Chinese Canadians have helped 512 poor girls in Gansu realize their dreams of studying for 10 years

On March 29, Canadian Chinese Tian Qingqing came to Gansu again. This time she invited a German couple working in Beijing to meet and discuss with students sponsored in Gansu.

Tian Qingqing is the chairman and founder of EGRC. EGRC is the abbreviation of Canada's Educating Girls of Rural China. In the 10 years since its establishment in 2005, EGRC has supported 512 female students from poor areas in our province, including 390 college students and 112 high school students.

A woman’s charitable heart

On March 30, Tian Qingqing and her party came to Yuzhong County, visited the families of several high school students who had been assisted, and went to En Ling Middle School met with 81 sponsored high school students.

For Tian Qingqing, this trip is one of the "homework" that she must do every year in the ten years since the establishment of EGRC. It has only one purpose, so that more people with a charitable heart can understand the problems in rural Gansu. Current situation to provide help to more female students.

On the morning of April 4, the reporter met Tian Qingqing in Lanzhou. She is thin and has short, sleek hair. She doesn't speak fast but is gentle and concise.

As the founder and chairman of EGRC, Tian Qingqing has a close connection with Gansu.

She was born in 1952. In the 1970s, she followed her mother to live in Longxi County, our province, and stayed there for 8 years. At that time, Tian Qingqing often saw that due to poverty, many local girls were getting married in their teens, and the betrothal gifts were used to marry their brothers or brothers.

In 1983, Tian Qingqing immigrated to Canada. After getting married, she had a son and a daughter, and opened a gallery in Vancouver. Her economic conditions improved a lot. After her life gradually stabilized, Tian Qingqing thought about doing something meaningful for girls in poor rural areas in China, because she would often think of the girls who were unable to go to school in poor rural areas in Gansu. Tian Qingqing can deeply feel the desire of those girls to study, and can also understand their plight of being unable to receive education. At the same time, she also became more and more aware of the importance of women's education to their children, families, and society.

Tian Qingqing told reporters that once, she participated in a charity performance organized by her daughter's school to help African girls go to school. She still clearly remembers what a United Nations official said at that charity performance: "If a woman Once she receives education, her descendants will also receive education." This sentence made her think a lot and strengthened her belief in helping poor rural girls in China go to school.

In March 2005, in order to realize her wish, Tian Qingqing traveled from Vancouver to Gansu impoverished areas at her own expense for inspection. After returning to Canada, she initiated the establishment of the Canadian Association for the Education of Rural Girls (EGRC), which was approved and registered by the Canadian government and is headquartered in Vancouver. Tian Qingqing then sold the gallery she had run for more than 20 years and devoted all her energy to the work of EGRC.

The funds raised by EGRC mainly come from overseas. Every year, she organizes various activities to raise funds for EGRC, including distributing leaflets, holding concerts with student aid activities as the content, and participating in charity Party... Thanks to Tian Qingqing's unremitting efforts, EGRC has become more and more famous in Vancouver, and more overseas caring people have joined the team to help poor female students in Gansu.

In the 10 years from 2005 to 2015, EGRC has funded 512 female students from poverty-stricken areas in Longxi, Minxian and Yuzhong, Gansu, including 390 college students and 112 high school students. The total amount of funding Reached 1.4 million US dollars. So far this year, 247 college students have successfully graduated, 24 of them have gone on to obtain master's degrees, and 2 students have received scholarships with outstanding results and the opportunity to further their studies in Canada.

The power to change destiny

On the day of the interview, the reporter met several female students who had received or are currently receiving funding from EGRC. They all made a special trip after hearing that Tian Qingqing came to Lanzhou. Came to visit.

"Aunt Tian" and "Mother Tian" are their most affectionate expressions for Tian Qingqing.

Because of the funding from EGRC, their fate has changed.

Huang Lili, 28, is from Mawan Village, Longxi County. She is the eldest of three children in her family. Thinking of the college entrance examination in 2007, she admitted that it was "unbearable to look back".

Huang Lili’s parents are both farmers. One month before the college entrance examination, her parents had a traffic accident while riding a farm vehicle. Her father was in a coma and her mother was seriously injured in bed. This put the not-rich family into a crisis. crisis. Huang Lili, who originally focused on reviewing for the college entrance examination, began to travel between two hospitals in Longxi and Lanzhou, enduring psychological pain and pressure that her peers could not imagine. In the same year, my brother, who was four years younger than me, had to take the high school entrance examination.

