YN 18 ~ Zhiqi
Zhi is the name of all the children born in her generation. In Chinese, Qi has the same sound as seven and ZhiQi is the seventh child in her family. She hopes to become a writer or a poet some day. Her favorite thing about her village is the marsh nearby. She loves to watch the black necked cranes there. Unfortunately she doesn’t get to go home often because her village is five hours away from the school.
This is the letter she wrote to her sponsor last year.
My name is Lu Zhiqi. I live in a small village in the northeastern part of Yunnan Province. It’s a poor village far from the city. I would like to thank you all for your help.
Every day when the sun rises, everything begins again from the start. Just like the motto of our class: Get up early to work hard for your ideals, you’ll be brave; Sleep in the late midnight to work hard for goals, you’ll be well prepared. Without your help, I might only be able to say hello to the morning sun in a wasteland or gaze into the setting sun hopelessly. I couldn’t be well prepared when opportunities came either. Because of your help, I can continue writing. I have a dream that one day I could be an accomplished scholar. I could express myself by creating beautiful articles. Without your help, I might be standing on the street of a busy city but have no hope and dreams. I thank you for giving me the chance to lead a different life.
Well, about my summer vacation, it was pretty good actually. I was born in countryside so I helped my parents to do some work in the fields. The potatoes here are gorgeous. They are big but the harvest is not in summer. In countryside, I can live close to nature and feel it. There are no trees in my hometown. It’s in a highland. We only have grassland here. There is green grass and there are flowers here in spring. It’s beautiful. There is a huge marsh near the lake next to our village. Hundreds of black-necked cranes fly to the marsh in winter. They are well protected in China. When the land is covered by thick white snow, the cranes will dance in the snow, warble in the sky or slide above the lake surface.
My home is very far from school. It takes 5 hours by bus, so I can only go home once every semester. For the rest of the time, I stay on campus. Life is also interesting in school. I play basketball with my friends. It’s interesting.
Women are born for beauty. I particularly love the flowers on our campus. I can see beauty in every flower. I can see the life when the flowers bloom or wilt. I like the flowers blooming quietly under the trees on campus. They are like smiles of girls like me, in the warm sunlight.
I think if I work hard and use my heart to feel everything, my studies, my life and my morals will all become better and better. So in the coming year, I will study hard and absorb as much knowledge as I can. At the beginning of a new year, I will do my best to achieve more. Of all my subjects, I love Chinese the most because Chinese is the most beautiful language in my heart. I can only express and release my thoughts and feelings through words. I could give up everything but not literature because I need it to journal about my life, my future and my dreams. I believe that my dreams are not far from me when I am full of enthusiasm.
Thank you.
Best wishes.
Lu Zhiqi
YN 22 ~ Zhou
Zhou Huamei’s name means “beautiful China.” She wants to teach history at her high school someday. Huamei seems very quiet and a little shy. Her village is near a beautiful mountain and has lots of trees. She is very grateful for her scholarship but she is also very excited to have the opportunity to write to her sponsor.
This is the letter she wrote to her sponsors last year.
My name is Zhou Huamei, a girl who lives in a small city in the northeastern region of Yunnan Province. I am writing to extend my great thanks for your kind and timely help because without it, I would never be able to go on with my high school life.
How time flies! Now a brand new semester has started. I’d like to share with you how I spent my summer vacation time. In the morning, I usually did housework while my parents went out doing their jobs. In the afternoon, at about 1 p.m. when the sun was beating straight down on our heads, my father and I had to go digging up potatoes. During the evening, I would help cook with my father. After a day’s work, I would have a little rest, watching some TV news and the day’s highlights of the Beijing Olympic Games. Then came my reading time which usually ended at 10 pm. Life continued like this for a month and then we were done with the potato harvest. Then came the corn harvesting season… Life is harsh, isn’t it? After months’ of exposure to sunlight, I looked like an African girl on orientation day at school.
Going to college has always been my dream because I know only after I succeed will my life be completely changed.
My hometown is at the foot of the Phoenix Mountain which is covered by evergreen trees. It serves as a natural gymnasium for many people.
It’s quite some distance from my home to my school. It takes almost an hour by bus. I make my trip home every weekend, talking with my parents about school life and visiting my grandma sometimes.
The new semester has begun. It’s my start as a junior in high school and my life’s turning point as well. I’ve made my study plan and I’m determined to work even harder to reach my dreams. It seems that I kind of over did it already. In fact, because I didn’t get enough rest, I have become short-sighted and I have to wear glasses…but that’s hardly an issue for me.
I wish you all the best!
