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Promoting Education, Art, and Community Harvest |
PEACH FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER March 2018, issue No. 49 Translated By Peggy Liou |
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Dear Friends,
New Students – We have admitted 1591 new students this year, and we need sponsors for them. Thank you for your continued support in helping more children to stay in school.
Winter Camp – We conducted our 2018
Winter Camp in the first high school in Honghe County, from February 1st to
February 10th. 328 newly admitted students attended the camp, and 50 PEACH
college students joined us as 
volunteer teachers. In
addition to providing medical and eye exams, we also provided students with new
comforters, thermal underwear, scarves, gloves, socks, dictionaries, solar
lamps and school supplies. The 50 PEACH college students shared their
experiences growing up, in the hope of helping the children build their
self-confidence and renew their interest in their studies.
Summer Camps – A few volunteer teacher slots are still available. Please contact us ASAP if you are interested:
Session A: 7/19 to 7/27/2018 at Yulong, Lijiang, Yunnan Province.
Session B: 7/28 to 8/7/2018 at Huize, Yunnan Province.
Session C: 8/7 to 8/17/2018 at Yuanyang, Yunnan Province.
Volunteer Exploration Trip is scheduled from 10/20 to 10/27/2018. We will be visiting Ninglang County in the northwest part of Yunnan Province. Ninglang is famous for several things: the traditional customs of the Yi people living in Xiao Liang Mountain, the unique practice of “Walking Marriage” of the Mosuo people, and the majestic scenery of Lugu Lake. Registration is open now.
Attached is a story shared by one of the PEACH college students during the Winter Camp 2018. We would appreciate it if you share the story with your friends and family. 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 & 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.
Donors in Taiwan please change the amount to New Taiwan Dollars, payable to PEACH FOUNDATION.
Account No.: 50011068 and it is tax deductible.
Amazon Partnership When you shop at Amazon (smile.amazon.com), Amazon donates 0.5% of the eligible purchase amount to PEACH Foundation. Do indulge yourself with some binge shopping on Amazon. Have a shopping spree and enjoy your good deeds. Thank you for your support.
Address: 1098 Marlin Avenue, Foster City, CA 94404, U.S.A.
Phone: 650-525-1188 Fax: 650-525-9688
Email: staff@PeachFoundationUSA.org Website: www.PeachFoundationUSA.org
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My Story
Translated By George Wang
Deng Conghua: Peach student of 2013. Currently a freshman at Hubei University of Arts and Science, majoring in Telecommunication Engineering.
I come from Ninglang, of
the Yi people. Our family consists of my parents and four children. Before the arrival
of my baby brother, my mother was often the subject to derision by Grandma and
our relatives. The traditional Yi customs 
are notoriously
discriminative, favoring boys over girls. For us three sisters, growing up has
been tough. Grandma would spoil our boy cousins with goodies, while we sisters
were only worthy of the droppings on the ground. At the time, I wasn’t
resilient enough to fight off my tears. If my own grandmother would treat us
girls like dirt, how can I expect anything better from the rest of the world?
I remember the time when my father had a craving for tobacco and could not afford it. Instead, he sent us out to collect stray cigarette butts. There were times that my hunger was so acute that I would wander around the school neighborhood, hunting for the sweet smell of cooking wafting in the air. In winter, the cold drafts whooshed thorough my holed shoes. On rainy days, when it poured outdoors, our house leaked inside. Fortunately, my parents were always supportive of our education. They said, “Your education is a must, we will find a way to pay for it.” With some difficulties, I stayed in school. Then, with the grace of God, my mother delivered a baby boy. It meant the end of our discrimination ordeal. The repercussion for having an extra kid was the penalty fine for violating government birth policy. The enormous fine was a financial woe to my parents, on top of the high-school tuitions for my sister and me.
In 2013,
during my 9th grade, my sister and I became Peach members. Aunt Jeng visited us
and my mom wept on her shoulder. She hugged Aunt Jeng and said, “I would have
killed myself if it weren’t for my kids.” Our lives took an U-turn and we all
wept. (Photo, from left to right – Ruth Jeng, Mom, Deng Conghua, young brother,
young sister Deng Congwang, elder sister Deng Congxiang.) With the support from
Peach, our education flourished. My elder sister and I are both in college now.
She majors in software engineering and is due to graduate next year. I am a
freshman in telecommunication engineering. My younger sister is in ninth grade
and she joined Peach two years ago. My brother is a third grader. The family
financial pressure remains heavy, but Peach has helped us all these years in
aid and mentorship. With three Peach students in the family, we are a mini
cosmos of Peach.
We all have made good progress on the life path, a path that is meaningful, delightful and enjoyable. There is nothing we can do about yesterday; we can however, by grasping today, mold tomorrow’s destinies. A gold piece will shine through the mud eventually, and so will I. One story goes like this: An optimist and a pessimist both examine a rimmed object. While the pessimist sees only the gaping hole, the optimist sees a complete, delicious donut. There is no point of dwelling in the past, wrapped in misery and self-pity. It is a better future that we should strive for. I hope all my Peach siblings can see the donut - the potential of tomorrow, and become an optimistic and cheerful person.
During the ten-day winter camp, I found myself quite skilled in reaching out to the young Peach students (Photo, from left to right - Conghua, Ruth Jeng, Congxiang.) They are just like me of a few years ago: reticent, frightened, and vulnerable. I did my best to cheer them up by showing the optimistic and positive part of me, just like the volunteer elders have affected me years ago. I hope my meager effort made a difference in shaping their perspective toward life. The winter camp is an invaluable experience to them. I have witnessed kids who initially refused to say anything, ended up being the ones who could not stop talking to me. They opened up and boldly placed their trust in others. Many of them in my class are orphans or from single-parent families. I believe Peach will make a difference in their lives, just like it did for me.