January 21, 2005
From the desk of Jane Galt:A plea for help
I just got a very moving email about one of my classmates from the University of Chicago. He's been diagnosed with cancer that, despite aggressive treatment, has spread to his liver. He has very little time to live, but he's using that time to try to help the village in China where he's from. His parents borrowed from everyone they knew to get him into college; once he finished, he was able to pay back that debt in a year. Now he wants to help other kids in this remote area have a shot at a good education:
I am from a very remote village in the south-west of China. To give you some idea: it only takes less than 20 hours to fly to Beijing from US, but it takes me nearly three days to get home from Beijing-with
combinations of flight, long distance bus and walking. Although China's economy has grew at fast pace in the last two decades, the change in my hometown is still very little. Many families still can not support their children to finish elementary school. Thus it has long been a dream for me to set up a scholarship fund to help improve the education in my hometown.I thought I have plenty of time to do that, but I was wrong. Now with fast deterioration of my health, I am afraid that I will not be able to fulfill this dream on my own. So I am writing today to ask for your help. Please lend me a hand and help the kids in my hometown. Any amount you can contribute will make a great difference in their life. (A $40 donation will be sufficient to support a kid for one year's study in elementary school).
He's set up a website to corral donations. It's a twofer: you give children in poverty a ticket to a better life, and you help fulfil a dying man's dream.
Update Commenters have suggested setting up a 501(c)(3). This is a sterling idea, and if there are any lawyers in the readership who would be willing to donate their time, email me, and I'll put you in touch him.
Update II Someone who is teaching in China wrote me expressing scepticism at the notion that elementary schools were charging fees, or that it was hard for people to finish high school, or that children had siblings in violation of the "one child" policy.
I knew from my own reading that rural areas are already flagrantly flouting the "one child" policy. But his other concerns seemed very legitimate, so I did some quick looking on the web. I found a web project describing the vast disparities between rural and urban education, an article discussing a crackdown on the illegal levying of fees in the countryside for elementary and middle school, a Salvation Army piece describing children in elementary school who would have to drop out because of the fees if the Salvation Army didn't help, and other resources that seem to back up pretty well the idea that there are, in fact, fees being charged for elementary education in rural China.
Posted by Jane Galt at January 21, 2005 9:12 AM | TrackBack | Technorati inbound linksPerhaps he could organize as a 501c3, which is relativly easy to do, provides him the benefit of not having to pay income tax on the donations, his donors the benefit of being able to deduct the donations, and everyone the benefit of various legal protections.
The guy is in China, dying of cancer. I think it would be quite wonderful if someone with expertise in setting up 501c3s would do this on his behalf.
I'm going to see if my husband's employer will match this type of gift. We'll donate regardless but I want our donation to go as far as possible. I'm so sorry about your friend, Jane, on your account, and so proud of this man I've never met for taking such generous action to leave the world better than it was when he entered it. [Swallowing giant lump in throat]
Jane,
For what it's worth, I'm no China expert and I've heard the stories about the School fees at least a few times. So, I'm not skeptical about that at all.
Well, gee, I'd gone to the comments to say just what Jonas just said.
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I find it amazing that someone actually in China would doubt that there are corrupt local Party members that don't follow the rules. Perhaps this person gets news only from official sources?
It never hurts to check out individual cases or to be a bit sceptical. But breaking the rules is so widespread and standard in China that it makes more sense to be sceptical of claims that the law is strictly enforced.
Thanks Jane and everyone for your kind message and support. I am the guy who started the whole effort. Just to clarify, I am still in US (CA, to be specific). I want so much to go back home so I can meet my mom and brothers and sisters, but my health situation just does not allow me to travel long distance like that. As for fees in elementary school, what I refer to are money you need to buy books and fees local school/goverment charges each student. Elenmentary school is definitely not free. Also lots of family in remote rural families still have two children, or just one as some people said.
Thanks again for all your support,
A few months ago a TV interview of a middle-aged Iraqi who had returned to the US(he's been a naturalized citizen for years) was asked something like "What did your visit back to Iraq remind you, about major differences between here and there?" His response: "We Americans almost never have to bribe someone."
I certainly wish better fortune to the young man and his community. However I wish to address Americans:
It is likely that the folks who get so worked up over the sweat shops(e.g., the iconic "WalMart" and "Martha Stewart" varieties) believe that there's gotta be some sort of SLAVE arrangement in place. Then these same people will bemoan the pitiful rural conditions - - never admitting that the rural misery motivates these people to seek LESS misery in the sweatshops. Oh, and native Americans lived in harmonious splendor, at one with nature, until the foreigners brought inferior blankets and poor substitutes for bow and arrow.
Please check the proportion of Americans' biographies which claim, "He moved from the city to a rural area in search of fortune."
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