My family lives in a rural mountain region. All the homes here are built with clad; it is a poor area, many youngsters dropped out of school because there had no money. Many people prefer boys than girls. They think there is no need to let the girls get educated because girls will get married sooner or later; therefore; many girls are forced to drop out of school. I was among these unfortunate ones.
We have 5 people in our family. My grandma is over 70 years old, and she is in poor health. Every time she gets sick, it usually lasts months, and because we have no money to take her to the hospital, she just self medicates. It makes me very sad whenever I see her lay in bed, pale and in pain. I really wish I could have some money to take her to the doctor to ease her pain. As for my father, he is not helping in the situation. It started when I was in my 6th grade. My father had an accident when he worked as a laborer that carries rocks. He was treated in the hospital after a large rock hit his head, but he was discharged before he was recovered since we had no more money that we were able to borrow and pay for his stay. Not only did my father¡¯s accident add to the financial burden of my family, his mental state was also deteriorated. He looks fine, but he can¡¯t remember things correctly. His behavior is unpredictable, especially when is drunk.
I lost my Mom when I was very young, so I never knew what it is like to have the love of a Mom. A few years back, my father re-married, and we had a new mother. Unfortunately, my new mother does not like my grandma and me. She was nice to us when my father was around, but she is a different person when he is not home. She forces my grandma to work while she just leisured around. There were times she wouldn¡¯t even allow us to eat. Since my father couldn¡¯t afford to let me stay in school, my new mother often said to me ¡°Go find some work in town, or just hurry up and get married so that you can make some money to support the family.¡± I lived in this circumstance for 7 years while we had no steady income and our farm couldn¡¯t grow enough crops for us. I thought about finding a job in town; I had lost faith in studying and was ready to give up. PEACH Foundation came to my life at this time. The uncles and aunts from PEACH gave me hope, and lit up the lights along the path of my life. I am truly grateful, and no words can describe this feeling of mine.
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