Students from Liuqing Nippon Paint China Hope School show their paintings

On the morning of September 18, dozens of children danced excitedly to the popular music Little Apple in Liuqing Nippon Paint China Hope School in Liuqing village, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in Yunnan Province. Among the children were several adult volunteers of the Nippon Paint China's social welfare program "Color, Way of Love," who came to the remote school to share joy and happiness with the students there.

Nippon Paint China's two-day volunteer trip was part of the company's "Color, Way of Love" program. The program reaches out to hundreds of schools in poor and rural regions across the country by renovating schools, providing material and financial aids, and presenting exclusive classes to students.

Several heads of the company participated in this most recent volunteer activity, such as Wee Siew Kim, the group CEO of Nipsea Group which owns Nippon Paint China, Gladys Goh, the general manager of Nippon Paint Malaysia and Ariel Wu, the PR, corporate social responsibility and brand communications director of Nippon Paint China.

Liuqing Nippon Paint China Hope School was one of two primary schools that the volunteers visited during their trip, and has benefited greatly in the past from the "Color, Way of Love" program.

Nippon Paint China helped expand the school in 2010 from 1,000 to 4,000 square meters by constructing a new three-story building. The school's buildings were also decorated with colorful paintings to brighten up the new classrooms.

The reason behind Nippon Paint China's return this September was to bring to the 152 students in the school some exciting new classes such as the English training classes, and sport and art classes by the volunteers of the visiting group. Equipment including balls and color pens were also provided.

Also included in this trip was a visit to Guishan Primary School in Guishan village, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. Nippon Paint China renovated the school's interior and exterior walls with fresh coats of paint in 2010. Like the children in Liuqing Nippon Paint China Hope School, the students also had English classes, as well as sport and art classes presented by the volunteers.

Wee, who came alongside the voluntary group, was happy of what they have achieved since their first visit four years ago. "On this visit, it has a slightly different feeling because we have come back to a warm embrace, almost like going back to meet our friends. They know we are here for them," said Wee.

The "Color, Way of Love" program has already covered China's 23 provinces, two municipalities, and five autonomous regions since 2009, impacting more than one hundred cities and villages. The program has built 35 Nippon Paint China Hope Schools, as well as 200 art classrooms, and further helped another 200 hope schools.

Right now, "Color, Way of Love" has become a social interest platform, with about 23 collaborative partners from different fields contributing their specialties and resources.

Gladys Goh, the general manager of Nippon Paint Malaysia, said at the end of the volunteer trip that the "Color, Way of Love" program has raised the hopes of the children in these poor and remote areas. "In the future, we [Nippon Paint Malaysia] will also find a way to introduce this social interest project to Malaysia," said Goh.