Editor's Note

With the care of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and under the leadership of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF) launched the Spring Bud Project in 1989, to improve the education of girls from disadvantaged families. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, in 2012, CCTF has implemented the Spring Bud Project — Dream of Future Action, and it has conducted various activities focused on girls' education, safety and health. For more than 30 years, the Spring Bud Project has offered care and support to about 4.2 million in-need girls. After they receive support from the project, the Spring Bud girls never forget to give back to society. With love and concrete actions, the girls have demonstrated the Spring Bud spirit of unremitting self-improvement, striving for excellence, developing stronger virtues and pursuing better lives. Women of China introduced a section, Spring Bud Blooms, to share stories about Spring Bud girls who have grown up and become contributing members of society, and to encourage society to care for the development of girls. Fang Weiping is among them.

Fang Weiping will never forget 1997. After all, that year marked a turning point for her. Fang, from an impoverished rural family in Liannan County, in South China's Guangdong Province, was on the cusp of dropping out of school after she had finished her sixth year of primary school. To her surprise, though, cadres of the local women's federation informed Fang she had been recommended to continue her studies, in a Spring Bud class, at Beijing No. 171 High School. The opportunity to study in Beijing opened a new world to her. 

The ACWF and the CCTF in 1997 launched the first session of the capital's Spring Bud class, after having recruited 30 outstanding school girls from poverty-stricken families nationwide. Fang was one of those girls. 

The six years she spent studying at Beijing No. 171 High School was the most beautiful time in her life, and it helped her embark on a new journey –– toward a bright future. 

With care and assistance from the school's teachers, and from people from all segments of society, Fang and the other students in the Spring Bud class lived carefree lives on the campus. They didn't have to pay for tuition or meals, and they always had two teachers to take care of them in the dormitories. 

During Fang's third year at the school, Chang Ye, then-head teacher of the Spring Bud class, was hospitalized. Chang told her students to keep writing compositions, and that she would find time to revise their compositions while she was in the hospital. Chang also urged the girls to grasp all study opportunities, and to strive to make a difference in their lives. 

Fang said the teachers' love and care nurtured the students' souls, and helped them chart new directions in their lives. Fang was the monitor of her Spring Bud class. She devoted herself wholeheartedly to serving the class, and to helping the other students. Fang often organized her classmates to help clean the streets, and to visit elderly people who lived alone. 

Fang also studied well, and she won several municipal titles, such as merit student in Beijing. In 2003, Fang was admitted to Beijing University of Technology (BJUT). Four years later, she was an exam-free postgraduate student, thanks to her outstanding academic performance. 

While a student at BJUT, Fang organized and participated in public-welfare activities. She was selected an outstanding student cadre at BJUT and won a national-level scholarship. 

After she graduated, Fang became a researcher at the China-Ukraine Institute of Welding, affiliated with Guangdong Academy of Sciences. 

Since then, Fang has made full use of her professional knowledge as she has helped develop major sci-tech research projects, she has done her utmost to help her colleagues, and she has participated in public-welfare activities. 

"After working day and night, we have successfully solved the tough issues of engine welding," Fang says. "Our new technologies are expected to be used in biomedical, aerospace and other fields." Fang is proud of the application of her team's welding technologies in various sectors. 

Fang has participated in numerous State- and provincial-level research projects, and she has won several national and international awards during the past 13 years. 

In 2016, Fang and her former Spring Bud classmates launched a charitable activity, under the Spring Bud Project. They have extended financial assistance to 64 in-need girls. 

Fang has visited schools, shared her story with students, encouraged the students to strive to realize their dreams, and invited the students to tour the science-popularization base at her worksite. 

"The Spring Bud Project not only gives us material support, but also the Spring Bud spirit. The Spring Bud Spirit is a great treasure for us," Fang says. She adds she is willing to do more to promote the education of girls.

Source: CCTF

(Women of China English Monthly January 2024 issue)