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My China Trip Was Wonderful.
There is no way I could tell all the stories and events of my recent visit to China. I hope you will click on the pictures and go to our Pinterest pages. I can't even list all the people who extended their help and hospitality. I had great Chinese friends and volunteers who accompanied me on various parts of my journey, translated, or fed me great Chinese meals. Everywhere I was impressed with the changes in China and our students in eight years. I feel that Blessing Hands is really making a difference, and Chinese are catching the vision to help their own people. It is amazing to me what we can do with volunteers and dedicated teachers. I especially thank the government officers who have helped us and other NGOs who share our vision.
Sincerely with thanksgiving,
Betty Cutts
Blessing Hands' founder and director
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| Lin Wang 琳旺小学 Students received gifts |
Lin Wang Primary School
Several volunteers helped us bless the Lin Wang School this time. The Mai sisters, Xiaoling 麦小玲 and Xiaoyuan麦小娟 , helped us gather or purchase items to give to the 50 + students at this small Yao School. When they saw the great need, they organized their own friends to return with shoes and gifts for everyone. I am so pleased to see people who speak Chinese take up Blessing Hands' mission. They can do so much more than I can living in the USA. They also are making plans to bless children at Chong Ye Primary崇业小学 in the same county.
University teachers, who have been guest scholars in Morehead, helped us with transportation, shopping for gifts, translation, and communication. We went to measure and record the children's sizes so they could receive Children's Day gifts from Community Roots Foundation in Shanghai. Our Chinese volunteers were able to get the job done quickly with every child getting their picture taken and feet measured.
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| Sisters Xiaoling and Xiaoyuan Mai enjoyed helping so much that they have taken on projects of their own to help D u'an's primary kids. |
This is the village school of Wei Senbao, the little boy with a birth defect to his lymphatic system. We sent him to Shanghai for three operations last spring. He has not had any increased growth to his neck in a year's time, and his mother is pleased with his progress. He still has to have another operation when he is older. We have reserved donations for him for that time. He is now seven years old and 120 cm tall. His scar is not noticeable.
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| Wei's Mother and Grandmother are pictured here. We are giving the family monthly support since there are four fatherless cousins in the family. |
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| Wei Senbao |
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Mupiao and Tingxi Primary Schools
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| Mupiao Primary School's water tank only has one working faucet. |
We are planning to install water purifiers in more Buyi primary schools in the Dewo Township of Guizhou Province. I visited two schools, which will get water purification units and library books. The teachers were also willing to measure their kids for Children's Day gifts.
I sent out a plea for library books for five Buyi schools as I was leaving Chicago on my way to China. Thankfully people gave enough so that those five schools will have $250 worth of books each and even one book teaching Buyi vocabulary, which will be specially made for Fumin Primary students. Yaya Luo, our administrator in that area, will help with editing that Buyi book. She was willing to donate her month's salary to the Buyi vocabulary project. You can give $25 toward a library by donating with this button.
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| Mupiao's library is one shelf in a classroom. The Chinese teacher is talking with Yaya Luo about measuring students for Children's Day gifts and library books. |
Tingxi Primary School has a similar need for water purification and books. The school is a new primary boarding school that will serve older primary students. The teachers all board at the school also. Limestone in the area provides little opportunities for wells, so water is gathered in holding tanks.
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| Tingxi's water tank will support a water purifier. |
They have a small room in the new school for a library, but their books were donated long ago. They are worn out from much use. You can give this school more books by donating here.
You can donate toward a water purifier for a primary school in China by giving $500 at this link. 
A purifier cost $1,000 not counting $300 + for tanks that are bought in China. We have a donor who has given $500, but we need other people to give also, so another school can be helped. We have a great volunteer in this area, Mr. Gao, who is helping us with the installations and pipes free of charge.
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Qinzhou and Anlong Tuition Gatherings
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High School Students Receive Tuitions
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| Xinzhou High School 灵山新州Students |
We often have tuition gatherings for our high school students. I was able to go this year and enjoyed meeting the new students in various schools. We had a great time. Each participant got a new umbrella with the Blessing Hands logo on it and a beaded key chain or bracelet. We used the beads to tell the Blessing Hands story encouraging them to blossom and be a blessing hand to others.
The students in Anlong had to come back to school during Chinese New Year to greet us. One student came four hours on a bus to attend. We always pay their bus fare when they have to make a special trip.
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| Two Students, Wang (王明丽) and Zhen (詹贤能) , applied for college scholarships in Anlong. |
Two students are applying for college scholarships. We took scholarship movies of them to feature when they get their national test scores.
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| Miao Children |
Miao Minority People
Near Kunming in Yunnan Province, I got to meet families of the Miao minority. We have administrators there who have a heart for families. Faith Zhou and her husband Jacob took me to meet the Wang family in Dapingta Village. It was Sunday, so I got to go to church with them and meet a lot of lovely people. Most of the Miao minority people became Christians over a hundred years ago.
We were welcomed to collect children's information for Children's Day gifts and to come again in the future. I even got a Miao style skirt and bag as a gift from the church. Their singing was heavenly. They have their own written language and theological school.
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| Faith Zhou will be helping us asSponsorship Director. She is pictured here with the Miao minister's wife and child. |
Most Miao are farmers, who produce their own food and need little from the cities. I ate some new foods and lots of fruit and vegetables grown by the Wang family.
Faith Zhou was my interpreter and helper in Kunming. She has agreed to help us as our new Blessing Hands sponsorship director. If you sponsor a student, she may be writing you to give you updated student pictures. She could see that I was spending too much time on my computer and needed help with student sponsorship work. I am really thankful for her willingness to help, especially in writing to Chinese sponsors.
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Buyi Minority People
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| Yaya's Mother made sticky rice packages of bacon, nuts, leaves and charcoal rice. |
Since my visit spanned Chinese New Year, I was able to spend several days with the Buyi people in Yaya Luo's village. Her family graciously included me as part of their family. I thought there was a war outside for 15 minutes when fire crackers announced the New Chinese Year. I was able to get a lot of editing of pictures done there while I had no Internet access to distract me. Yaya, who administers our college scholarship program, labored with me on translating student's information forms and letters. We also visited Buyi schools and Anlong High School.
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| Fireworks |
Buyi Culture
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| Buyi minority clothes are made by the family. Yaya's mother does beautiful embroidery and weaving. |
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We will be returning to China in late June and July this summer
Even with all the extra time, I still had to say "next time" to a lot of opportunities. Xaiomin Mai will be visiting her family in June and July. She and I will go with her sisters to Longfu Hospital in Duan for a dental clinic on July 3rd. We also have added more children in that area to sponsor. We have a student intern from Morehead State University, who will also travel with us to visit other locations where we have projects in July. We are also planning a wheelchair donation program for Du'an County.
I thank you for making all we do possible.
Betty Cutts, Director and founder of Blessing Hands
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