Testimony of a primary school student
My visit to Daoming primary schools
At the end of April 2014, Mr. An took me, a representative from the parents and another representative from the secondary students to Kunming (Yunnan), to visit all the Daoming primary schools built from the donations raised by St. Paul's School from Macau.
Now let me introduce the four Daoming primary schools and also let me express in writing my feelings towards Zhangpojiao.
Hongpotou (Daoming-1)
The road that we had to take to arrive at Daoming-1 is extremely bumpy. On the way I already felt that the environment of this school is not very good. When we arrived, I saw a white and orange building with 2 classrooms and not very attractive. When I saw the four Chinese characters on top, I realized this was the Daoming primary school. But, to my surprise, the students of this Daoming school are still very happy facing this situation. If it was me, I could not stand it.
Zhangpojiao (Daoming-2)
Zhangpojiao is a Miao village of about 20 families. The school has about 30 students. They have been living here for 30 years, and in these 30 years nothing has changed. They still start working at sunrise and rest at sunset. You can not imagine this kind of living in these remote mountainous areas, without water and electricity, without school and without any basic living facilities. For these reasons, St. Paul School in Macau decided to build for them a primary school, a water reservoir and brick houses. And, although is even worse than the other three Daoming schools, they still face everything with a smiling face, and, after we arrived there, they treated us very warmly. It is obvious that their living conditions are really too bad. So we should use this opportunity to give them some concern and love.
Mataipo (Daoming-3) and Pingtoushan (Daoming-4)
Daoming 3 and 4 are the schools I liked the best. At least, the water is not so dirty here. Although the roads leading to the schools are very dangerous because our car is as wide as the road, but I still like them the best, because they are very smart. When we were going to leave, they asked us when are we going to come back again. When we were playing with them, they were very happy. It is something that is impossible to see in the cities.
I learned a lot in this journey. In there, to step on cow dung is not a big deal, while in here I will shout "Oh, my God!!!". Their living conditions are really very bad. In the past, when I was donating money, I always thought I was throwing it away, but now I think my money is not thrown away over there. On the contrary, I will increase my donation, because for me a few hundred yuan is not a big deal, but over there they can do a lot of things with it.
Now I understand the meaning of "To give is better than to receive". I feel this sentence is completely accurate and this trip has given us just this kind of opportunity.
The money donated is not lost. On the contrary, it stays at your side for ever in another form. It is just that you don't know it.
Suggestions for improvements:
- Hygiene: weekly lesson on hygiene and weekly classroom cleaning day.
- Construct a small playing ground at Hongpotou (Daoming-1)
- Set environmental boxes and rubbish bins.
- Set medical clinics.
- Set urban developmental information.
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By Li Jiajun