Promoting Education, Art, and Community Harvest
PEACH FOUNDATION
NEWSLETTER
August 2020, issue No. 56
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 children this year. With
everyone’s support, 995 of them have already been sponsored. However, we really need your help
spreading the word among your friends and family to find sponsors for the
remaining 505 children. We would
like to thank you and your family for the unwavering support during this
difficult time.
Staff
Home Visit Trip – During
May 11-21, PEACH staffs conducted home visits to 179 students living
in 26 towns covering the
counties of Yulong, Lushui, Ludian,
and Huize. In May 25-30, staff traveled to the five counties in Dehong prefecture: Ruili, Mangshi, Longchuan, Yingjiang, and Lianghe. This trip
covered 245 students in 44 towns. The qualified students can expect to receive
their financial aid in September.
Myanmar Project – PEACH
has contracted with 40 orphanages and Chinese schools in Myanmar to provide
support and scholarships. In June, the Mingalar
orphanage sent an urgent request for financial assistance. Due to the pandemic,
the donations to charity have dwindled down significantly. The orphanage was on
the verge of not being able to feed its students. We verified the situation and
decided to release funds to the three poorest orphanages.
We will remit scholarships to the other orphanages and Chinese schools when we have
better information about their situations.
We are holding a summer camp next year between April 1-7 at Mingalar orphanage in Yangon, Myanmar. This is our first
summer camp in Myanmar. We need volunteers to teach English and volunteers with
medical background to provide physical check-ups for the students. If you are
interested in joining the trip, please contact us.
2020 summer camps and volunteer trips have been cancelled due to pandemic
risks. We regret the disruption to your plans. 2021 Summer Camps – schedule as follows. Please join us and
register.
Session A: 7/17-7/27/2021 at Ludian,
Yunnan Province.
Session B: 7/26-8/5/2021 at Huize, Yunnan Province.
Session C: 8/5-8/13/2021 at Yulong, Yunnan Province.
Good News – We are pleased to
report that this summer, 1,154 PEACH students completed their middle school
education and are going to high school, 1,121 PEACH students graduated from
high school and are heading to college, and 496 college students graduated and
joined the workforce. This accomplishment belongs to all of you, our sponsors.
Thank you. The individual reports of your sponsored children will be mailed to
you shortly.
Unsanctioned Money Transfer – It has come to our attention that there were incidents where PEACH students
contacted their sponsors for money. Usually the alleged reasons involved the
decease of a family member, being a victim of a scam, or an urgent payment. 
In June, a graduate of PEACH borrowed money
from sponsor under the guise of medical treatment for mom. The loan went into default eventually
after several collection attempts.
We have repeatedly
requested sponsors not to have any financial transactions (money transfer, promise,
and guarantee) with students directly. Any of such financial activities should
be channeled through PEACH. Giving money privately to students will hurt
donors, children and PEACH. We are aware that such instances do exist, mostly
out of the charity and kindness of the sponsor.
We understand that all our sponsors are kind
and caring. PEACH in fact had established a small loan program to address such urgent needs from students. Please
notify us if your students asking for financial help from you. If you would
like to provide extra assistance to your students, please channel it through PEACH.
Status Report – PEACH
currently collaborates with fifteen counties in Yunnan. Among them, there are five new counties from Dehong prefecture. China has been working on alleviating poverty for
years, yet there are still students and their families that need PEACH’s
assistance. The teachers and students of our collaborating schools all have
expressed their desire for the continuous support from PEACH. We will continue
to evaluate and explore our targeted schools and position ourselves accordingly.
Last year, we reached out to Myanmar and started our program there. There
are many poor children in Myanmar that are in dire need of our support and
assistance. Through education, these poor students will have the opportunity to
complete their education, have decent jobs, and lead a prosperous life. We can
motivate these students and helped them to reach a prosperous and fulfilling
life. There are many challenges in front of us. We are grateful to you for your
steadfast support in this worthy cause of helping poor students.
We are
recruiting volunteer English translators to work on student materials. If you
are interested, please contact us via email.
Also attached are
two Myanmar kids’ biographies and a copy of the PEACH
magazine. The magazine is
a forum where the students delineate their heart-wrenching stories. We truly appreciate if
you can share them with your friends and family.
Best Regards,
Ruth Jeng
President
PEACH Foundation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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____.
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 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.)
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
201266 Khow
xx, Female, 7th grade (Myanmar)
Translated by
George Wang
I came from Nankun
village in northern Shan province. My father passed away before I was born.
According to the Jingpo custom, Mom remarried to my uncle. As a result, I have
three siblings 
in my family. I am the eldest daughter. Our big family comprises grandparents, our
family, and my uncle and aunt.
Our livelihood depends on the harvest of rice. If rice price is low, the whole family
suffers. I don’t have money to buy
school textbooks most of the time. Sometimes I return to home to take care of
my sibling when my parents go out of town.
Our village has no electricity. To study in the night, I use solar
lamplight or candles for illumination.
During rainy season, candle is the only option. The storm would shake up the house
violently and keep me awake all night.
After the storm, the road would turn into a muddy swamp. The winter here is frigid and we don’t
have enough clothes to stay warm.
Both of my parents are illiterate. They had high
hopes for me; they sent me away to have a better opportunity for studying. I
enjoy reading and I spend after-lunch hours at the library. Reading excites me. I will follow my
parents’ wish and complete my study through the 10th grade. When I
grow up, I would like to be a teacher to help those poor, war-torn students and
orphans.
201268 Shu xx, Female, 7th grade
(Myanmar)
Translated
by
George
Wang
I came from Nankun village in northern Shan province. Our village provides
no basic amenities and has been torn by the ongoing war. To escape from the gun
fighting, the villagers 
would escape to the hill to take refuge. We often
suffer hunger when war rages on.
Once we were in the classroom when a gun battle broke out. The teachers and
us were all frozen in terror. How should we escape and where should we go? Who
should we bring? We had no clue to those questions. The school closes when
there is a fighting. Our school provides education through the fourth grade
only. The teachers are kind and devoted to students. However, the lack of
qualified teachers limits how much we can learn under such an environment.
The winter weather in the village is harsh and we suffer daily from
insufficient clothes. After the fourth grade, we would have to walk three
kilometers to a neighboring model village to continue the education. There is
no paved road to the village, only walking trails. To visit a clinic or hospital,
one needs to walk five kilometers. Some patients passed away because they
couldn’t make it to the hospital in time.
I was sent to Hosanna due to family poverty. I am thirteen years old and a
seventh grader. My parents are farmers; they work hard to survive. In addition
to farming, they live on selling chopped woods, wild vegetables, and working as
a hired farm labor. They have no formal education and they want me to be
educated. I enjoy reading, writing, and music. I study hard and my dream is to
be a doctor. I am a diligent student and I receive A’s in all the tests. If I
could be a doctor one day, I would build a library,
hospital, and paved road for our village.