Standing in front of the newly-built classrooms in Pingzhuang Village, 13-year-old Ma Meihua, smiles widely.

"I can finally go to school," she says.

Like many girls in her village in Dongxiang Autonomous County of northwest China's Gansu Province, Ma could never before attend school because her family was so poor.

Living on the slope of the big mountains, Ma, her parents and two siblings led a threadbare life, squeezing a living out of planting potatoes and herding sheep.

Her days revolved around day-long household chores with her elder sister. Going to school was a wild dream.

But the dream came true last autumn, following the completion of a new school in her village.

And Ma was not the only beneficiary.

Covering an area of 2,648 square meters, the China Daily No 1 Hope School has received 159 dropouts from 12 neighbouring villages. It also has boarding rooms for students who live far away.

"I have never seen such a beautiful school," said teacher Yan Chenlin.

Thanks to donations from China Daily readers and staff members, five primary and middle schools in poor areas have been improved.

And this year two new primary schools have gone up -- One is in the Pingzhuang Village where Ma lives and the other in Nutuping Village, which helps 400 dropouts from 27 villages.

"I'm so glad to see so many lovely children going to school," said Lit Ng, a Chinese American, who donated 246,000 yuan (US$30,000) to build the Nutuping Hope School. "I hope the children can make contributions to the development of their home towns after getting an education," Ng said during the opening ceremony of the new semester.

The Nutuping Hope School has six big classrooms and six dormitories for teachers in an area of 2,712 square meters.

Each concrete classroom is bright and spacious with brand-new desks and chairs. Decorated by aluminum alloy and equipped with modern appliances such as projectors, the classrooms are just like the ones in big cities.

A gully in the south of the campus has been filled to build a playground with a basketball court and two table tennis tables.

A water preserving cellar has also been built to provide fresh drinking water in this dry land where local people collect and drink rain water.

There are now 223 students enrolled in Nutuping Hope School, who are studying at five classes in three grades.

"It was impossible for me to attend school before the hope school was built," said 14-year-old Ma Haiquan, a grade one student. "The nearest school was 15 kilometers away. And my father could not afford my schooling," the boy recalled.

The new school is only 2 kilometers from Ma's home now. And his father finally agreed to send him because everything is free.

At the opening ceremony of the new school, Ma and the other 158 students got a new school bag.

Dongxiang Autonomous County is in a poverty-hit, remote mountainous area of Gansu Province.

With a population of 260,000, Dongxiang is a compact community. Dongxiang ethnic people account for 82.9 per cent of the local population.

Harsh natural conditions and drought have left the Dongxiang people at the mercy of the heavens.

With an annual per capita income of 776 yuan (US$93.5), the county has suffered from a continuous drought for many years.

Poverty-stricken areas

Most local people make a hard living by growing potatoes and herding sheep. Most families keep hens which can provide eggs for them to exchange for salt, edible oil and other things.

Those who live in the drought areas often have to travel more than 10 kilometres to collect water, which they carry back to the villages on a donkey or their own backs.

Hit by poverty, the school facilities are very backward. According to the county's education bureau, more than 40 per cent of primary schools lack advanced education equipment and installations.

"The shortage of water has blocked Dongxiang's agriculture and industrial development, but the shortage of education is worse," said Zheng Jinxia, deputy-magistrate of the county.

Seeing the emergent need, China Daily, teaming with the China Youth Development Foundation, started a charity plan in 1999 called "Caring for dropouts; Donate to a Hope School" calling on its readers to help.

Since then, donations from employees including foreign experts at China Daily have reached 226,700 yuan. The money has helped establish three hope schools.

Zheng Zhizhi, a returned overseas Chinese living in Xiamen in East China's Fujian Province, who has the same wish as Ng, has donated 300,000 yuan (US$36,250) in the hope that a larger school with better conditions can be built in this remote place.

"The donations will be handled by the China Youth Development Foundation," said Xue Chaohua, a staff member at China Daily, who is in charge of the project.

"The donations will be managed through independent accounting and statistics," Xue said.

The donations will be strictly used to build Hope Schools in the area.

"If you could see those happy faces at the opening ceremony of the new semester, you wouldn't hesitate to help them," Xue said.

(China Daily November 27, 2003)