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Project Hope, Care For the Future |
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"I just want to make a comment about all the messages regarding the virtue of a chinese woman. "
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Launched on 30 Oct, 1989, the Project Hope, like a sparkling fire, has swept every corner
of China and received most enthusiastic response from the whole society. It has become a far
reaching and influential civil cause involving all the kind people. The Chinese Youth Development
Foundation (CYDF), the establisher and executor, is pursuing constantly its aim of popularizing the
nine year education among all preschool children. It not only finances many pupils who drop out
because of poverty to go back to school and finish their study, but also sets up as many elementary
schools of hope as possible.
An old Chinese saying goes like this, it takes ten years to grow trees, but a hundred to
rear people. From that, we can see how much importance is attached to education. Unfortunately,
in some backward and out-of-way rural areas, poverty still dampens many desires for knowledge
and blocks their way of study. In such places, children have no desks nor chairs, let alone the
modern teaching facilities, so they will sit on the stools taken from home and listen attentively.
Having no comfortable classrooms, they will take lessons in shabby houses. Without blackboard and
chalk, they will darken the wall and use the talcum instead. If there are not enough books for every pupil,
it does not matter. They will copy down the texts while the teacher is explaining. When the class is over,
they will have remembered the text by heart. To those diligent children, there are no difficulties
that can not be overcome, and nothing to be feared,except for leaving school. "I wanna go to school!"
A little girl once let out such a sincere cry from the bottom of her heart. Her only wish sounded
so heart breaking that many people were moved to tears and reached out their helping hands.
Now more and more people take part in the Project Hope to provide timely help for those children in great
need. And in Chinese, this action is compared to sending charcoals in snowy weather, which will be appreciated
always.The following statistics will show how fruitful and rewarding the results may be.
Up till now, the CYDF has received a donation about 1.84 billion RMB both at home and abroad,
so in return, more than 2.3 million pupils been financed to finish their elementary school and 7.8
thousand schools of Hope been set up. If these figures are thought to be abstract and lacking in human touch,
the concrete examples might be satisfactory.An excellent student called Deng Lei has proved himself
a child prodigy and been admitted by Chinese University of Science and Technology.
Another two Stars of Hope have gone to Sydney to attend the Olympic Youth Camp, representing all
the Chinese children. They will distinguish themselves and glisten like real stars after taking
the acid test of life.
And some more information is added here for your refernce. There are several ways in which
you can help those pupils. First, 400 RMB you have supplied,equivalent to US $50, can help a
pupil through elementary school. Second, your donation of books is welcome. Third, it takes 200,000 RMB
to establish a brand new school of Hope, and 100,000 RMB to repair a shabby school. Forth, you can
set up a Fund of Hope named after you. Now you can even make donations on line,
that is, http://www.project-hope.sh.cn.
Written by our column writer Hao Zhuo.
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