Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200811/20081103/article_379249.htm
Schoolgirl savior in need of funds
Created: 2008-11-3 0:47:13
MA Zhiying, honored by the central government as one of China's "10 Great Mothers" is struggling to pay nearly 30,000 yuan (US$4,380) to buy coal to heat the "Schoolgirls' Home" which she set up for poor village girls.
More than 60 poor high school girls in Haiyuan County of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region are currently supported by Ma, a laid-off worker who has taken in the girls as her own daughters.
The girls, whose families could not finance their education, live in the "Schoolgirls' Home," a three-story building with more than 10 rooms, built by an international organization in 2006.
"I'm trying not to bother others, and I don't want to talk about difficulties," Ma said. She has received help from some volunteers, while national and local women's federations have also offered financial support.
Before 2006 when there was no such building for these girls to live in, Ma let them live in her own home, a three-room rural bungalow. She then lived in an adjacent adobe house with her husband and twin sons.
The 2,000-yuan monthly salary earned by Ma's husband, a civil servant in the county government, was the only source of income for Ma's large "family."
Ma started to support poor village girls in 1997 when she had just been laid off from a local factory and became a street cleaner.
She was deeply impressed by a girl who stood for a long time by the gate of a county middle school. The girl said her parents could not afford to send her to middle school and she wanted to see what the school was like.
Ma had a similar experience, dropping out of school due to poverty. But she believed that without knowledge, her hometown could not change. Ma gave the 11-year-old 100 yuan to cover her educational fees. Later, more girls turned to Ma for help. That year, Ma supported five girls so they could go to school.
Over the past 11 years, Ma has supported more than 180 schoolgirls who were on the verge of dropping out of school.
More than 70 of them have since been admitted to college and found jobs after graduation.
Ma has spent more than 100,000 yuan on water, electricity, fuel, medical and educational fees to run the "Schoolgirls' Home."
More than 60 poor high school girls in Haiyuan County of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region are currently supported by Ma, a laid-off worker who has taken in the girls as her own daughters.
The girls, whose families could not finance their education, live in the "Schoolgirls' Home," a three-story building with more than 10 rooms, built by an international organization in 2006.
"I'm trying not to bother others, and I don't want to talk about difficulties," Ma said. She has received help from some volunteers, while national and local women's federations have also offered financial support.
Before 2006 when there was no such building for these girls to live in, Ma let them live in her own home, a three-room rural bungalow. She then lived in an adjacent adobe house with her husband and twin sons.
The 2,000-yuan monthly salary earned by Ma's husband, a civil servant in the county government, was the only source of income for Ma's large "family."
Ma started to support poor village girls in 1997 when she had just been laid off from a local factory and became a street cleaner.
She was deeply impressed by a girl who stood for a long time by the gate of a county middle school. The girl said her parents could not afford to send her to middle school and she wanted to see what the school was like.
Ma had a similar experience, dropping out of school due to poverty. But she believed that without knowledge, her hometown could not change. Ma gave the 11-year-old 100 yuan to cover her educational fees. Later, more girls turned to Ma for help. That year, Ma supported five girls so they could go to school.
Over the past 11 years, Ma has supported more than 180 schoolgirls who were on the verge of dropping out of school.
More than 70 of them have since been admitted to college and found jobs after graduation.
Ma has spent more than 100,000 yuan on water, electricity, fuel, medical and educational fees to run the "Schoolgirls' Home."
Xinhua
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