Believe in the Future
The
bus was leaving and in a few minutes we would be out of this village, which was
poor, dirty, and isolated but full of my memories of my past fourteen days. My friend
tried her best to comfort me by patting me on the back, but my eyes were filled
with tears. I dared not look back. There my “sister” stood with other children;
they were waving to us and saying goodbye.
Fourteen days ago I arrived with my classmates at this village in the province of Gansu.
Being top students in our university and selected to be volunteer teachers to
support education in poor areas of my country, we were ambitious that we could
make a change to this place.
The sky
was blue and clean, but as it was cut by the rolling mountains, it seems small
and round, its edges were extremely clear. There were terraced fields on both
sides of the road, step by step they reached the top of the mountain, and there
were more mountains on the other side of these. The sun was strong. The land was so dry
that cracks were everywhere, like the patches on their clothes. Dung was used on the gardens so at first we could not help covering our mouths and noses. The dogs barked occasionally; it was hard to see houses as they were hidden in the
mountains, only lonely columns
of smoke rose from the mountains.
From the first day, we had been teaching classes to the children from the
village and at the same time, preparing for the final performance, which is due on
the last day of our teaching program when we would invite their parents to be our audience.
“Attention,
please! My dear students! We are going to learn a poem today, whoever reads
best will be chosen to take the leading role of the poetry reading performance”
I raised my voice and smiled, looking around the class.
The
classroom was small and shabby with shabby walls and half-broken windows. The
light was dim. Some of the desks and chairs were broken and some children had
to lean on the desk. But they all stared up at me, highly focused and highly
motivated.
I
turned around and wrote the title of the poetry on the blackboard: “Believe in the
Future” As soon as I finished, I could hear whispering from the back of the room, “Believe
in the Future”, they were repeating to themselves.
“When
cobwebs relentlessly clog my stove;
When
its dying smoke sighs for poverty;
I
will stubbornly dig out the disappointing ash;
And
write with beautiful snowflakes: Believe in the Future”,
By
reading these lines aloud and explaining the background, I, together with my
students, went through the author’s deepest thoughts, resistance and striving
during the darkest time in China.
“Since
we have finished reading, what touched you most in the poetry?”
A
slim girl named Ming Yin, who had always been a top student in my class, raised
her hand, “His determination of hope and belief in future regardless of his
terrible political situation” I nodded my head: “Great answer!”
“Teacher
Chen, can I try the leading role? I want my mother to be proud of me” Ming Yin’s
voice shook slightly and her face turned red. “Of course, you can”, I looked at
her in the eyes
“Since
practice makes perfect, may I visit your home this weekend and give you some
instructions?” I asked.
“That
would be great! I will tell my mother the good news!” Cheerfully she ran
towards her home and disappeared at the end of the road.
Finally
the big day came, Ming Yin stood straight in front of the whole group, head up, and she gave me a confident smile. The background music started. She recited the
sentence with the music, loud and passionate enough to touch all the audience: “Friends,
please believe in the future, believe in our unbending striving, believe in our
youth that can conquer death, believe in the future and love your life!”
The voice
constantly circled in my mind and I couldn’t calm down any more, because I
really did not know how could she believe in her future when I thought back on
the visit to her home.
It was
high on the hill and I was out of breath when I got there. Her mother, holding
her little sister, came to open the door and welcomed me warmly. I was
astonished when I looked around, the room was about 10 square meters, the walls
were not painted, but were decorated by countless awards. There wasn’t a
bathroom, actually they were even lacking in clean water for drink. Mosquitoes
flew everywhere.
Even
though her mother managed to serve me with a cup of tea, steamed bread, and a
bowel of vegetable soup with little meat floating on the surface.
“How
is everything going here?”
“Fine,” said her mother,” Her father is working in a city to make money and comes back
once a year. Five years after the death of her younger brother, I finally had
this baby”, the little baby girl was busy raising herself on tiptoe in order to
reach the snack I brought there.
“Mum
promised to buy me a bicycle for my last birthday, but my sister got ill, so we
had to bring her to hospital…”She said as she bit her lower lip.
“it’s
OK”, I held her hand and said, ”From now on I am your older sister ”.
All
good things must come to an end, they say.14 days passed and I had to leave. I
hold Ming Yin tightly in my arms, sobbing and speechless. After a while, she
wiped away her tears and smiled to me “sister, it’s time for you to go, don’t
worry, I will always believe in the future and love my life”.
I could not help crying when I got on the bus. Ming yin was
only twelve years old, she had not ever seen the
world out of the mountains, but she had such a determined desire and ambition,
and she did make great efforts. I wished her a bright future.