11/28/2008
My name is ChenZhenKang, Han race. I am an 8th grader in LuGuHu middle school. My family is extremely poor. My parents are over 60 years old now, and they have two kids who are still alive ¨C my younger brother and I; while my older brother and older sister died before they turned 15 years old.
I was in poor health ever since I was little, and it cost my parents a lot of money to take me to the doctor¡¯s. I began my elementary school when I was 9 years old because of my health problems. My grades were very good, and I received a 100RMB reward because I was ranked number one in my class when I was in 2nd grade. That morning, my father went to the school with me for the parents¡¯ meeting, and I was in such wonderful spirits. On our way home, I asked my father if he could buy some food for me, but he didn¡¯t. I was so upset that I started to cry. Thinking back now, I realized how difficult our family financial situation was.
Life was very harsh. While my parents¡¯ hope rose as I started doing well in school, I became paralyzed when I was in the 4th grade. In order to find a cure, my parents sold everything they owned, even the pig we saved for the New Year. They borrowed money from all their friends and relatives. It took a great effort, but they collected 5000RMB, and my illiterate mother took me to the big cities of Ninlang, Lijiang, and Kunming to find a cure.
On the train to Kunming, my mother was in tears most of the time. She got sick on the train, since she had never traveled so far in her life. I wanted so bad to comfort her, even just to hand her the handkerchief, but my legs were numb¡I couldn¡¯t move. Other travelers in the train tried to comfort us and reassured us that the doctors in Kunming would be able to treat me.
It was indeed our hopes to find a cure in Kunming. On our way to Kunming, our hearts were heavy, but our hopes were high. My parents truly believed that with this much money, we would find a cure. But, our hopes were broken as soon as we arrived at the Kunming hospital. The doctor said that I needed surgery, and the operation costs about 20 to 30 thousand RMB. We started crying when we heard the news, my mother begged the doctor and said, ¡°Please help save my child, we came from a long distance, and we haven¡¯t eaten for a several days. All the money we have is borrowed and this is all we have.¡± However, that doctor was very cold and told us, ¡°I can¡¯t help you without money. The money you have is not even enough for room and board in Kunming. My advice for you is to leave Kunming as soon as possible.¡± So, we returned to the train station. Mother and I cried with such bitter disappointment and purchased the return tickets.
On the train back home, mother and I couldn¡¯t eat or drink, we just cried non-stop. Other travelers were kind and bought food for us. We called my father to come and get us after we arrived at the city of Ninlang. He took me home on horseback. We all cried with desperation when we finally got home.
I stayed home after that. My parents took care of everything, and I felt so sad that I couldn¡¯t even go to the bathroom by myself. I was sad, but it was even worse for my mother because she cried everyday. Not willing to give up, mother took me to the local government office to plea for help. We tried, but failed to get a penny.
Without money for surgery, my parents tried all kinds of Chinese herbal medicine for me. A strange thing happened four years after my initial paralysis - I was able to stand up again! My parents were overjoyed. They believed it was the miracle of the Buddha.
I wanted to go back to school after my recovery, but I was hesitant because of my age and because we had no money. When we are in desperate need, we must sell our one pig that we save for the New Year and the few chickens we raise. My mother is suffering from depression and my younger brother is in school. My father is the only person working to support the family. I don¡¯t know what future holds for me. I really want to study, but I don¡¯t know if my dreams can come true. I really don¡¯t know.
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