A heartbreaking essay written by a 12-year-old girl has captured the hearts of China’s netizens. More than five million people have read the essay by Liu Yi, a fourth grade student living in a village in Sichuan Province, whose father died in 2010 and mother died last year.
Written in June, the heartwrenching essay ends with ‘My textbook said there is a place called Sun Moon Lake (in Taiwan), that’s formed with tears I shed for missing my mom.” It’s become a hot topic on Sina Weibo with the hashtag #the saddest essay attached.
One positive is that it’s led to a rash of donations with the Sichuan branch of Sina.com receiving about RMB430,000 (USD70,000) for its charity program ‘Help Children in Liangshan Mountains.’ The mountainous area is home to more than two million people of Yi ethnicity and is subject to poverty due to the inacessebility caused by its mountainous regions and the rising number of HIV carriers caused by wide-spread drug taking and trafficking.
Despite the difficulties, the girl told China Daily “I have no fear” and has been assisted by the Azalea foundation who have arranged free boarding and primary school education for her and her two younger brothers. As orphans, the siblings receive a RMB600 monthly allowance from the local government with officials confirming that the family receives RMB3,390 in subsidies or around RMB678 per orphan.
Image from China Daily (courtesy of China Metropolis Daily). To read the full essay, click here.
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