Visiting the Children of Xichang

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November 15th 2009

Published: November 15th 2009

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Shanghai Sally

Adorable Trio

These three lit up when they saw us and posed for this picture. They were even happier when Doris gave them some lollypops!

When I arrived in Shanghai, I wondered how I would meaningfully fill my time. I struggled with this the first 1 ½ years, but finally settled into volunteering with a very worthy cause, the Charles Foundation (www.charlesfoundation.org). In 2001, Josephine Charles, a British woman working as a counselor at a medical clinic in Beijing, travelled to the rural mountainous area of southern Sichuan Province, near Tibet. She was struck by the extreme poverty there, and when asked if she would help build a school there, she reluctantly agreed. Now, ten schools later, she is still going strong. The foundation now fully supports about 107 orphans, giving them a chance at an education and even university. The primary people served are those from the Yi (pronounced “ee”) minority.

Many children in the area never have a chance at an education, particularly the girls. The Yi are primarily farmers, and the children are needed to help work in fields. The girls are often sold off to work in factories, get married, or worse.... The idea of the foundation is to find a way to provide education to the neediest in the area, which usually means girls.

The Trip

I tried

Yi Woman

This woman was walking through old town, probably relieved that her basket on her back was empty for the moment.

a couple of times last spring to travel to Xichang, the city were they are based, and was finally successful this week. After an unsuccessful attempt to fly out on Saturday (see XX), I finally arrived on Monday night, six hours after the scheduled arrival. I was greeted outside at the gate by Kristin, the local woman who teaches English and works for the foundation, and Doris, a woman from Hong Kong who recently quit her job and is volunteering with us for a year. They had no trouble spotting me in that crowd! It was an interesting arrival, since you don’t even go into the small airport - just out the gate and into the parking lot.

Doris and I stayed at Jo’s apartment, which was quite comfortable. The only problem was that when we woke up on Tuesday morning, there was no water. We learned that a pipe had burst, and they were working on repairing it. Well, it did come back on until late Wednesday afternoon, by which time I was rather dusty from traveling around the area. The Yi people don’t shower at all, so I was very slow to complain!

Day One

Liangshan View

Liangshan means "Great Cool Mountains". This is the view of a valley as we wound our way up to Red Star School

The first day began after Doris and I were picked up by Kristin and Head Master Ma, the leader of five schools centered around Red Star school. At first I thought that the two-hour drive was going to be quite mild, as we left Xichang on a nice paved road. We soon veered of onto a smaller, sort-of-paved road, heading up the side of the mountain. There were tractors and blind corners aplenty, so Mr. Ma always drove with one hand on the horn. A liberal use of the horn at each area of uncertainty helps to avoid being run off the road.

Eventually, as we wound our way higher up the mountain, we began to see more and more Yi people, with women in the distinctive headscarves. We passed through villages on narrow roads, crowded with chicken, dogs, donkeys, oxen and people. It seemed that in a flash, we were in a totally different world. As we climbed higher, we were treated to sweeping views of valleys filled with terraced fields. The slightly smoggy air of Xichang gave way to a beautiful, clear blue sky. (I say “slightly” only because in comparison to Shanghai it was slight. And

Red Star School

You can see the school is quite isolated, but in a beautiful location.

the blue was especially beautiful because we only get “blue-ish” skies in Shanghai.)

At the last valley we saw before turning into the forest, we drove in a u-shape on a road high up the mountainside. From here were could see in the distance Mr. Ma’s “center school”, the largest of the five schools he is responsible for. At first I thought this was our destination, but then we took a sharp left off the road on to a much smaller, rockier dirt road which took us into a airplane-planted pine forest. Apparently the area trees in the are now protect from cutting, which drives the Yi farther down the mountains to live. It sounds like a struggle for the government between preserving the ancient Yi way of life and protecting China’s forests.

This was the new road we were traveling on, with block-reinforced sides at the gullies. Apparently the old road was even more harrowing, with drop-offs that were prone to washouts. This ride was exciting enough for me - I tried not to think about how the car might just bounce off the side as we ground over the large, round rocks that completely covered the

Red Star Classroom

These are the oldest of the elementary school kids at the school. Because they are so small compared to the kids I'm used to seeing, I always thought they were younger than they were.

road in some areas.

When we finally arrived at our destination - Red Star Primary School - I was surprised to see that it sits alone, with no other buildings in sight. It’s in a beautiful setting, surrounded by mountains with a stream running by down at the bottom of an embankment to the side of the school. The children walk one to two hours each way to school each day. As we approached the three-room school, Doris pointed out where the old “school” was, which was simply some limbs with tattered tarp above the earth. What an improvement!

There were several Yi women meandering about with small children in tow. We could here the boisterous children in the classrooms as they recited the teachers’ lessons. The youngest of the children were particularly loud. As I came in to view I felt like a celebrity, and the chidren began giggling and smiling shyly. We viewed each of the three classrooms and gave a hearty “Ni hao!” (hello) to the children. This was met with great excitement. Through their dirty clothes and faces, shined their bright smiles. This is why I came here!

In the library, the four

Teachers' Kitchen

This is the teachers' kitchen at Red Star where they kindly prepared us lunch. The three teachers all live at the school.

of us enjoyed a nice traditional Yi lunch of chicken and potatoes in a soup broth with rice. After lunch, when I said I needed to use the toilet, I heard an “Uh-oh!” from Doris. Kristin said not to worry, that it was clean. I was three-hole, concrete squatty-potty with a short concrete divider between them. I have to say, it was quite clean. The only source of water is a small PVC pipe which dribbles a steady flow of water from the nearby stream. I was able to wash my hands there.

