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Promoting Education, Art, and Community Harvest
PEACH FOUNDATION
NEWSLETTER
April 2015,
issue No. 40
Translated by Peggy Liou
Dear
Friends,
We
need your continuing love to support 900 new students in 2015. Please help
spread the word among your friends and family. We really appreciate it. Among
the 900 new students: 300 new students are 7th graders, 
either orphans or girls from
single-parent families regardless of their academic performance, while the
other 600 new students are 9th and 10th graders with excellent grades who also
came from very poor families. Our statistics also show that about 20% of these
600 new students come from broken homes. Please help these Lost Pearls with
your enormous love. Thank you.
HongHe Winter Camp – We conducted two winter
camps for our middle school orphans and girls from single-parent families (OSP)
in February 2014 & 2015, and we recruited PEACH college students to be
their teachers. Most of these young children never travelled beyond the middle
school they attended in their hometown, and it is a challenge to travel four to
five hours by bus from their township to the high school in the county where we
held our winter camps. Many children got very carsick and they looked terrible
when they arrived at the camp. We were happy that they were strong enough to
stay, because it takes courage to face the outside world and they had just made
that very important first step.
By
the end of the camp, these children had transformed into new people. Here are
some of their words: “I have never seen any school so big and so beautiful like
HongHe High School. I swear I am coming back for my high school education!” “I
always thought that I was alone in this world, but in this camp, my big sister
and big brother teachers love and care for me like my parents. My heart is so
full, I feel so fortunate I am loved.”
We
modified our EQ curriculum this year to include a segment called “Problem
Solving.” Our staff has collected these “problems” from years of experiences in
helping PEACH students. In particular, our OSP children have suffered even more
unthinkable hardships and sadness in their lives. Growing up without parents,
trying to survive in extreme poverty, and being laughed at by neighbors are
common challenges they have to face everyday. In class, these children often
looked down and remained silent, preferring not to touch the questions being
brought up. However, we encourage open discussion and dialogue for the purpose
of facing the pain in order to heal. We helped the children to acknowledge that
growing up in poverty 
and with no parents for
support are cruel facts, but if they do not face the pain that is so deeply
seated, it will never heal. It is only then when they begin the healing process
that they can focus on their studies and enjoy a better life.
We
recognize that it is difficult for many children to speak up in the classroom,
because they were afraid of “giving the wrong answers, being laughed at, and
being criticized.” So, we arranged each class in groups and encourage friendly
competition with small rzwards. Our goal is to encourage participation by
reassuring them that there are no right or wrong answers. As a result, most
children were willing participant in this unique environment. To help a few of
the most painfully shy students, we implemented rules like “In each group,
everyone has to take turns to speak. A point will be taken out if anyone in the
group does not speak up.” With practice, these children were able to unearth
their worries and to solve many of their own difficult situations with the help
of their peers and new friends.
Equipped with their newfound strength, there will be no problem too big
to solve.
Home Visits - From December 2nd, 2014 to
February 15, 2015. PEACH staff made three Home Visit trips, where they
inspected 570 students’ homes. We also commissioned PEACH college students to
visit the remaining families who live in such remote homes that it would take
days to reach during their school vacations. We have insisted on conducting
Home Visits of every child for the past 14 years. This commitment is to
accurately verify the economic standing of each family, so that 100% of the
sponsorship goes to a child who truly needs it.
2015 Volunteer Understanding
Tour will take place in YuLong County, Yunnan Province from October 25 to
October 31, 2015. Welcome to join us.
2015 Summer Camps volunteer
teacher positions are completed filled. Thank you for your support.
Amazon partners with PEACH Foundation to
benefit your purchase in helping the children. Amazon will now donate 0.5% of
the price of your eligible Amazon Smile purchases when you shop at Amazon Smile smile.amazon.com. Please register The
PEACH Foundation on your Amazon account. To register, please log into smile.amazon.com.Happy shopping and help Peach
children. Thank you for your supporting.
Below,
we have attached some PEACH students’ biographies, which are part of our
collection “Deep in Our Hearts.” We enclose the latest issue of PEACH Children
magazine, Volume 14. It is not translated to English, yet it is full of
pictures which tell lots of stories. Thank you.
Best
Regards,
Ruth
Jeng
President
PEACH
Foundation
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I would like to donate ______to the Laurice children medical funds (at
an average of US$20 per child.)
I would like to send _____children to attend Summer
Camp (at US$50 each for one week.)
I would like to donate ______ to scarf and mitten funds (at US$5 per
child.)
I would like to donate ______to thermal-pajama funds (at US$5 per
child.)
I would like to donate ______to mosquito net funds (at US$5 per child.)
I would like to donate ______ to the library funds (at US$20 per
library)
I would like to donate ______to the Junhui writing funds (amount as you
wish.)
