An Open Letter to Mr. Zhang Yiming, Founder of ByteDance (TikTok/Douyin)

December 6, 2025

The children of rural China — pictured at the recent Ireland Speech Festival in November 2025 at the I Love Learning Education Centre, Liaoning Province.

Letter Submitted by Pat McCarthy, Founder of the I Love Learning Education Centre (Liaoning, China)

Dear Mr. Zhang Yiming,

My name is Pat McCarthy, an Irishman in China, and for more than twelve years I have lived and worked in rural China, doing everything I can to give children here a chance at a brighter, more hopeful future. Our small, non-profit I Love Learning Education Centre has supported over 25,000 rural children, many of whom come from families with extremely limited financial resources and very few educational opportunities.

These children carry stories that stay with you.

Some walk from distant villages in the freezing winter just to attend a single lesson.
Some study by the dim light of a shared lamp because their families cannot afford brighter bulbs. Some come from homes where every yuan is counted carefully — where a notebook is a luxury, and new shoes for winter are uncertain.

And among them are children who face additional hurdles — those with learning difficulties, developmental delays, or mild mental disabilities who require extra patience, extra encouragement, and extra love.

Yet despite everything, they show up smiling.

They come with sincerity.
They come with dreams.
They come with hopes that deserve to be heard.

One of the most transformative things we can offer them — perhaps the most life-changing — is English-language instruction.

For urban students, English may be another subject.
But for rural and disadvantaged children, English becomes:

a doorway to the wider world
a spark that ignites confidence
a tool for future opportunities
a way to see themselves differently
proof that they can learn what once seemed impossible

I have seen this transformation with my own eyes.

A quiet boy once told me after reading his first full English sentence:
“Teacher, I didn’t know I could do something like this. I thought English was only for smart kids.”

A little girl who often struggled with learning slowly whispered one day:
“When I say new English words, I feel brave inside.”

Another student, shy and from a very poor background, said to me after class:
“I want to study hard so I can help my family one day… maybe English will help me go somewhere.”

These moments are not small.
They are life-changing.
They reshape a child’s sense of who they are and who they can become.

But our ability to create these moments is fragile.
We operate with very limited financial resources.
We do not have large backers or guaranteed funding.
We welcome every child regardless of their family’s income, and because of that, we are constantly struggling to maintain materials, technology, and basic operations.

This year, we launched a GlobalGiving campaign with a clear and heartfelt goal:
to support 1,000 rural Chinese children — including the poorest, the left-behind, and those with learning challenges — with English-language instruction, digital learning tools, and a safe, caring place to grow after school.

These children do not ask for much.
They ask for a chance:

A chance to read their first book.
A chance to learn a new word.
A chance to believe in themselves.
A chance to imagine a future beyond the fields and villages they were born into.

Your work has opened doors for millions of people worldwide. You have made knowledge accessible and empowered individuals through the technology you helped create. And I cannot help but think of the children here — children who dream quietly, humbly — and how transformative it would be if someone with your vision and compassion chose to stand behind their hopes.

If this message resonates with you, it would be an honour to share our project plan, our transparent reporting system, and the long-term impact your support could create.

For your reference, our GlobalGiving campaign can be found here:
👉 https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/give-1000-rural-children-an-english-education/
This page explains exactly how we plan to support 1,000 rural children and ensure every contribution directly changes young lives.

With sincere respect and heartfelt gratitude,

Pat McCarthy
Founder & Director, I Love Learning Education Centre
Chairman, Ireland Sino Institute
Liaoning Province, China