Student Sponsorship Home Visits

Summer break for most high school students means returning home to help  their parents (especially their mothers) work the family farm.  This is also a  great opportunity to visit with not only the students, but their families as well.   This is what our current and former sponsored college students did this  summer.  On and around July 26 seven of our sponsored students joined our local  project manager visiting many of our sponsored students and their families.   Here’s a letter written to you by WuGe who graduated this year from college  and test into a government teaching job in Meigu county. [WuGe writes] Hello everyone.  My name is WuGe and I’m from a village  home.  I have a younger sister and 2 younger brothers.  When I was still in  elementary school my father started taking drugs and began to change.  Yet,  he’s a hard worker and continued to work in a local iron ore mine and earned  money to pay for our schooling.  My mother is also at home working the  family farm fields and earning money from raising pigs.  This money also  went to help the 4 children attend school.  However, a few years ago my  mother was hit by a car and received serious injuries.  Now she’s not able to  do heavy work. In order to change our living standard, my parents worked very hard to  provide an education for me and my brothers and sisters.  This year I  graduated from college, my younger sister also graduated from high school  and has been accepted to attend college.  The older of my two brothers is  still in high school, while the youngest brother is in elementary school.  Our  family income is too little to pay for all four of our tuition and living expenses.   I’m very grateful that since 2007 when my sister and I were still in elementary  school, we were continuously supported by Chris (IDEAS Student  Sponsorship).  Even though the sponsorship didn’t meet all our needs, it was  enough to cover some of our financial problems.  So I persisted in living  simply and eating very little until I was through college.  Now that I have a job  I can help my younger brothers and sister.  Furthermore, I want to be a  person who is concerned for others and return to care for students in remote, impoverished areas.  Lastly, I’m extremely grateful for the help all of you gave me!  Zhuogu village student:  WuGe  July 26, 2016 It’s difficult to express the impact your sponsorship gifts have had on so  many of these village students.  Their lives are so difficult and their parents  make major sacrifices to give their children an opportunity at a better life.   Yet, so often they fall short and the only option remaining for many children  is to quit school after 6th grade and work the farm or get low paying,  dangerous jobs for the rest of their lives.  Your sponsorship gifts provide  encouragement and hope.  As we begin another school year please consider regularly sponsoring one or more students at $140/student/year (just under $12/month).  You CAN make  a difference! .