After an enthusiastic good bye, we headed back down the mountain. Although I couldn’t understand Mr. Ma, I appreciated his hearty laugh.

Next we stopped at Mr. Ma’s center school. There are about 250 kids there, most of whom live there. I was received like a celebrity, and felt like the pied piper as children paraded behind us as we toured the grounds. We took a couple of group photos before we moved on.

The next stop was Liangshan Monorities Middle School junior school, where Kristin teaches English. The school was impressive, and it seemed I could almost feel the hard work that goes

Luo Gu Po School

Posing with the sponsored students and the head master.

on there. I met the four girls there who we sponsor.

Afterwards we headed to Sichuan hotpot at Jo’s favorite place near her apartment. Doris, Kristen, Kristen’s mom, and Nina had mercy on me and ordered a non-spicy pot in addition to the typical pepper-filled Sichuan version. (Nina is a local Yi teacher who also helps with the foundation.) Although I had to stop dipping my food in the flavored oil after cooking (it just was too much oil!), the food was very good. Following dinner, I walked with Doris and Kristin’s mother to the torch park to watch the dancing taking place. Loud music played as the crowd followed the leader up on the stage. Off to bed after that…

Day Two

Day two we traveled to Luo Gu Po primary school, about a 45 minute drive away from the city. This is where the bulk of our sponsored kids are - 42 girls and three boys. The students all gathered together, as Doris encouraged them to work hard at their studies. We inspected their hands, and Doris found that they were much cleaner when she last visited them after they’d returned from the summer break.

Yi Dress

This girl wore her complete traditional Yi outfit.

The dorms were very interesting. Our girls live on the third floor in four rooms. Everything was neatly lined up in perfect order in the four rooms - shelves with cups and toothbrushes, bowls and chopsticks. Care-giver Luo makes sure that our children are well taken care of and that their rooms are in good order. I noticed in the other rooms, the boys’ especially, that there were no toothbrushes, cups, bowls or chopsticks. I was told that each student is given a set of these when they arrive, but they slowly disappear over time. It showed me the effectiveness of our care give. The other big difference is that these non-sponsored kids sleep two or three to a bed in the single bunks. They had only a thin pad covering the wooden bed.

As we walked across the playground, a loud voice and music started playing on the speaker system. Soon all 200+ students poured out onto the concrete area and began to line up, spreading their arms out straight to their sides to get set at the proper distance from one another. Once they were lined up, the music began and they danced in unison to

Great Garbage Cans

Who knew garbage cans could be so special? Lou Gu Po school used to have an open dump in between two school buildings until the foundations recently donated these garbage cans.

the commands. It was a special treat to see.

Our next stop was Xichang #5 Middle School, where I met our four sponsored girls, Lucy, Lily, Autumn and Swallow. Lucy walked right up to me, shook my hand enthusiastically and said in English “Nice to meet you!” I don’t think her bright smile left her face the whole time we were there. Since the girls were in English class, I had the opportunity to “teach” the class for a few minutes. The 70 - 80 kids looked at me excitedly as they listen to me tell them my name and explain where I am from. When they didn’t understand a question, they responded with a hearty “Yes!” I was very special. I couldn’t help wondering how a stranger would be greeted in my own kids’ classrooms - not like this, I’m sure.

On we went to pick up Kristin and head the Liangshan Minority Middle School Senior School (high school), where there are over 3,000 kids! I met our 11 students who were preparing for mid-term exams. I met the very strong Helen, who I later learned had walked seven hours from her village back to school after

Yi Embroidery

This lovely woman glanced up from her embroidery work in Old Town.

her family pulled her out of school. She was so determined to finish her education!

Old Town - Xichang

Doris and I then explored the Old Town of Xichang, filled mostly with Yi people. It was a labyrinth of old brick and packed mud buildings. As we poked our way up one narrow pathway between some houses, we were invited to follow a friendly man up the path toward his home. At the end was a small, quite courtyard where his family was sitting outside. We chatted for a few minutes and the let me take pictures. Kristin later said that only foreigners would be greeted like this - lucky met!

We wound our way through the different markets - fresh fruits, vegetables, Sichuan peppers, dried fish, basket, embroidery, and lots of other items that were unidentifiable to me! We crossed an enormous dry riverbed, which now has only a small river running through it. It must have been that was for a while because there were farming patches in the riverbed. On the other side of the bridge we ended up in what, were later told, was the bad part of town. We were approached

Snoozing

I caught this man taking a break on his cart in Old Town Xichang.

for money by a likely drug addict. (Apparently drugs are a pretty big issue here since it is so close to Myanmar.) We didn’t think much of it at the time and carried on. People were very friendly and curious and were always happy to hear me say “Ni hao!” (hello).

Later that night we went to dinner, where Kristin’s very friendly childhood friend met us. She is learning English and asked me to give her an English name. Her Chinese name sounded a bit like Sherry - so that was the name I chose. She was very excited to hear that I have a sister and a friend by the same name. Later, at the outside bbq we went to, I was treated to Nina’s beautiful voice as she sang traditional Yi songs. All four women jumped in to poke fun of some high-pitched Chinese opera songs.

Returning Home

Off to the airport early on Thursday morning, I marveled at all I had seen in just a couple of short days. It took me a few days to digest it all after I got home. I met so many inspirational women and children. It

Like Spicy Food?

Then Sichuan is the place to come!

takes a very strong, determined person to thrive in this area. It was a struggle to get there, and the trip was cut short by the weather, but it was still very worthwhile!

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