Sichuan girl to see Obama sworn in

By Anita Chang  |   2008-12-30  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A HIGH school student in southwest China who raised money for survivors of a devastating earthquake by selling cookies and her own watercolor paintings will attend next month's inauguration of US President-elect Barack Obama.

Li Zizi, 16, is making the trip because she participated in the Global Young Leaders Conference in New York and Washington this past summer. The program, run by a US-based nonprofit, invites alumni to attend the presidential inauguration every four years.

Li moved in August to Sichuan Province, which was rocked by a 8.0-magnitude earthquake in May that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing. She now attends the Chengdu Experimental Foreign Language School in the capital city of the province.

Her family is from Sichuan, but she was born and raised in Japan and was living there when the quake hit.

"I was so worried; we were on the phone and on the computer dialing away, and we couldn't get through to anyone because all the phone connections were down," she said yesterday. "I couldn't wait to get back and start volunteering for stuff and fund raising."

Li baked sugar cookies to sell at her school and sold some of her watercolor paintings.

"We had some friends over for dinner once, and they were like, 'Oh, you're really good, you should sell them,'" Li said.

She eventually earned US$500 to go toward school supplies for children in the quake zone.

Li also sponsors two children, one in first grade and the other in third, whose parents were forced to find work far away in order to earn money to rebuild their damaged homes in Sichuan.

Li provides the children with pocket money and tickets to travel to see their parents.

She told reporters her ambition was to be a doctor to help people living in poor areas.

She will fly to the US on January 17 to start her five-day trip.

Li said she would take this message to Obama: "We expect you to bring us something new."

Because of her own upbringing abroad, Li said she feels a kinship with Obama, whom she called a "miracle."

"He's the perfect thing at the perfect moment for America," she said.

While in Washington, the Chinese teen and other students from her program - from the US and around the world - are scheduled to listen to speakers like former US Vice President Al Gore and cycling superstar Lance Armstrong.

"And I definitely want to see the White House," she said.