A month later, the doctor brought his parents back from the brink of death, but the family spent more than 200,000 yuan and the family was in trouble. After that, Huang Lili scored more than 580 points in the college entrance examination and successfully received the admission notice from Chang'an University. But facing her younger brother who was admitted to the ideal high school with excellent grades, Huang Lili fell into despair.

Seeing that the start of school was getting closer, just when the two siblings were about to give up school, Huang Lili suddenly received a call from the Longxi County Education Bureau, saying that there was a charity organization willing to sponsor and help her. Complete college. Afterwards, the ecstatic Huang Lili met "Aunt Tian" for the first time.

In the following four years, Huang Lili received 5,000 yuan from EGRC every year, and her younger brother also went to high school as he wished. After Huang Lili graduated with a master's degree from Chang'an University in 2013, she entered Lanzhou Institute of Technology as a teacher, and her younger brother was also successfully admitted to Sichuan Music Normal University...

"I can't describe in words how grateful I am to Aunt Tian, ??for her presence. , saved me, saved my brother, and saved a family that had lost hope!" Huang Lili's eyes turned red as she spoke.

There are many stories like this among the recipients.

Jin Min is 27 years old and is from Yuzhong, Gansu Province. She began to receive funding from EGRC in 2008 and successfully completed college in Qingdao. After graduating in 2012, he started his own business. She said that Aunt Tian’s help to her was not only financial generosity, but also spiritual encouragement that benefited her a lot. "Children in rural areas have never traveled far and do not understand the outside world. Before going to college, Aunt Tian told us to study if we don't know how to do it. Don't be afraid." She said that it was this kind of encouragement that allowed her to study in the outside world. Qingdao does not feel inferior because he comes from the northwest countryside. On the contrary, she works harder and is more optimistic than others. Take entrepreneurship as an example. Many college students don’t have the courage to do it, but she is not afraid.

Zhang Yunxia, ??who just graduated from Tongji University with a master's degree, has now found a good job in a real estate company in Shanghai. Zhang Yunxia said that it was Aunt Tian who gave her the opportunity and motivation to move forward. For Zhang Yunxia, ??the help Aunt Tian gave her, in addition to regularly subsidizing school and miscellaneous expenses every year, the email exchanges between them was a source of her confidence. Zhang Yunxia said that when she first entered university, from a little country girl to a big city with flashing neon lights, she felt confused and lonely all the time. During her four years in college, Aunt Tian opened windows for her through her rich experience and broadened her horizons. After graduating from her undergraduate degree, she participated in some corporate training activities with the help of Aunt Tian, ??and had the opportunity to communicate with more people...

Because of Tian Qingqing, they were all able to change their destiny. Tian Qingqing gave them not only a grant, but also a kind of strength, inspiring them to persist in their ideals and work hard.

Let the love continue

The purpose of EGRC is to fund the 4-year undergraduate education of poor female college students in rural areas of western China and the 3-year undergraduate education of poor female high school students in rural areas of western China. High school education, assisting Chinese undergraduate students funded by EGRC to continue their studies abroad.

Since 2005, Tian Qingqing has been working tirelessly towards this goal. She said: "The most meaningful thing I have done in my life is that through my efforts over the years, I have given opportunities that I did not get in the past to these outstanding girls who are eager for this opportunity. It is like passing a baton. I hope they will give this precious gift of education to more people in the future.”

Tian Qingqing’s ten years of persistence have deeply influenced Chen Lipei, who graduated from Northwest University in 2010 with a major in Chinese literature. Also funded by EGRC, he is also the first graduate to be employed by EGRC. She originally had her own career plan, but when she saw the recruitment information of EGRC, she wrote a letter of recommendation without hesitation and joined the EGRC team.

Chen Lipei told reporters that she has always felt guilty because she was far away from her hometown and could not contribute to her family's work. Working for EGRC in Gansu will give her the opportunity to give back to her hometown. She wants to use her personal experience to encourage girls who have had the same experience as her and start their path to self-reliance, self-improvement, and self-confidence.

In Chen Lipei’s words, this job is not a simple job, but a career worthy of spending time and energy fighting for a lifetime. This motivation comes from Aunt Tian and EGRC. EGRC once helped her. Now, as a member of EGRC, she wants to help girls in other impoverished mountainous areas in the west. This is exactly the spirit of EGRC. Everyone she ever helped.