Xinhua News Agency, Anlong, February 28th (reporter Deli Li from Guizhou Radio and Television Station) - According to the report by China National Voice's "News纵横", Xiaqing Village is an ordinary small village in Wanjfeng Lake Town, Anlong County, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. The whole village has less than 2,000 people. It is located in the karst mountainous area with harsh natural conditions.
Like other impoverished areas, most of the able-bodied labor force here chooses to work outside, leaving young children and the elderly at home alone to take care of livestock and tend to the fields.
This originally very ordinary small village has recently drawn widespread social attention. The reason for the attention is a book called "Diary of China's Left-Behind Children."
All the diaries in this book were written by the children of Maocao Primary School in Xiaqing Village, collected and organized by their teacher Yang Yuansong. In the diaries, the children describe their lives as left-behind children in simple language. Their words are not flowery, and there are even grammatical errors, but every word exudes sincerity and truth.
The diaries contain laughter, loneliness and helplessness, complaints about solitude, and aspirations for a better life. What they wrote is actually a reflection of the lives of 70 million left-behind children nationwide.
Seeing her own diary printed in a beautifully bound book brought tears to the eyes of Xia Congyan, a sophomore girl.
The publication of Xia Congyan's and her classmates' diaries in "Diary of China's Left-Behind Children" owes its origin to the encouragement of their Chinese teacher Yang Yuansong when they were in the sixth grade in 2010.
Mao Cao Primary School in Xiaqing Village, Wanfeng Lake Town, Anlong County, Qianxinan Prefecture, has six grades, one class per grade, but only eight teachers. Yang Yuansong mainly teaches Chinese. To improve the students' writing skills, he required them to write a diary every day. This was originally a very common teaching activity, but in each diary, Yang Yuansong was moved by the children's spirit of accepting hardships with equanimity, occasional complaints, but still loving life.
"In the morning, we ate a little rice and went to fetch water. The government transported water to the pass, so we fetched it from there. We had to carry a pot each trip, which could hold fifty pounds. If you carried too little, there would be no water left for your second trip. At first, a cousin used a motorcycle to help us transport the water to a fork in the road. The second time, someone from the village committee helped carry two pots directly to our house. I will always remember the kindness of these good people and never forget them!"
After asking around, Yang Yuansong learned that Yang Haijiao's parents were both working outside and usually she had to take care of her younger siblings and support the entire family besides studying.
Yang Yuansong: I read in her diary that in March 2010, she went to fetch water herself to take care of her younger brother and sick grandmother, which was quite shocking. So I kept encouraging this student to continue writing her diary. The other children also wrote well, each with their own characteristics. The more I read, the more interested I became, so I gradually collected these diaries.
As the collection of diaries grew, Teacher Yang conceived an idea: to compile these diaries into a book.
Yang Yuansong: At the time, I hoped that more people would understand the self-reliant and optimistic spirit of these children. I hope more people would recognize and understand it. Teachers and parents can use it as a textbook to educate their children and students. If this book falls into the hands of city children, they can see a completely new version of themselves.
Over the course of more than a year, Yang Yuansong shuttled between various publishing houses with his manuscript, looking for a publisher while continuing to collect and organize the children's diaries. Eventually, his persistence paid off. Beijing Times Huayu Book Company accepted his manuscript and officially published "Diary of China's Left-Behind Children" in December 2011.
More than 220 diaries of left-behind children, 21 dream-symbolizing paintings, 21 heartfelt wishes, and 12 letters to their parents form this 120,000-word book that moves all readers.
With the diaries printed into books, the parents also received letters from their children. On the hillside of Jinzhudang Group in Xiaqing Village, through the funds for dilapidated housing renovation, the newly built house is spacious and bright. Xia Congyan is checking her winter vacation homework under the guidance of her parents. In a few days, her parents will go out to work again, and now Xia Congyan understands the difficulties of her parents having to leave her behind to work elsewhere.
Xia Congyan's father, Xia Guilin: When we went out to work, the child was still very young, and we didn't expect her to have such thoughts. When we came back and saw her diary, we realized she had something on her mind. After going out to work, we often contacted her, calling her once or twice a week. All this is for the family and life, and she can understand it now. Our relationship is much better now.
On the book jacket of "Diary of China's Left-Behind Children," there is a sentence from the "Teacher's Words": "Do not look at them with pity, but encourage them with admiration." Yang Yuansong hopes to provide another possibility for the children who wrote these diaries. For example, an opportunity to visit a museum or an exhibition, allowing them to discover their interests and find their place and ideals.
Yang Yuansong: I hope the outside world will have a more comprehensive understanding of our left-behind children. First of all, they are not pitiful; they are very strong, very independent, and very optimistic. Although their living conditions are indeed difficult, it is just a matter of quality issues. Their spiritual world is very rich. Let them find their place in today's new society and establish their dreams.
Now, all the children who wrote these diaries have graduated, and none of them have dropped out of school. Yang Haijiao, the student who first moved Teacher Yang, still insists on writing a diary every day, saying that it helps her remember her dreams.
Yang Haijiao: Teacher Yang asked us to write diaries, and I feel relaxed when writing them. Later, Teacher Yang said that our diaries were printed into a book, which could encourage many classmates. I thought in my heart that I should study hard and go to university in the future.