Friendship Summer Camp

Friendship Camp Summer Opportunities Friendship Summer Camp in Yangshuo Betty Cutts and Zhang Gongwen     The Yangshuo Education Department, Blessing Hands, Yangshuo County Government, and Sister Cities of Morehead are cooperating on a summer Friendship Camp in the middle of July 2012.      We are excited about this opportunity for our two Sister Cities to get to know one another better.  You can support this camp with your gift at this link. Apply to be a Camp Volunteer Li River in Yangshuo Come to China    We are looking for volunteer teachers and college students to be our counselors at the Friendship Camp. If you can teach or have talent, come share with our Yangshuo students.  Contact us for more details and apply before February 20th.     Our tentative plans are to have camp for a week with our Blessing Hands students, but we also plan to make room for other students, who can pay the camp fee, which will be about $50. US high school campers are welcome, if their parents are teachers or they are traveling with an adult. It would be an opportunity for students to exchange culture and language.     Volunteers will get their room and board free at the camp unless teachers want to stay in hotels at their own expense. College student counselors should be at least 19 and willing to pay their own way to China and sleep with students in the school dorm. The camp will be at a high school campus in Yangshuo.  Beautiful Yangshuo    Chinese translators for US counselors or teachers would get a small salary and room and board.           We are now taking applications for four college age English counselors and four college Chinese/English speaking counselors. We will need teachers also according to the talents of those that apply. If the teachers don't know Chinese, then we will also need translators to help the English speaking teachers. If you speak both English and Chinese, weespecially want you to apply to teach.  In This Issue Volunteers needed in China Cupcake Party a Success Chinese New Year Celebration Mayor Tan Quick Links Website Contact us Youtube Channel Blog Donations Cupcake Party Raised Enough for Two Water Purifiers Cupcake Party      Christina Zhang and her family hosted a wonderful Cupcake party with their friends and Blessing Hands supporters in Lexington, Kentucky recently. Donations were received for two water purification units for Yao minority schools in Du'an County. Christina's goal was at least one, so she really was blessed to be able to give two. Now we only lack one more purifier and two more steel tanks. You can still give toward a purifier at this link.     Below you can see a video of a water purifier being installed and another video of the Cupcake Party.  Cupcake Fund Raiser Clean Water Comes To Long Wang Primary Chinese New Year Celebration  Christina Zhang and Erting Pan at the New Year Celebration     I got to see old friends and make new ones at the Lexington Chinese New Year Festival recently. The celebration was hosted by the Kentucky Chinese American Association, which allowed us to have an information table about our Blessing Hands Kids.       Christina Zhang, Eric Zhang, and Erting Pan Scaggs were just a few of the volunteers who helped at the table. The program was wonderful and everyone had a great time.  Mayor Tan of Yangshuo Favors Blessing Hands Mayor Tan Feng of Yangshuo         Mayor Tan Feng of Yangshuo and his delegation visited Morehead in late December. Our board members were able to discuss future projects with him along with the Morehead Sister Cities Board. He gave encouragement for our planned HIV training and Friendship Camp in Yangshuo this summer.    Recently Mayor Tan assigned a liaison person to make it easier for us to communicate with government departments of Yangshuo. Amy Li, who speaks English, will be assisting Sister Cities, Blessing Hands and Yaya Luo with implementing projects in Yangshuo in July. That will make it easier for us to communicate with the schools and medical personnel. Mayor Tan even expressed the desire to volunteer with us after he retires.  Dr. Wang and his daughter, Xinyi with Leanna Gilliam at Liushan School in Du'an in 2011      Dr. Siying Wang has volunteered to teach the HIV training. He is presently a visiting scholar at theUniversity of Kentucky, but his home is Xi'an, China.  He helped us last summer with our Health Assistant Workshop in Du'an. I look forward to working with him and his daughter again. Mayor Tan will ask the medical professionals at their hospitals and Health Department to attend the one and one half day training. It has started off to be an excellent year.  We hope for many more blessings to come. We still have students who needs sponsors, and sponsors who have not given their spring support yet.  You can give on our website at this link!    Sincerely,   Betty Cutts  Director of Blessing Hands

