Our One More Year Scholarship Program (OMY) partners with Shenzhen Charity Federation to support 500 qualified girls (and some boys) for “One More Year” in senior high school. If they are successful in meeting the scholarship requirements, we will continue to support them until they graduate. Know more about OMY here.
One of our scholars is Qieji Jinxi (22). Qieji Jinxi was born into a family of six. But after her father’s passing when she was just a teenager, she now lives with her mother and younger siblings. She is the eldest daughter, which (quite stereotypically) means that she has more responsibilities than the rest of her siblings.
To make ends meet, her mother sought some odd jobs in Fujian, making an average of CNY 2,000 (USD) monthly. They also have some land, but they were not able to cultivate it due to no one attending to it. However, they at least raise 5 pigs.
While all of these details sound so dreary, Qieji Jinxi is lucky about one thing: her mother believes in the power of good education. Many families in rural China uphold traditional beliefs that girls are not worthy of education, since they will be married off anyway. At least for Qieji Jinxi, her mother is working hard to make her grow into a properly educated woman with many opportunities before her.
Now a scholar of OMY, Qieji Jinxi enjoys the right to her education. We arrived at her home to check on her. Her mother warmly greeted us and invited us to their humble government-sponsored home.
We listened to the mother talk about her daughter, and we saw how much love and pride she possessed towards her child. Every time she comes home during her school breaks, she helps her mother finally work on planting crops in their land. She also helped a lot with household chores, and looking after her younger siblings.
Qieji Jinxi is a truly grateful child, who has pure love for her mother. She recognizes her sacrifices, and she dreams of the days that her mother would stop working too hard, and get her well-deserved relaxation and enjoyment in this lifetime. She also dreams of becoming a doctor to save lives and make a meaningful impact on healthcare in her hometown. Qieji Jinxi had also always attributed our help in her successes—whether big or small.
It truly warms our hearts seeing our impact on girls and their families, and we are never stopping to touch more lives.
Be a Part of the Solution
RMB 3,200 | USD 40 a month is all it takes to keep a girl in school for ONE MORE YEAR, giving her the chance to learn, grow, and succeed.
Sponsor a girl today and invest in her future.
