 |  |  | | October 14, 2005. Ma Jumei, 12 and her friends, in Dongchuan Village. |
| |
By Melanie Hui Most of the girls in the Dongchuan village in Gansu province have no memories of living anywhere else. But they all speak of how different their lives would have been, if their families had not left the ‘old village’ nine years ago. The girls belong to some of the 348 households which were resettled from the arid mountains of Dongxiang county. The move was part of a ‘first stage’ poverty reduction resettlement project supported by the World Bank. One 12 year old girl does remember enough to know that life is now easier. "The water in the old village was bitter. We have fresh water now. When there was no rain, life would be very hard. All we ate was dried potatoes. My family used to live in a cave but we have a proper house here," Ma Junhua explained. There have been improvements but these girls want -- and deserve -- much more. Most of all they want to go to school. Only two out of the group of 12 girls are currently attending primary school. The rest stopped after grade three or even earlier to look after younger siblings. Some stopped simply because their parents could not afford to keep them there. The villagers are of the Dongxiang ethnic minority and are predominantly Muslim. The village has high levels of adult illiteracy and parents are often unable to see beyond the costs of keeping their children in school. Another 12 year old, Ma Jumei, has spent much of the past three years, since leaving school, helping her mother care for her family of eight. Like many other families, her father works in the nearest city of Lanzhou. "I had to stop school after grade three. My family had no money for me to finish. I really miss going to school…I liked it very much. But we are too poor," she said. In her family, only her younger brother attends grade one at the village school. | |  | | October 14, 2005. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz sharing thoughts with a local imam at a village mosque in Dongchuan. |
| |
Ma Jumei shows a clear desire to learn. It’s shown by the fact that although her family speaks only the Dongxiang language at home, and despite having only three years of schooling, Ma Jumei continues to teach herself Chinese. She practices every evening by watching the news and other programs on TV. She now speaks the language almost flawlessly. The situation is typical among the group of girls. Ma Junhua also stopped school three years ago to look after her younger siblings and talks about missing the experience of learning, as she holds on to her one year old brother, who she spends most of her day caring for. After speaking to students in the prestigious Lanzhou University in the morning about the importance of continuing to learn, World Bank President Wolfowitz brought the same -- but even more urgent -- message directly to the parents of these girls and the heads of the Dongchuan village. While talking with some families and children, he especially encouraged parents to give their daughters at least as much education as their sons. Without schools, the girls’ opportunities are limited. It’s a fact clearly shown by Ma Jumei’s comments. "I can’t think of what I would do when I grow up. I think I’ll just stay here. We don’t go to school so what else can we do as a job?" she said. Melanie Hui is an intern for the World Bank’s office in Singapore. She is part of the team accompanying President Paul Wolfowitz on his first trip to China. |
RSS