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Saturday, August 23, 2014

Letter from a Student

Blessing Hands
Blessing Hands
 Recently we got this letter and volunteer report from Li Dongyu, one of our Blessing Hands students. It so moved me that I asked him if I could use it for a newsletter. He agreed, so here it is with his own Chinese words and translation (with a few corrections in English from me). 

我在培训的地方拍的。在这里我学到了很多东西,我爱这个地方。 My training place. I learned a lot here. I love this place.
我在培训的地方拍的。在这里我学到了很多东西,我爱这个地方。 My training place. I learned a lot here. I love this place.
亲爱的的祝福之手: 
Dear Blessing hands:

你好!How are you!

下个学期我就上大四了,时间过得真快,我又想起了第一次给你写信的时候,那时我还在上初中,到现在过去已将近八年了。那时我还不会用电脑,给你写信时我就用铅笔写好在信笺上,交给老师代发。那时我的很好奇,远隔重洋的你是否能收到我的信,事实证明你收到了,八年来都收到了我的信,八年来你们一直给予我帮助,让我的学业能不断进步,让我有更多机会去见识世界和了解世界,非常感谢你们。

 
I am a college senior next term. Time flies. I remember the first time to wrote to you, when I was in junior high school, and now it has been nearly eight years. At that time I did not use a computer, when I wrote to you. I used a pencil to write on the letterhead of the school with the teacher's encouragement. I was very curious, separated by vast oceans, whether you received my letter. In fact you did receive it. For eight years you have received my letters. For eight years you have given me help, let my academics progress, and let me have more opportunities to see and understand the world. Thank you very much.

我还有最后一年就要毕业了,到时候我想从事软件开发的工作,因为这是我的专业。我希望我编写的软件能帮助人们提高工作的效率,或者给生活带来趣味。你们是我的榜样,我想在工作后做一个祝福之手。

 I have one last year to graduate from the university. I want to work in software development because this is my profession. I hope I will write software that can help people improve the efficiency of their work or bring life fun. You are my role model, I want to do like the works of Blessing Hands. 

这是我在学校的时候拍的照片,那时是2014年4月。School photograph in April 2014.
现在我正在南宁市接受培训,我原来说过我想成为一名软件工程师,现在我越来越接近我的理想了。我在这儿学到了很多知识,我和我的同学打算为一家医院开发管理系统。能取得今天的成绩与你的帮助是分不开的,非常感谢你们的帮助,我很期待有一天也能像你一样去帮助别人。

 
Now I'm in Nanning for training. I want to be a software engineer. Now I feel more and more close to my ideal. I learned a lot here. My classmates and I are going to develop a management system for a hospital. To achieve today's achievement is inseparable from your help. Thank you very much for your help. I'm looking forward to one day being able like you to help others.

这是我们将要开发的系统,为了方便医院对病人的资料进行管理,使病人能获得更好的治疗,让医生的工作量减轻,我想我如果能作出这个系统,也是一件很有意义的事情。

We are going to develop a system to facilitate the hospital information management of the patient. The patient can get better treatment, making the doctor's work easier. I thought if I could make the system, it would be very meaningful.

  
2013年下学期到2014年上学期的义工说明
 Volunteer Activities

 
我有一个社科系的同学,叫做莫素芳,她每个学期都会去柳州市儿童福利院做义工,她给我讲了在在儿童福利院的孩子的事情时,我决定周末跟她一起去照顾福利院的孩子。

 My classmate, Mo Su-fang, goes to Liuzhou Children's Welfare Home each semester to volunteer. After she told me about the orphanage children, I decided go with her to care for the welfare of the children on the weekend.

