The large-scale public education fund named “Xiangjiao · My College Dream”, co-sponsored by Hunan Xiangjiao Liquor Co., Ltd.and the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League, in 2019 has come to the final stage in late September since it was startedon April 23. A total of 1,070 poor students in Hunan benefited from the fund this year.

In order to better promote this activity, Hunan Xiangjiao Liquor Co., Ltd. and the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League jointly organized nearly 200 mental health lectures in late May to help middle and high school graduates ease their stress and take the examination with a relaxing mood. During the college entrance examination in June, Xiangjiao sent free water to exam takers in more than 100 test sites in Hunan Province and accurately disseminated its scholarship information. In late June, it selected nearly 1,000 offline registration sites for the fund “Xiangjiao · My College Dream” through its distribution network in the whole province, which helped applicants learn about the benefit and registered conveniently.

In early August, Xiangjiao sent visiting groups to various markets in Hunan Province, and they visited more than 200 registered applicant families to ensure that the scholarship was actually provided. During the one-month visit, the investigators were deeply impressed by the perseverance and courage of the poor students in the face of difficulties and the care and help from the government and society.

An University Admission Notice “Lit Up” ABlind Mother

Located in the Xuefeng mountainous area, Xupu County in Huaihua City, Hunan Province, is isolated due to inconvenient transportation and economically and educationally underdeveloped. Shen is the first college student in Hengbanqiao Village.

“A meeting was held in the village the other day, and the first agenda was celebrating his (Shen) admission to university. That’s really great!” said a villager to the investigators. 

Shen was admitted to the medicine program of Hunan Agricultural University. He chose this major because it had something to do with the experience of his family. His brother became mentally retarded because he did not receive timely treatment of a high fever when he was young. Four years ago, his mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The operation did not go well, and the brain tumor oppressed her optic nerve and caused blindness. Now the family is struggling with a debt of more than RMB 200,000, and his father is the only breadwinner.

Shen’s mother, who has been blind for four years, showed a radiant expression on her dull face due to blindness when the visiting group mentioned that her son was the first college student in the village. She said proudly, “I am really happy and I feel my eyes are lit upbecause my son is admitted to college!”

“Accidents happen. Just smile and you’ll be stronger.”

Ding, who lives in Chongjiang Village, Longhui County, Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, graduated from Longhui No. Middle School and was admitted to the environment and ecology program of Xiangnan University this year. Ding, with big eyes and bushy eyebrows, looks like the star Yi Yangqianxi. He loves many ball games and often immerses himself in the world of The Scroll Marked to cheer himself up. A sunshine boy as he is, Ding has an unusual life experience.

When the visiting group came to Ding’s, they found that the two-storey brick-and-wood building had no railings on the second floor and the building was old and broken. Ding was the owner of the house, as indicated in the “Notice Card of Housing Security Level” issued by the Longhui County Government. His father died in a car accident in 2010. Two years later, his mother remarried and left without traces. Ding in his 10s at that time lived with his elder sister. The young boy suffered the loss of his father and the abandonment of his mother two years later. Young as he was, he was miserable and helpless

Following these family calamities, Uncle Wen came to him and changed his life completely. Over the past ten years, Uncle Wen has not only paid his tuition fees, but also helped him with his studies. On every New Year’s Day or other festivals, Ding will call Uncle Wen as if he were his family. With Uncle Wen’s help, Ding graduated into an ideal university with his hard work.

With the help of organizing committee of the large-scale public education fund “Xiangjiao · My College Dream” and Uncle Wen, Ding became a college student. He said, “Accidents happen. Just smile and you’ll be stronger! I will be a person who is useful to the society!”

“RMB 5,000 may mean nothing for many families, but it really matters to us.”

Jiang, a student from Xupu County, Huaihua City, Hunan Province, was admitted to Zhongnan University of Economics and Law this year. She received the offer, but her mother told her an amazing news: She is not their biological child. Jiang remained calm about this astonishing fact. Adept at observing and thinking since she was a child, she had sensed something from her parents’ words and expressions before she learned the news. Clever and kind, she told her parents, “This is my home. I will be your daughter forever!”

Jiang has been just as tough as a farm girl since she was a child. In one busy farming season when she was young,she collected rice with her mother on the farm. It was scorching, and she soon suffered from heatstroke. Her mother, however, was still working in the hot sun. Jiang was worried about her mother, who told her later, “Children of poor families have to get independent early. We are just one of those families, so you have to study hard and make a rise in life.”

“Every time I saw my parents work hard on farm, I told myself over and over again that I had to change our lives. Going to an ideal university was the best way I could think of at the time,” said Jiang.

Jiang had always been the top student in the class. The family had tried hard to make ends meet because they were poor and her father suffered from tuberculosis and other diseases. “RMB 5,000 may mean nothing for many families, but it really matters to us. If I can successfully apply for this scholarship from ‘Xiangjiao · My College Dream’, my family’s burden would be greatly reduced and I could be relieved in college,” said Jiang. 

In order to take care of her sick mother, a girl had to quit school for two months before Gaokao

Peng, a studentfrom Chengbu County, Shaoyang City, Hunan Province, was admitted to the financial management program of Hunan Women’s University this year. This offer was hard won, considering that she quit school for nearly two months before the college entrance examination.

Peng’s father suffers from mental illness and is not able to take care of himself. Her grandparents are in their 70s, and her mother is the only worker and breadwinner in the family. In this January, she was diagnosed with cerebral infarction. The pillar of this family collapsed.

Ms. Peng received treatment in the ICU ward of a hospital in Wugang for more than 20 days. After her condition was stabilized, she was transferred to a general ward of a hospital in Chengbu County. At that time, Peng was supposed to focused on her preparations for the college entrance examination. With a mother who was seriously ill, Peng made an astonishing decision that she wouldquit school to take care of her mother. However, things went athwart. Death defeated the daughter’s filial piety and the mother passed away...The long absence made Peng miss the key study time. Peng, who had been diligent and hard-working since childhood, could have got a better result.

A sick father, the death of her mother, and old grandparents to take care of... Peng had to cope with so many family difficulties by herself. Under the care and help of the Youth League Committee of Chengbu County, the local town government, and the organizing committee of the “Xiangjiao · My College Dream”, Peng finally entered the university campus and embraced a beautiful future.

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The large-scale public education fund “Xiangjiao · My College Dream” was formerly the public student welfare project named “Xiangjiao and Students · Move on with Hope” initiated by Hunan Xiangyu Liquor Co., Ltd. and the Communist Youth League of the Shaoyang Municipal Party Committee in 2013. In 2018, Xiangjiao and the Communist Youth League of Hunan Provincial Party Committee jointly extended this student aid project to the whole province. Each year, at lest 1,000 impoverished high school graduates who take the college entrance examination and are admitted to full-time regular colleges and universities each receive a scholarship of RMB 5,000. In 2018, the large-scale public education fund “Xiangjiao · My College Dream” supported a total of 1,071 poor students in Hunan through college.