Yours sincerely,
Zhou Huamei
These girls are all entering their second year of high school.
All of these girls had one year commitments from people sponsoring a student in honor of birthdays or other special occasions. YN means that they are from the Yunnan Province of China and GD means that they are from the Guangdong Province. Below are excerpts from their letters to their sponsors.
YN ~ 35 ~ Zhao Zejian
I am Zhao Zejian. I am from a small town in northeast Yunnan Province. I am very grateful for the financial aid provided by you and your family. Your help makes me understand the beauty of love. It helps me have a brighter future, helps me turn from crying to laughing and takes away discouraging thoughts and sadness.
Once when I was in middle school, I got an extremely low test score. This disappointed me and made me lose confidence in my studies. I once wanted to drop out. But the people around me, my parents, my classmates and my teachers encouraged me by telling me that failure can be conquered. What is “fearful’ and knocked-down is within me and I should never lose self-confidence. Their encouragement gave me strength and made me want to work hard.
After I got the acceptance letter from this high school, I once again let myself fall into despair because I knew that my family was too poor to pay for me to go to this school. I would never be able to realize my dream. I asked myself why my fate was so miserable, why success was so far from me… For a while, I just stayed at home in meditation, “School will begin soon; what should I do?” My parents insisted that I go to school. They told me, “No matter how poor we are; we will try our best to send you to school.”
Just after the beginning of school, the good news came to me. I was told that I could get a Moving Mountain’s scholarship. I suddenly felt that I was the luckiest person in the world. The world was not so dark anymore and I felt that bright love shone upon everything in the world. My heart is filled with gratitude. I told myself that I will model myself after you. I will learn to love others and make the world brighter and more harmonious.
Thank you again! I wish you a happy life and family and success!
Zhao Zhejian
Zhao Zhejian's annual family income is 600 RMB (approximately $88) a year
Favorite class: Math
Favorite sport: Basketball
Free time activities: Reading, listening to music
Summer holiday activities: Helping my parents with household work, doing holiday homework, mountain-climbing and travelling
Future goals: Working hard to enter an ideal university to become a doctor
YN ~ 34 ~ Guo Taizhou
Hello! I am the student you are helping in Yunnan. My name is Guo Taizhou. My home is in a small city in northeast Yunnan. I really thank you for helping me. At the time that the high school test results were sent to me, I was extremely excited. At that time, my mood was really golden.
My neighbor told me that this high school is very hard. It made me shiver, but I’m not afraid. I just decided to focus on my heart’s goal. I will focus on the end result. I believe that where there is a will there is a way.
I just began with a new teacher. I was in a new environment and had new problems. When I thought about taking my parents’ blood-and-sweat-earned money, it really affected me. I was really very heartbroken. I needed to overcome this difficulty. I knew I must somehow use my achievements to pay back my parents.
When I learned of your help, I was very happy. It will relieve a large burden on my parents. But now, it increases your burden. My heart thanks you. With your help with tuition, I have self-confidence and a new life to look forward to. From now on, I want to work hard toward my goals. In the future, I want to pay back my parents and pay back all the people that helped me. If there is a time when I have the ability, I would also like to give someone a helping hand like you have given me. I want to give warm sunshine to those people that I help. I truly wish that sunshine will illuminate all things and disperse any trace of chilliness. It can spread good fortune.
Thanks to you all!
I wish you good fortune, beauty and happiness every day.
Guo Taizhou
Annual family income 750 RMB (approximately $110 a year)
Favorite class: Politics and Chinese
Favorite sport: Long jump, playing basketball
Free time activities: Mountain climbing, travelling
Summer holiday activities: Helping my parents with farm work and doing holiday homework
Future goals: Keep studying, working hard to enter an ideal university
GD ~ 127 ~ Jieping Lun
This student is in her second year of high school.
Hello! It has been a month since the start of this semester. I was admitted to the best high school in our county. I am really excited about it. About four months ago, when I was in my third year of middle school, I thought I might not be able to continue my education. I was really afraid. I didn’t know what to do and I felt helpless.
When my principal told me about this opportunity to receive a scholarship from such kind-hearted people, (I was very happy.) I realized how hard it would be if I had to drop out just because my family was poor. Now, I want to work hard and learn as much as I can. When I grow up, I am determined to help children in poverty to continue their education just as you have done.
Thank you all! I wish you will have good health and success in everything you do in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Jieping Lun
Annual Family Income 2,500 RMB (approximately $357 a year)
Favorite class: Physics
Favorite sport: Badminton
Free time activities: Reading
Summer holiday activities: Working on the farm, doings some odd jobs
Future goals: To go to top university
