Three volunteers from Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, set off on Thursday for one- week service in Florida of the United States.

An Wei, another member of the team, has arrived in the United States earlier.

The volunteers are well experienced in education and will mainly help some kids with their school study in Collier County.

Wang Yiqiang, a 63-year-old retired teacher, said he was quite excited about the mission. "I am very happy because I can help those kids on another continent," he said.

Along with Wang, Nan Guoqing and Zhang Ankun flew to the United States on Thursday. They went on their own expenses.

The four-member team was the first of its kind dispatched by Shaanxi Translator Association (TSA) under cooperation with the Global Volunteers of the United States, a non-profit organization established in 1984.

TSA secretary general Ma Ke said that the mission was also a kind of payback since the Global Volunteers had sent 111 teams to the province since 1996.

The four teachers would contribute to strengthening the friendship between the two nations, Ma said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2005)