YMCA China

Dr. Peter explains the benefits of good health early in the century

In the early 1900s, Dr. William Wesley Peter traveled to Canton, China, to teach the people the hygiene and sanitation measures they could take themselves that would stop the spread of cholera, smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid and other diseases that plagued the Chinese population regularly.

Dr. Peter's efforts were sponsored by the YMCA, with help from the Chinese government. In a typical week, over 20,000 townspeople would attend his lectures, which included numerous stage props to dramatize his message.

This growing acceptance of health education paved the way in the 1920s for a national health campaign, created by the Chinese YMCA that virtually ended typhus. Health education has been just one facet of the YMCA's work in China, dating back to the 1890s when the first secretaries and their families came to China to establish independent YMCAs, managed by local residents.

Work began in urban centers and spread to the countryside. Chinese YMCAs began to offer skill development and youth leadership programs.  They also played a vital role in helping victims and families affected by the war in Manchuria and World War II.

Children at the China YMCA

Today, YMCA China is a thriving national movement and continues to impact lives daily.