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Promoting Education, Art, and Community Harvest |
PEACH FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER September 2016, issue No. 44 Translated By George Wang |
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Dear Friends,
We admitted 1100 new students this year. With your support, 600 students have found sponsorship. We urge you to spread the word among your friends and family members and help us find sponsors for the remaining 500 students.
Summer Camp – From July 18 to August 6, 2016, we held two successful summer camp sessions in YuanYang and LiJiang. Seventy-two volunteer teachers and 805 students participated in this PEACH event of fun, love and knowledge sharing.
At the camp, Peach graduate Li Wenxue recounted his life story to encourage Peach students
to stay on course. I met Li fifteen years ago when he was a 5th
grader. He was shy, timid, lacking in self-confidence and would not look me in
the eyes. With a deceased Mom and a mentally challenged Dad, he clung to his
elder sister for survival. Li persisted in his study and completed his
education in technical skills in 2010. In 2014, he went on to work for an air
conditioning company in Chengdu. When he first started his career, he could
hardly express himself clearly enough to be understood. Now, here he was
delivering a flawless, rational, and eloquent testimony in front of 500 Peach
students. I am so proud of him.
We had other graduates returning to the camp to inspire fellow Peach students (photo 1). It seemed like only yesterday when they first entered the Peach program. And, look at them now. They have grown up to become teachers, doctors, nurses, accountants, and government employees – all productive members of the society. They built new houses for their families and many became sponsors of their fellow Peach students.
During the session, a kid came over to me, “Aunt Jeng, do you remember me? I attended the 2010 Summer Camp at JiaZi elementary school. I am Li Mei.” I had no recollection of her specifically, but I distinctly remembered the JiaZi experience. In 2010, accompanied with 4 staff and 25 Peach College Students, we held a seven-day Camp at JiaZi. We stayed in a crummy dormitory, cooked our own food, and I, with a cooking shovel, did my signature dish of fried rice for the group. There was no bathing for a week, just the wet towel to wipe the body clean. I taught Happy Life class and the 26 English alphabet letters. The students were fast learners. Mei was a 3rd grader and, in a blink, she is now in the 9th grade.
Another kid
approached me, “Aunt Jeng, I am the kid you visited
at Ninglang. We all burst into tears on the day when
you offered to sponsor us three sisters.” In October 2013, we visited XinYingPan Village in Ninglang
County. We met this remarkable mother who went through garbage dumps for
recyclables to put her kids to school. I was in awe of her courage and
determination. I told her that Peach Foundation would support all her
children for school. Upon hearing this, she dashed over and embraced me,
weeping, “With your help of my kids, I feel I am a stronger person. Whatever
the adversity and hardship, I will see through that my children persist in
their education.” (photo 2) The Deng sisters are all with Peach
Foundation. The eldest sister is a sophomore in college, the 2nd
sister is in high school, the 3rd sister is in Middle School, and the youngest
brother is a 5th grader. They did not give up, thanks to this
courageous 
Mom and her
magnificent children.
Student Achievements – In September, we have 519 high school students entering colleges and 872 Middle School students progressing into high schools. Together, we made this a reality. We will send the student gold posts to their sponsors soon. Please share and celebrate their achievements with your friends and family.
2016 Volunteer Exploration Trip – The Volunteer Exploration team will visit Peach students, their families, and schools in the HongHe area during 10/22-10/29. HongHe is famous for its picturesque landscape of rice terraces. Please Stay tuned.
2017 Summer Camp – We are taking volunteer registration for the 2017 Summer Camp. There are some vacancies for Session #1 and #3; Session #2 is fully booked. If you or your family members are interested, please register ASAP. We assign the teaching position on a first-come basis.
Session#1: 7/14/2017-7/24/2017 at Yunnan Province, HongHe Region, YuanYang High School
Session#2: 7/25/2017-8/2/2017 at Yunnan Province, LiJiang City, YuLong High School (fully booked)
Session#3: 8/3/2017-8/13/2017 at Yunnan Province, QuJing City, HuiZe YinWang High School
Peach Foundation 15th Anniversary Party – This year is our 15th anniversary. We are holding a celebration party on Sunday, December 4th, 2016 at Crowne Plaza. We would like to celebrate this milestone by sharing our footsteps of the past fifteen years with you. Please mark your calendar and join us.
Place: Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, 1221 Chess Drive, Foster City, CA 94404.
Phone: 650-570-5700
Date and Time: Sunday, December 4th, 2016, Noon to 3:30PM
We will provide buffet lunch between 12pm to 1pm.There will be display of photos and videos that showcases the progress of the Peach Foundation. You and your family or friends are all cordially invited.
Please notify us with the number of attendees of your group. You can send the head count via email to Staff@PeachfoundationUSA.org, or fax to 650-525-9688, or call at 650-525-1188. This is to ensure the correct count for lunch. We are grateful to Mr. Solomon Tsai for his sponsorship of our events over the years.
Amazon Partnership – When you shop at Amazon (smile.amazon.com), Amazon donates 0.5% of the eligible purchase amount to PEACH Foundation. So far, our donation from Amazon amounts to merely $80 dollars. This translates into a total Amazon purchase of $16,000 (of which my daughter alone accounts for $10,000) among our vast members. What a puny sum! Do indulge yourself with some binge shopping on Amazon. Have a shopping spree and enjoy your good deeds. Thank you for your support.
Below, we have attached two PEACH students’ biographies. Please share them with your family and friends.
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 & Winter Camps (at US$125 each for one week, including a bedding set of $40)
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 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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16354 Sheng XX, 8th Grade, Female
Translated
by Peggy Liou
My father raised my older sister and me by himself, because my mother passed away when I was only two years old. We had no money and my father had to borrow money to support us. When I was in the 1st grade and my sister was in the 3rd grade, a man came and visited our home one night. My father and the man were drinking and ended up fighting each other. My father killed the man. After my father went to prison, my sister and I lived with my uncle.
My uncle has
three daughters and none of them went to school. However, my uncle does support
my sister and me to stay in school. My uncle is 
getting
older and it is becoming increasingly difficult to support this large family.
The costs of tuition burn quickly, like oil over fire. I am hoping to get
sponsorship to ease the financial burden for my uncle, and also to lessen my
guilty feelings so that I can better concentrate on my studies. I want to go to
college, and I know I will be able to make it by borrowing some money and
working while in college.
I still can never understand why my mother passed away so young and why is my father in prison. What happened during that night that could not be resulted in a peaceful manner? Why has God taken my parents while my sister and I were so little?
I have no choice in life but to study hard.
16358 Yang XX, 8th Grade, Female
Translated
by Peggy Liou
My aunt told me that my father died of a drug overdose when I was two years old. My mother left the family soon after my father’s passing. My mother did not leave of her own will; her father who forced her to leave.
Less than a month before my father’s death, his older brother died too. As a result, my grandmother has been in poor health. The worst part is that my father’s younger brother, my third uncle, constantly causes troubles for the family.
There was one incident where my third uncle had a fight with my grandparents. My uncle threw wooden sticks and rocks at my grandfather and pulled my grandmother’s hair like mad. My brother ran to get help from other relatives, while I was holding my cousin in tears. I can never forget this terrible incident, and I secretly wanted to hit my uncle, because I could not understand how he could hurt his parents. My uncle’s behavior has improved over the years, but I avoid talking with him because I still hate him for what he did before. I keep thinking that if my uncle had killed my grandparents that day, my brother and I would be dead soon too. I do not know why so many miserable things have happened in my life, and I continue to face one difficult situation after another. I have never had one day that is totally worry free.
However, I am very grateful that I still have my grandparents.