Guangdong

This is the high school in Guangdong.

Below are photos and updates of the girls we have sponsored in this school.



GD 102 ~ Feng

Feng means phoenix in Chinese. Feng’s favorite thing in her village is the beautiful river there. In her letter, she said that she likes to daydream. She says that she dreams about going to the most prestigious college and having a good life. She also dreams of giving her family a good life as well. When she graduates, she wants to work in an office but dreams of traveling all over the world. She would begin by visiting Vienna and going to a concert because she heard that they make beautiful music there.


GD 0104 ~ Jiamin

Jiamin told us that she wants to be a physics teacher. After school, Jiamin wants to stay in touch with her classmates even though she lives an hour away from the school. She loves school but misses the mountains in her village. She said that she enjoys hiking alone in the mountains. Jiamin seems very athletic and when we asked her if that was true, she laughed and said that she loves sports, especially basketball and badminton.


GD 0105 ~ Huifang

Huifang seems very confident and has an easy smile but, at the same time, she is very soft spoken. She answered some of the questions in her sponsor's letter. Yes, she does know about amusement parks. She said that the weather in Guangdong is nice. This is the best time of the year (November) because it is not too hot and not too cold. Even in the winter, it never snows there.
She lives more than an hour away from school but did have a chance to go home on the bus this weekend. She loves her village because the people in her neighborhood are so nice.

In her letter, she asked her sponsors if they could help her with her English. We thought her English was very good but she giggled and shook her head when we told her that. She said that she wants to be a teacher when she graduates. We asked if she wanted to be an English teacher and she giggled again and said, “Maybe.” Her dream is to have adventures especially under the sea. She said that she would love to scuba dive some day.


GD 0106 ~ Jianyu

Jianyu is very sweet and a little bashful. She said that her name means “healthy and wealthy”. Her father gave her that name because he wanted her to have a good life. She said that she loves to be near the water. She doesn’t live very far away from school but she misses her mother very much.

Jianyu wants to be a novelist who writes nonfiction novels. She wants the messages in her books to inspire people around the world to help poor people. She wants her sponsors to know that she also loves basketball and loves to watch the MBA. (Jianyu’s sponsors had a basketball tournament to raise money for her scholarship.)



GD 0107 Mintao

"Min" means agile and "Tao" means peach. Mintao’s mother died and her father works as a security guard. She has five brothers and sisters but Mintao says with a big laugh, “They are not as smart as I am.” Her dream is to someday see the cherry blossoms in Japan. Mintao is very sweet and extremely outgoing. She loves to do origami and is very good at it.





GD 108 ~ Ruihua

Ruihua is a shy and quiet girl. She said that she hasn’t decided what she wants to do for work yet but she loves to study English. She finally smiled when we asked her about her dreams. Ruihua said that her biggest dream would be to come to the United States to visit her sponsor Izzy! Izzy has truly changed her life.

GD 0109 ~ Lishan

Lishan smiled the whole time we spoke to her. She was wearing a beautiful jade necklace that her mother gave to her. Lishan wants to be a brain surgeon but her parents want her to be a teacher. We told her that she should always respect her parents but in this case, she should follow her dreams. She just giggled and said she doesn’t know what she will do.

She said her village isn’t special but it is surrounded by beautiful mountains. This summer she went to work in a factory about four hours from her home. She made Chinese medicine there. She joked that that is probably why she wants to be a doctor.

GD 0110 ~ Xiazhi

This is a photo of Xiazhi and her sponsor Allison. Allison raised the tuition money herself by selling lemonade and brownies in front of her house.

Xiazhi has one younger brother and one younger sister. Her father works in factories and moves from place to place looking for work. Her mother stays home and tends to the tangerine bushes. The bushes are young so the tangerines are small this year. Xiazhi says that once the bushes are mature, her family will be able to get a better price for their harvest.

Xiazhi wants to be a translator someday but she was a little self conscious and didn’t want to practice her English with us. We told her that her English had to be better than our Chinese. She just giggled.

GD 0111 ~ Xiaolin

Xiaolin was very excited to receive a picture and a letter from her sponsors. She says that she loves school but misses her hometown. Her favorite subject is English. She hopes that someday her sponsors can come visit her and help her improve it. She wrote to her sponsors saying, “I really thank you for you giving me the chance to go back to school. You gave me this life changing opportunity! Thanks! I am proud to know you!”

GD 0112 ~ Yanfeng

Yanfeng seems to be a very sweet girl. She was thrilled to have a photo of her sponsors. In her letter she wrote, “My goal is to become a successful person and to contribute to society. In the future, if I have the resources, I will help those in need just like you helped me. The world is a better place because of your loving hearts. Let me thank you again from the bottom of my heart! Thank you for letting me realize my dream to go to high school.” Her sponsors wrote back to us and said, “Please let Yanfeng know that we think of her often. We have her letter posted on our family bulletin board and the kids talk about her like she lives with us ~ very cute.”

GD 113 ~ Zhaomei

Zhaomei says that her hometown is very beautiful. Her family grows tangerines and rice. Her hometown is far from school so she only goes home once a month. She is doing well in school and hopes to become a teacher in the future. In her letter Zhaomei wrote, “This summer, I went out to the city to work in a factory so I could help my family. Working in the factory made me realize that if I don’t go to school now, I will end up miserable working in the factory. So I am really eager to have the opportunity to continue my education. I really appreciate your help.”