We Made a Deal with Qin Yuqiong

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

FEATURED QUOTE Doris Wells: "Our Blessing Hands students come from the rural areas of China, and they and their parents know that the only chance they have of improving their economic situation is to get an education. It is almost impossible for many of these rural students whose parents may be sick, dead, not have many fields to farm, or have no family to borrow school money from to attend school. Blessing Hands is able to find supporters to help these students enter the schools they have tested into. While I was in China, I was blessed to meet the young man my husband and I support. His father has died, so his mother is a single parent. His scholarship enables him to attend a good high school. " Checks can be sent to Blessing Hands 106 Timber Lane Morehead, KY 40351 Qin Yuqiong Dreams of Being an Accountant or Manager I Want to Change My Life. My Name is Qin Yuqiong. The reason I want to go to college is I want to change my life. My English name is Shirley. I was born into a poor family. I am nineteen now. There are five persons in my family; Father, Mother, two sisters and me. My father's health is not good. He can't do much work, especially heavy work. My mother has to work for others to earn some money to support the family. My two younger sisters are students too. One is 15 and the other is 17. There are few fields in my family, so life is very hard and poor. My family situation is not good. Every beginning semester while I was in school, my parents had to borrow money for me to go to school from family and neighbors. Then in my first year in high school Blessing Hands began to help me. Because of your help a heavy burden was released from my family. Now that I have graduated I want to enter college, but I am afraid that my family doesn't have enough money to let me finish my college. I sincerely hope that you can continue helping me. I would appreciate it if you can give me college aid. I will continue to work hard in my studies.What I want to say most is thank you, thank you so much for your help. Qin Yuqiong We Made a Deal When Qin Yuqiong interviewed for a college scholarship in Yangshuo, she was troubled. She thought that if she went to college, she would take money that her younger sisters needed for their high school education. Students is China must pay for their own last three years of education. It cost about $500 for a year of high school. She had almost decided to go to work to support her sisters in school, and her parents wanted her to do that also. But her dream of college brought her to the college interview. When we heard her story, we were touched. Doris, one of the Americans interviewing her, puzzled about how to help her. Finally Doris suggested a plan. If Blessing Hands enrolled her two younger sisters in our high school tuition program, would she feel free to go on to college? Finally we made a deal with her. If she tried to go to college, we would sponsor her two sisters for $160 a year in high school. This deal is good even if no sponsor like you picks QinYuqiong to sponsor in college. We could not assure her that a sponsor would pick her. So Blessing Hands has added two new high school students from the Qin family. Would you would like to sponsor one of them or give Yuqiong a $500 scholarship. You can see her scholarship Youtube Video at this link. Help her dreams come true. Make College Possible for Qin Yuqiong Give $500 at this link on our web page. Or give any amount to help. Sponsor one of her sisters at $80 a semester. Use Google Checkout on our blog. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Contact Information Director of Blessing Hands Betty Cutts 219 232 8887 Contact us

Liang Fangyu Wants to Learn a Skill

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

Quick Links Register Now for the 5K Run for Families See Other Scholarship Applicants who have already been featured More About Us on Our Web Page Give John a $500 Scholarship Send a check to Blessing Hands, 106 Timber Lane, Morehead, KY, 40351 Or click on this link to give by credit card online. Our Sponsors Visit Our Sponsor I Want to Learn a Useful Skill. Liang Fangyu I gave Fangyu the English name John the first time I met him when he volunteered at our Yangshuo eyeglass clinic. He retook his last year of high school to get a better score and brought his national score from 360 to 400 this year. He is still very disappointed, because his dream of taking a more advanced course of study at a university has not been possible. His older sister just graduated from a university owing many school loans but has not found a job. He has been admitted to Guangxi Mechanical Electrical College and wants to study practical subjects and learn electronic or mechanic skills. You can see his Youtube video at this link. Give John a future. Betty Cutts I am from a farm family My name is Liang Fangyu. My parents are not in a good, healthy condition. In 2000, my mother was in the hospital because of years of hard work. My father also suffers from chronic laryngitis and depends long term on medicine. My Father often does some manual work to maintain our life, and my Mother stays at home and does farm work. My parents have a heavy burden. They have to save every penny to support us. I want to take a more advanced course of study in a university, but my parent's health is poor and my sister needs a job. So I can't bear the expensive tuition fee of a university. My sister graduated from a university in 2008, but has not found a job. I wanted to find a job to help my family, but I can't find one. I am applying for college aid from you. I really need your help to realize my dream. If I get the aid, I will study hard to repay your kindheartedness. Thanks, Liang Fangyu Wang Bao Wang Bao has been accepted by Chang Chun Industrial University with a national score of 527. He repeated his last year of high school to make a better national score. He wants to major in Biological Engineering. He is from Pubei County in the Qinzhou area of Guangxi Province. There are three students in school in his family. His parents are farmers, but his father is in poor health. He hopes that he can get support from a Blessing Hands sponsor. He was unable to submit an essay in his own words, so watching his video is especially important. You can see his video at this link. Give a $500 Scholarship to Wang Bao. Thanks Wonderful Sponsors We thank you for all your support. We have 7 new scholarships from many sponsors this year. What a difference you have made in six lives! One sponsor added an extra scholarship this year to support a needy girl. Maybe you can add another one also or know someone you can forward this to that might want to invest in lives and dreams. . Of course we want all our students to have a chance to go to college. We still have four more to feature and hope that two more will be accepted into colleges so we can feature them too. Betty Cutts Blessing Hands 106 Timber Lane Morehead, KY 40351

