her life living in China, was a student at The Chongshi Girl’s School and taught there as an adult. Pearl Buck also spent nearly every summer in Lushan escaping the torrid summer heat and tropical diseases prevalent in the Yangtze River Valley.
“I am excited for Pearl S. Buck International to be working in a place that had such significance in Pearl Buck’s life,” noted Stephanie Saveriano, international programs director for PSBI. “This place brought so much joy to Ms. Buck while she lived in China. To continue her legacy by helping children who live there today is an honor.”
Steve Harnsberger, founder of PPX and catalyst for the three-way partnership pointed out, “The Pearl Buck Museum partnership between the U.S. and China is proposed by a group of Americans building a bridge of friendship and peace to China. In this new exhibit, PSBI and PPX are raising up the single most important voice, cultural ambassador and teacher of understanding between America and China, Pearl S Buck. It is the goal of this effort – some 50 years after her passing – to fulfill Pearl Buck’s final wish to return to China, to bring her home to Lushan. ‘The Pearl Buck Coming Home to China Exhibit’ reminds us of our 150 years of friendship between the people of the U.S. and the people of China.”
Additionally, PSBI and the PPX initiated a new partnership and plan to stage a 2025 “Pearl Buck Coming Home to Lushan” cultural exchange exhibit with the Lushan Museum next year, and hopes to expand it to Zhenjiang City Pearl Buck Museum as well as other cities in China, yet to be determined.
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