GD 114 ~ Miaoqing

Miaoqing hopes to become a lawyer someday. In her letter to her sponsor, she wrote, "After taking the high school entrance exam, I went to Zhongshan to work in a factory. On Aug 15th, I received a call from my father and he told me that I was admitted to the best school in the county. I was very happy about that but my mother said that they could not send me to school because they didn’t have enough money. I was so sad. I knew what it was like working in a factory. Now, I am really grateful for your help. I will cherish this opportunity."

GD 115 ~ Jinni

Jinni loves to play sports especially basketball. She says that she is among the best athletes in her school maybe even in the whole country.
When she first came to this school, Jinni wanted to become a coach. Now, she wants a job in environmental protection. She seems very confident that she will reach her goals.

GD 0116 ~ Haimei

Haimei said that “Hai” means sea and “Mei” means flower. Haimei doesn’t know for sure what she wants to do for work yet but will probably be a social worker. Her dream is to travel around the world someday beginning in Venice. For now, she enjoys working in the fields and growing tangerines.

GD 0117 ~ Zhiling

Zhiling looks very different now. She cut her hair very short “because it is more convenient.” After she graduates, she wants to be an English teacher but she also wants to teach her students to be socially conscious. Zhiling’s father died when she was little. Her mother is a farmer and this summer she plans to help her mother on the farm.

Zhiling wrote, “Living in a poor household, I understood the importance of education at a young age. I wanted to go to school. I loved studying and I didn’t want to give up my dreams of a bright future because of family difficulties. Though there was little chance that I could continue my education, I believe it is very important to at least have a dream. To me, opportunities are so important that I cannot let even a single chance pass me by. Education can change our lives and a bright future is waiting for me.”

GD 0118 ~ Min

Min was not available the day we visited. She was competing at a sporting event.

GD 119 ~ Shuixia

She is exceptionally tall and seemed very sweet. Her English was very good. Shuixia said that she hopes to become a lawyer. She watches a TV show about a public defender and she said that that is the type of lawyer she would like to become.

Shuixia said that, " The holidays were splendid. When they first started, we had one month of hard labor on the farm but afterwards, I was able go some places to play with my friends and with my little sisters. You could say that it was my happy piece of heaven."

GD 0120 ~ Xiongping

Her name “Xiong” means “hero.” Xiongping wants to be a brain and heart doctor in Guangdong. She is very confident with her English and consistently wins awards for academic excellence. She is usually ranked first in her class. Of all the girls that we met, Xiongping has our vote for most likely to succeed!

Xiongping has four family members ~ a mother, father and one brother who is a year older. He wants to be in the army but he’s at home right now. Her family members are farmers that grow oranges. Xiongping’s dream is that she will be able to do the same thing that Moving Mountains does and be able to help people who need it.

GD 121 ~ Qianshan

Qianshan was not available on the day we visited.

GD 122 ~ Xiongxiang

Xiongxiang likes to sing out loud when no one is around. Her favorite classes are math, chemistry and physics. Her father wanted her to go to the city to work but when she was accepted into the best high school in her county, her father changed his mind. He let her register for school while he tried to find a way to borrow the money. Xiongxiang said that she was very surprised and deeply moved when she heard that she was sponsored by a woman from the United States.

GD 123 ~ Yantao

Yantao is one of the four girls sponsored by Rye Elementary School. (The other three follow.) Her favorite class is English and she loves listening to music. In her letter to the students at Rye Elementary School, she wrote, “During my summer vacation, I left my hometown to work in a factory. I learned a lot from that experience. Working in a factory is not an easy way to make money and earn a decent living. I will try my best in school and will make you proud.”

GD 124 ~ Meilu

Meilu was also sponsored by Rye Elementary School. She wrote, “I aim high in my life. I want to go to the top university and after that, I want to travel around the world. That’s my dream. If I accomplish my dream some day, you are the first ones I’d like to visit. Then, I can thank you in person.”

GD 125 ~ Qihong

Qihong was also sponsored by Rye Elementary School. Her favorite classes are Chinese, English and music. In her letter to the kids of Rye, Qihong wrote, “You can lose power and you can lose money but knowledge always remains as the most valuable treasure that we can ever possess.”

GD 126 ~ Liuchang

Liuchang hopes to become a doctor in the future. In her letter to the students at Rye Elementary School, Liuchang wrote, “Pursuing education is so important to me that I was overjoyed when I received my admission letter for this high school. Now, I can continue to learn. Without your help, things would be very different.”

GD 127 ~ Jieping

Jieping received a scholarship from a Brownie Troup in New Hampshire. Now, she dreams of going to a top university. She doesn’t know what she wants to do for work but her favorite class is physics. Jieping says that she is “determined to help children in poverty to continue their education.”

GD 128 ~ Haiyan

This is Haiyan. She is a very shy first year student. We were able to visit her home where they served us a delicious stuffed tofu soup. She lives with four siblings, her parents and her grandparents. She wrote, “When I learned that I was accepted into this high school, I was thrilled. I thought, ‘If you work hard, you will achieve your dreams. I didn't let my parents down...’ When I heard that I received this scholarship, I felt so lucky. I won't let you down. I know that you worked hard for this money.”

GD 129 ~ Jiemei

This past summer, Jiemei went to work in a factory in a town far from her home. By August, she learned that she was accepted into the best high school in her county. In September, she learned that a girl scout troop had provided a scholarship and made it possible for her to return to school. During our trip this Fall, we let Jiemei know that one of the girls in that troop was actually born in the city where Jiemei worked. Both girls were stunned by the coincidence!