Me and China Girl
by WiseRalph in West China
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In the mountains some 2 hours North of Mianyang live the Qiang, an ancient tribal people related closely to the Tibetans. They moved to what is now Sichuan but has been East Tibet for so very long.
35 years ago exactly, there was a community, not a village as such because the farms and houses were so scattered. The houses now, as they were then, are picturesque and made of timber with balconies and tiled rooves. Baskets, tools and maize hanging from the beams and bamboo fencing to keep the chickens from running. But no running water, just a stream, or a pool.
To this place came two 18 year old teachers. They had trained in the city and returned home.(Yes, very young but remember those times).
They set up their school for the children of this area in a hut. They were paid by the very poor people and I mean very poor. If a child's family had no money they still taught her or him.
This couple fell in love and married.
Now one reads so many bad stories of China but this is a good one, it is wonderful.
Me and China Girl have a friend, Mr Yem. He is an official, albeit not so lofty, in the Communist party and a photographer in his free time... not so much free time years ago.
He would go into the mountains and take photos. He visited and still visits the scattered homes up there. He collected money from his friends and gives from his own pockets to those who had none.
He collected a most moving set of photos, one might even say romantic unless one looked closer.
These pictures showed the children from afar who could not walk the tracks home sleeping 3 in a bed. Not the sort of bed one has in our homes but more cotlike. He showed the children in winter doing their classwork by candlelight with their slates and chalks; he showed the grime and simplicity; he showed the concentration and smiles on those little ones faces and the protective looks on their older friends for all were in the one class. And 2 teachers, married with a daughter.
They taught year after year after year.
Now our friend took those photos to Beijing and they caused a stir. Maybe 16 years ago now. He had them published and the right people saw them. There are so many good people here.Please never forget that.
Now this gets fantastic.
Someone up in the North ordered a school be built for these children !! And it was.
They gave these 2 teachers a full salary the same as in the area's main town.
They backdated their pension (for they had none) to the day they started !
Eventually they also built a primary school for this poor area and over 200 children are there now.
Up in the mountains is the first school. It has living quarters for our married couple... for , yes, they are still there after 35 years ! It has a leantoo for the wood-fired, brick oven where the lady cooks for her 45 children who live too far to walk to the main school.
The school is long and simple with old wooden desks and benches as from hundreds of years ago in Merry England. Chickens wandered in and because it was cold there was a 2' iron bowl for burning charcoal to take the chill off the classroom. Here the children learn and eat.
We went there and was the first foreigner anyone had ever seen. The families were planting potatos in the steep fields and looked up and waved at us because they heard a couple were interested in helping their children. An old man with his ox smiled and even the old ladies with their baskets and grandchildren beamed. Whatever did these simple folk think?
Some time before we had asked a best friend who is the Agriculture Leader of the area of Mianyang (the size of Wales) for help in finding a school to help. We set some parametres as it could not be so far away as to take days to reach. It had to really need help which was outside the remit of the local education authorities. And so on.
I had set up a charity from my Pub, Flags-Aid, and we needed a focus; long term.
We chose this school and we help anyone in the community. But we can never ever be as dedicated as those 2 wonderful teachers. We will hold another charity evening tomorrow at the pub for a young man from there who has, against all odds, gained a place faraway in Xiamen... we are humbled to be able to help him.
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