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.