Lend Me a Hand

Mo Zongli From Yangshuo Mo Zongli's Love for His Village and Family Touched My Heart Mo Zongli lives deep in the countryside. He could hardly hold back his tears when talking of the difficulties of his family, whom he loves very much. His father has only one arm, but works hard on their measure of land. His mother has been sick for many years. They have almost no income. Zongli graduated 16th in his large class, and he longs to go to college. He has repeated his last year of school to achieve a better national score of 501. He has been accepted by the Guilin University of Technology and intends to study electronic business or trade management. Watch Mo's Youtube Movie to see his heart for his village and family. Links Website Downloads Watch Mo Zongli's Youtube Movie Blog Give Him a Chance to Go to College. Go to this link to give a$500 scholarship to Mo Zongli. . I will Appreciate It All My Life if You Lend me a Hand My name is Mo Zongli, a 20 year-old boy. I'm from a poor family. There are four people in my family; my parents, my brother and I. We're live in a remote village. My parents are both farmers, so it is difficult for them to farm enough to support my study. Fortunately, my parents know it well that the only way I can change my future life is to go to school. Though my parents work hard in the field every day, they can't make much money. In order to afford my schooling my parents use all the money they can farm, so we still live in a small house with only two rooms. I'm afraid that I can't continue my study in the short future. I need help to finish my studies. I'll appreciate it all my life, if you lend me your hand. Thanks, Mo Zongli Many people joining together can help Mo Zongli. Ask your church, youth group, club, or social club to jointly sponsor Zongli. Checks can be sent to Blessing Hands, 106 Timber Lane, Morehead, KY, 40351 Give any amount at this link. Sincerely, Betty Cutts Blessing Hands

Forward email

We Are Usually Lost In Trouble

aving trouble viewing this email? Click here

Liao Fuzhan I Will Never Say Give Up In this Letter Give a Scholarship In His Own Words Quick Links Register for the 5K Run for Families Our Guiding Principles Contact US Give Brown A $500 Scholarship. Help Brown realize his bright future. Give online at this link. Liao Fuzhan Has Tried Hard. Liao Fuzhan, whose English name is Brown, is another student who has repeated his last year of high school. He has done extra tutoring to improve his national score from 429 to 447. He is majoring in computers or electricity and has been admitted to Qindao Harbor Vocational and Technical College. You can see a short Youtube movie of him here. We are usually lost in trouble My name is Liao Fuzhan. I am 20. Last term I still studied at Yangshuo Li Jiang Higher Middle School. I have graduated from school through my hard try. I have got a good mark on the national exam. Last year I studied at Baisha Middle School. In order to get a high mark, I studied hard. The teachers made me a monitor and gave me lots of encouragement, which made me full of energy. In my family, I am the first person to attend college. My parents have high expectations for me. They want my future life to be good. Our family lives in a small, remote village. We share the belief that only studying hard can change our future. You know, in our village entering college is the best way to have a bright future. There are four people in my family. We don't have enough land to grow crops, and my parents are only running a small orchard. My mother and father work at home. The climate is poor, and my parents lack administration and technique, so the crops don't grow well. The gain can't meet our year's need. We are usually lost in trouble. My younger brother and I were both students in high school at the same time. We needed much tuition money. My family had to go into high debt. Seeing this situation, my uncle helped us a lot. He offered some necessities and guided my parents now to manage the crops, helping us get rid of the difficulties. Blessing Hands also gave me selfless help. I don't know how I can express my appreciation. I will study hard to pay back anyone who helps me. I will never say give up. I know my future may be full of difficulties, but I still believe the bright future will come at last. But something troubles me a lot. In order to pay for the high fees, now my family is in difficulties. How I wish I could get your selfless help. If I can get your help, the way to my bright future will be easier. Though I have graduated from school, I never stop working. I also read some books and help my parents. You know they have to do a lot for me. Besides, I must get ready to attend college. That's all. Thank you, Liao Fuzhan Education is the difference between success or failure for Brown. Help him help himself and others. Sponsor him as a student in college. You can give any amount at this link. Checks can be sent to Blessing Hands, 106 Timber Lane, Morehead, KY 40351 Sincerely, Betty Cutts Blessing Hands

Forward email