I would like to donate ______ to the foundation administration funds
I would like to donate ______to the mini-loan for middle and high school
students’ living expenses (amount as you wish.)
I would like to donate ______to the college loan funds (amount as you wish.)
I would like to donate ______ (laptop computer/ digital camera/ cell
phone)
I would like to increase my sponsorship to ___ high
school students and ___ middle school students; the yearly costs are US$300 for
a high school student, US$150 for a middle school student.
Please make
check payable to PEACH FOUNDATION.
Donors in Taiwan please change the amount to New
Taiwan Dollars, payable to PEACH FOUNDATION, Account No.: 50011068 and it is tax deductible.
1098 Marlin Avenue, Foster City, CA 94404, U.S.A.
Email: staff@PeachFoundationUSA.org website: www.PeachFoundationUSA.org
Phone：650-525-1188 fax:
650-525-9688
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13033 Zhang XX, 9th Grade, Female
Translated by Tiffany Chen
Growing up requires a warm，affectionate, and complete family. However, my family
is full of violence and sorrow.
Before sixth grade, my family was complete
with father, mother, sister, and brother but we couldn’t live in peace. Father
loved drinking and would always get drunk, and then he would pick fights with
mother. Sometimes my mother and I feared of staying home and spent the night
out in the wild.
Even
though at the time our family couldn’t live in harmony, but it was complete.
Now my family broke apart. My parents are divorced, sister is married, and
brother passed away.
I
still remembered because our family was poor, the whole family went out of town
to work when I was little. Both of my parents were illiterate and could only do
hard labor with very little earnings. Mother did not have the strength to do
hard labor so she collected junks to sell with sister.
This
kind of life lasted about seven to eight years and our family gradually earned
some money. My parents decided to go back to our village to build a house
leaving my sister and me studying out of town. After school my sister and I
would collect junks to sell in order to lessen the family burden. During
Jasmine flower season, sister would pick flowers to raise money.
Afterwards,
my sister and I went back to our village to study. Brother was eight and
started first grade while sister finished first grade. Since both brother and I
attended school and our family couldn’t afford it so sister gave up education.
When I was in sixth grade, my parents got a divorced which was also the year my
brother died of an unknown illness. Not long after my sister got married and
moved out leaving my family torn. The year I graduated from elementary school I
was going to attend Hong He Secondary National School, however, due to my
family’s situation I could only stay in San Chun Middle School.
13734 Li XX, 7th Grade, Female
Translated by Stella Jiang
My
parents were divorced when I was two years old, and my dad took me to my
grandparents’ house. In order to make a living, my dad went to another place
for a job and seldom went home. Thus, I spent my childhood with my
grandparents.
As
I grew up, I always wondered where my mom was when seeing other children with
their parents. Other child was enjoying the time with their mother, but I
didn’t. Mum, where are you? I miss you so much! Mum, when can you come back to
me? In school, every time I read about mothers’ love, I couldn’t help thinking
of my mother. Why can’t I live with my mother happily just like others? When
singing “The child who has mother just values, while the child who doesn’t have
a mother devalues. Where can we find the true happiness?” I find myself as a
lonely straw and cannot get love. I am walking in a desolated dessert, looking
into the cold moon in the night sky.
13793 Yang XX, 7th Grade, Female
Translated by Emily Yu
My mother left me when I was three years
old. I don’t know the feeling of being adored and cared by my mother. Whenever
I see other motherly relationships, I wonder where my mother is. Some times I
wonder why life is so cruel and unfair to me. But I know I should not complain
because I still have my father who loves me with all his heart
It
is unfortunate of me not having a mother, but there are many people in the
world suffering the same misfortune. I know I can not keep on regretting for
what I have lost, yet I should cherish for what I do have.
If
one’s richness is only considered by one’s possessions, am I one with nothing?
No, I don’t think so because I still have my father who loves me and cares
about me.
Misery
hit me again when I was 14. I lost my last family member, my beloved father. I
almost had a nervous breakdown. No matter how hard I tried not to cry out loud
but the tears kept on running out of my eyes. I refused to accept the fact that
I had lost my father. What choice did I have but to face the cruel reality and
stay strong on my own.
One
night in 2010, my father disappeared and never returned. People suspected that
our father had abandoned me. I did not believe it. It was only until 2 years
later, a janitor at an elementary school septic tank found a corpse and it
turned out to be my father. How did this happen? Was he fell down or was he
murdered? Who was the killer? Will the truth ever reveal itself? I believe it
will.
Throughout
my life and in my studies, I have encountered lots of hardships yet I have
never given up. I was lucky enough to have met so many kind aunties and uncles,
whose love have given me strength and hope. I will work my best to attend a
college one day. Even though the past has been bitter, I will strive to pursue
my dream of a bright future.