Promoting Education, Art, and Community Harvest
PEACH FOUNDATION
NEWSLETTER
April 2020, issue No. 55
Translated
By George
Wang
Dear Friends,
The coronavirus is still
rampant in the world. We wish you good health and safety during this period.
We admitted 1,500 new students this
year. We urge you, your family members, and friends to help sponsor these
students. With your perennial supports, these kids will have a fighting chance
in education.
New Project
Site – Dehong Prefecture: Dehong is located in western Yunnan. Dehong means the downstream of Nu River. The prefecture
borders with Myanmar on the north, west, and south sides. Its geography includes the five counties
of Mangshi, Ruili, Lianghe, Yingjiang, Longchuan. There are more than thirty ethnicities, most
notably Dai, Jingpo, Lisu, Achang, and Deang. We are providing 250 scholarships to this area and
will visit them in May.
Myanmar Project: As of 2018, there are 195 countries in the world. Myanmar ranks 152
worldwide on income with a per capita GDP of $1300 a year. The infrastructure
is dilapidated. It takes 6-7 hours just to travel 200 kilometers (120 miles).
Many parents are farmers and have limited income. Some are miners and
transportation labors. They earn on average of $100 USD per month. Such meager
income barely covers costs for food and leaves nothing for their children’s
education.
The kids of Grace Heaven Orphanage
Last November, we visited forty orphanages and Chinese schools in
Myanmar. Among these institutions, PEACH
has granted 273 scholarships for poor students with
good academic standing. Here are a few samplers from student biographies. “Our
family has six kids. My father fell ill. With no money for treatment, he
lingered on for a while before passed away. Mom is illiterate and works as a physical labor. She could not feed us all so
she gave me up to the orphanage.” “My hometown is in the war zone. There are
land mines in the field that have blown up and killed people. Farming is
difficult under such condition. We suffer hunger frequently.” “Our village is a
battle ground. People would flee to the hills to take refuge. As refugees, food
is always in short supply. Sometimes, while we were in the classroom, a gun
fight would break out. The teacher and us all froze in terror. How should we
escape? Where should we go? Who should we bring?”
All these depictions seem to be surreal scenes
coming from a movie. These kids escaped the war-torn zone of north to arrive at
the orphanages in Yangon. It is a strange new world to them. Helplessly and
hopelessly, they have no relatives or people to lean on. They seek only to
live. Just like being stranded in a pitch-black room, one single match can
light up the room for them. PEACH shall be that flaming match. The modest sums
we offer shall be the catalyst that propels them to their new destiny. They are
like my own children. I can hardly wait to see them, hug them, and tell them
that PEACH is here. We will be the match that lights up their life and alters
their future.
We need your support to
help these children continue their education. In Myanmar, the 5th to
8th grade students belong to junior high school,
and the 9th to 12th graders are in high school. The
donation amount to Myanmar is similar to China’s: $150/year for students in
junior high and $300/year for a senior high. You can elect your donation to be
directed to either Chinese or Myanmar students.
2020
Summer Camp Cancelled: Due to the coronavirus, we are sorry to report
that summer camp for 2020 has been cancelled. For 2021, we plan to hold one session summer camp in
Myanmar (April) and three sessions in China (July-August). We will announce the
schedule details in September. Please join us and register.
2020 Volunteer
Exploration Trip The next volunteer group is now opened for registration. It is
scheduled for Oct 17th to 25th, 2020 at the NuJiang region, Yunnan province. Nujiang is one of the rivers within the Three Rivers
Natural Reserve, a World Heritage Site listed by UNESCO in 2003.
We are
recruiting volunteer English translators to work on student materials. If you
are interested, please contact us via email.
Also attached is a
thank you letter from a student and a kid’s biography. Please share it
with your friends and family.
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 (amount as you wish.)
I would like to donate
____to the 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 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.
I would like to
sponsor Chinese students____; I would like to sponsor Myanmar students____; I
have no preference____.
Please check out our instagram: PEACH.foundation, thank
you.