柳州市儿童福利院的地址是航银路66号,从我们学校乘公交车过去要将近1个小时。周六我和同学给孩子们买了一些小礼物就过去了,有笔和笔记本,还有一些零食。刚到的时候,孩子们有些害怕我们,因为平时很少陌生人会来看他们。我们把礼物发给每个小孩,和他们做完游戏后,孩子们都喜欢上我们了。时间过得好快,我们都很开心,有的孩子要为我们表演唱歌和跳舞,有的要为我们朗诵诗歌,我很感谢他们的表演。中午的时候我们在一起吃饭,我和同学都细心地喂孩子饭(有些是残疾儿童),那顿饭我们吃的很开心。

The Liuzhou child welfare address is No. 66 Air Silver Road. It's one hour from our school to there by bus. My classmates and I bought some small gifts for the children on this past Saturday. There were all kinds of pens, notebooks, and some snacks. When we first arrived, the children were afraid of us, because usually strangers come to see them. We gave gifts to each child. After they finished the games, the kids began to like us. Time passed very happily. Some children sang and danced for us or recited some poetry. I was very grateful for their performances. At noon when we ate together, my classmates and I were careful to feed the children rice. Some of them are disabled children, who cannot feed themselves. The meal we ate was happy.

时间过得好快,我们下午4点就要回去了,孩子们对我们非常不舍。由于福利院不允许拍照,我们没有留照片。

Time was soon gone, since we had to go back at 4:00 pm. We were very loathe to leave. Because the institution did not allow pictures, we have no pictures.
__________________________________________________________________

最近一次做义工是在这个暑假,我离开学校到南宁市去进行培训。我的同事和我一起为一个留守儿童募捐的活动布置会场。

 A recent volunteering activity I participated in this summer vacation concerned left-behind children. My classmates and I together planned a left-behind children's fundraising activity.

这是我们布置的会场,为留守儿童进行募捐。This is our arrangement of the venue, to raise money for the children left behind.
这是我的同学,他叫周天明,我们正在把气球挂到墙上。This is my classmate. He is called Zhou Tianmin. We were preparing balloons to hang on the wall.
这是我的同学,他叫周天明,我们正在把气球挂到墙上。This is my classmate. He is called Zhou Tianmin. We were preparing balloons to hang on the wall.
这些是留守儿童代表,他们都获得了帮助,许多孩子的父母都是外出打工,一年才能见一次面。这是他们在彩排一个节目,诗歌朗诵。

These are representatives of the left-behind children who get help. Many children's parents are migrant workers, who see their kids once a year. This is their rehearsal program for poetry readings.

 
我们邀请了一些企业家和教育机构的代表,他们将在下午为孩子们进行募捐。
We invited representatives of some of the entrepreneurs and educational institutions. There will be fundraising for the kids in the afternoon.
 我和同学弄了一个上午才好,虽然没有直接帮助孩子们,可是我还是觉得我做的事情是挺有意义的。

My classmates and I got to prepare in the morning. Although we did not directly help the children, but I think we did something really meaningful.
Great Nonprofits Award

What a wonderful letter Li Dongyu has written. I am attaching a photo of him when he first came into our program in 2006. This year is our 9th year serving students in China. 
Li  Dongyu at Puyi Middle School in 2006
Li Dongyu at Puyi Middle School in 2006

We get lovely letters like this when students are thanking sponsors. What a joy it is to see them grow up and want to become Blessing Hands. 

Each year Great Nonprofits Top-Rated List of Nonprofits comes out in October. To be listed for 1914, we need 10 positive reviews on our page on their website. Most of our students in China can't give a review on a computer, but you can.  Please take the time to tell people what you think of Blessing Hands - good or bad. 

Help us get a @GreatNonprofits 2014 Top-Rated Award by writing a review of your experience with us! All reviews will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It's easy and only takes 3 minutes! 


I will tell you a secret. These reviews encourage our hardworking volunteers to keep it up. Take time to say thank you like Li Dongyu did. Thanks is all the pay we get.  
I thank all you who have helped our Blessing Hands students. We have all of our college  scholarship students funded now thanks to you.
 

Blessings and thanks, 

Betty Cutts
Blessing Hands