aniu's story

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Ah Yong's Tibetan School is a locally well-known private school, which Ah Yong himself founded. Although he has never attended school, his dream is to see all the Tibetan children around him go to school. His family made every effort to help him realize his dream. His brother sold his pickup truck; his father sold the family yak, and his mother sold some family goods. All this made it possible for the Ah Yong's school to open its doors to the children, but put his family in financial crises. Nevertheless, Ah Yong was delighted seeing all 50 Tibetan children attend his boarding school for free.

Beside the initial set-up work, Ah Yong understands that he needs do more for the school. He has to take 10-day trip to Qamdo in Tibet twice a year to buy textbooks since his school is so far away from city bookstores. He must find more money to fund the school.

In 2000, the Phelex Foundation funded Rmb175,000 to help Ah Yong's school establish a Sustainable Tuition Aid project, a vegetable & Tibetan herb garden. To support Ah Yong, Mr. Dong Defu, a retired specialist at Environmental Protection Region of Baima Snowy Mountain, volunteered to work for the school project. He taught children how to grow vegetables and herbs, and how to protect the plants from diseases. He accompanied Ah Yong to Beijing to attend the Phelex's training workshop, and translated & explained to Ah Yong what they learned. Mr. Dong's efforts rewarded him with a result of RMB7,000 worth of potatoes harvested in 2001. Ah Yong finally sees that the Sustainable Tuition Aid project relieved him from constant financial burdens.