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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A Letter to Uncle
Wang–by 16091 Zhang xx
Translated by George Wang
Dear Uncle Wang,
How are you? This is Zhang xx, a student sponsored by you. Three years ago, I was on the verge of
quitting school, and fortunately you came to my rescue.
I came from a
single-parent family. My mom is blind and my father had mental issues. He was
lucid only part of his lifetime. When I was in sixth grade, he couldn’t stand
the pains any longer and gave up on his life.
A hopeful kid
After my father’s death,
our misery deepened with the bullying of the neighbors. My elder sister quit
school even though she was doing well academically. Barely a teenager, she left
town for work to support the family. My brother had been a top student in the
junior high school. He suffered and endured in his own quiet manner. One time,
in elementary school, he almost fainted due to hunger. Two potatoes lifted him
back to life. In high school, most students ordered two or three dishes for
their meals. My brother would always order just one dish to go down with the
free rice and soups. He would act nonchalant in front of me, boasting about the
bountiful meals he had. It hurt me since I was fully aware of the truth. His
ego and pride prevented him from accepting handouts from others. Working
household chores, he would take on the most daunting tasks: digging potatoes,
transporting corn on the back, splitting fire wood, etc. We all have
encountered numerous hurdles and challenges, nevertheless we plodded forward.
Currently, I have been admitted to Yuxi Normal University. It is one step closer to my dream
of becoming a teacher. There are several things that have always haunted me. I
am constantly reminded of the sacrifices my sister has bestowed to the family,
by the diligence and frugality of my elder brother, by the sadness that my
younger brother when he failed the high school exam, and by the helplessness of
my mother staying home by herself. There are so many obstacles in my path and
so many things that I worry about. I just keep on reminding myself, “I have to
strive for a better future so that I can provide for my family.”
Dear Uncle Wang, I am grateful for your help.
Without it, I would not be what I am today. I am glad that I persist in
studying. Your compassion warms me. I am thankful of you. Again, from the
bottom of my heart, “Thank you.”
20059 Li XX, 9th Grade, Male
Translated by
Maggie Shen
I am currently a student in class 132, grade 8 of Lao Chang Middle School.
My parents were divorced when I was two and half years old. My father became
the sole bread winner for our family. In the beginning it wasn’t too bad. A few
years later, our situation came to 
be very tough. My father was forced into a Ponzi
scheme when he went back to a construction site for work. Because of the
stress, he had a nervous breakdown. He never quite recovered. With my father’s
illness, our lives became more difficult. My grandfather had to go back to work
so he could provide for us, and earn extra money for my father’s treatments. An
elderly person having to take this kind of heavy burden at his age, it was
really hard on him.
Grandma and I were left at our place when grandfather went away to work.
Whenever there was free time, I would go up to the hills to pick woods or feed
our piglets. My classmates played but I only had time to work. Spring is the
toughest season. Planting corn is very exhausting but I have learned to toughen
it up.
Dad stayed in the hospital for a few years. He was sent back home when
there was some improvement. His condition is not stable. Oftentimes he would
push down the dining table during a meal, and he sometimes hits me. Onetime for
no reason, he suddenly kicked in the door, swore at us, and hit grandpa with a
chair. Grandpa’s eyes were injured and had to be rushed to a hospital. We ended
up borrowing a large sum of money to pay hospital bills. Because of his injury,
Grandpa can no longer do any kind of heavy lifting. He now stays home and takes
care of our livestock. Now grandma has to work and support the family. Dad
cannot work. Whenever he feels confused, he becomes angry and unreasonable. My
family hasn’t provided me an environment for learning. I can only learn in
school. I also try to observe other families and learn from them bit by bit.
I am a well-behaved student, and I try my best not to add more burden to my
family. Grandma tells me to study hard because I am the only hope for our
family. I always go out and cry behind her back after she tell me so. I do
study very hard and my grades have been gradually improving. I am one of the
better students from our village. Now in middle school, we have extra school
fees to pay. There is a lot of pressure on my family, not to mention the
pressure of going into a good high school. I would like to apply for the PEACH
Foundation’s 2020 financial aid. Having the financial aid will allow me to
focus on my study and be a better student.