When Gou Yufeng was offered a place at the prestigious Tsinghua
University four years ago it should have been one of the happiest
days of her life.
But for the 23-year-old from north China's
Shanxi Province, it brought some sadness as she feared she
would be unable to afford to study there.
Her mother had not worked for many years, while her father, who
had heart disease, had to make a living for the family of four by
doing odd jobs, earning only a few hundred yuan a month.
However, thanks to a charity fund providing financial support,
she has been able to fulfill her dream of furthering her
studies.
She was chosen by the China Foundation For Poverty Alleviation
(CFPA)
to receive financial aid, which marked the beginning of its New
Great Wall Project.
The foundation provides her with 2,000 yuan (US$246) a year,
which goes towards basic living expenses.
She had initially taken out a bank loan to cover tuition fees
and other costs, but the cash from the foundation has been a
lifeline.
"Now I can concentrate on my studies," she said. "Otherwise I
would have to do part-time jobs."
Her family could only manage to put together 6,000 yuan
(US$740), barely enough for the first-year's tuition. Considering
the living and miscellaneous costs of at least 2,000 yuan (US$246)
a year, Gou had decided to give up on going to university.
In order to relieve the pressures on poorer students, and help
them finish their university studies, CFPA set up the New Great
Wall Project to help them.
As of the end of last year, the project had handed out 8 million
yuan (US$987,000), providing financial assistance to 20,000
students from 168 colleges and universities.
Clifford Pang, managing director of Clifford Group, donated 20.8
million (US$2.56 million) to the scheme in 2005.
He said: "I always feel happy when I see more students have the
chance to study."
The China branch of Nu Skin, an international leading cosmetic
company, donated 300,000 yuan (US$37,000) as part of the project,
to a school in Xingning of
Guangdong to repair its main building, benefiting more than 600
students.
However, compared to the number of students who are in need of
financial assistance, the aid is little more than a drop in the
ocean.
"Of the 13 million university students at present, 20 percent
are from poor families and 8 percent are living in extreme
poverty," Liu Wenkui, deputy executive director of CFPA, told
China Daily.
Official statistics show only 11.1 percent of poor students are
receiving financial assistance from charity organizations or the
government, with the others having to find part-time jobs or borrow
money from friends and relatives.
This situation is made worse by the fact some students lack
awareness of the help available, or are reluctant to ask for
it.
"Lots of students feel ashamed to receive charity donations,"
said Liu. "Actually, all students have to do is to fill out a
registration form of their family situation when they start on
campus, which includes questions such as how much money each of
their family members earn."
Charity organizations would choose the most needy students to
benefit from the fund, Liu added.
China has only three other well-known non-governmental charity
organizations that run projects to give financial support to
students China Charity
Federation, Red Cross
Society of China, and Project
Hope.
(China Daily February 24, 2006)