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, the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF) launched the Spring Bud Project in 1989, to help impoverished girls return to school, and to promote girls' education in disadvantaged areas.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, in 2012, with the attention and concern of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, and with the strong support of Peng Liyuan, special envoy of the Spring Bud Project for promoting girls' education, the project has carried out various actions, focused on girls' education, safety and health, to care for and support girls. During the past decade, the project has supported 1.76 million girls, and it has provided one-on-one companionship services and personalized psychological counseling to 133,400 girls. After they receive support from the project, the Spring Bud girls never forget to give back to society. With love and various actions, the girls have demonstrated the Spring Bud spirit of "unremitting self-improvement, striving for excellence, developing stronger virtues and pursuing better lives."

Today, we introduce a new 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. Li Jiazhen is one of them.

Li Jiazhen works with a colleague. [CCTF]

Li Jiazhen, from Southwest China's Yunnan Province, has successfully grown from a beneficiary of the Spring Bud Project to a contributor to public-interest causes throughout the years.

Li, 43, is from a rural family in Pingbian County, in Yunnan's Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture. Her family earned a living by planting and selling corn. Her parents had to walk dozens of kilometers to sell their corn. It wasn't until after Li had completed her middle school studies that the village built its first concrete road.

As the eldest of four children, Li witnessed and understood the difficulties her parents encountered. She was considering dropping out of school because of her family's financial situation.

During her fourth year of primary school, a teacher paid Li's tuition, and encouraged her to stay in school.

Although Li stayed in school, she continued to toy with the idea of dropping out of school and finding a job to help her parents meet their financial obligations. Nevertheless, Li's parents wanted her to stay in school.

After she completed middle school, Li failed to pass the secondary school admission exam, by several points. Her father encouraged her to prepare again for the high school entrance examination, even though the family did not have the money to pay for her tuition.

The principal of Li's middle school informed her parents that a women's high school, in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, had set up a Spring Bud class for disadvantaged girls who performed well in their academic studies, and exempted tuition fees for the girls.

Li applied and was accepted, and she moved to Kunming to continue her studies at the school, along with more than 50 girls from across the province.

During her three years of studies in the Spring Bud class, Li received a monthly allowance of 100 yuan (about $14), in addition to the exemption of tuition fees and other school expenditures. The financial assistance greatly eased the economic pressure on her family.

Li became more independent, and she mastered sewing and embroidery techniques, while attending the Spring Bud class. Moreover, she built friendships with her teachers and classmates, and she participated in various activities.

Li Jiazhen [CCTF]

During the 10 years after she graduated, Li was employed, in succession, by the county's government, the county's Party committee and the procuratorate. She studied during her spare time, and she passed the national unified legal professional qualification examination.

In 2018, Li was transferred to work in the county's discipline inspection and supervisory department.

During the early days of her work in the department, Li received great care, support and guidance from her colleagues.

Li and her colleagues have worked hard to investigate cases, and to deal with the cases with great care and professionalism.

Throughout the years, Li has become more enthusiastic about public-interest affairs, and she has done her utmost to help children from disadvantaged families. She has mobilized online friends to join her in raising money for disadvantaged children, and to help the students complete their studies.

Between 2009 and 2017, Li and her online friends donated a combined 66,450 yuan (US $9,263) to support 10 high school or university students.

Li says China has adopted support policies and measures to help disadvantaged children continue with their studies, and many social organizations and public-interest institutions have contributed to the cause.

Li says she will wholeheartedly strive to fulfill her obligations in the workplace, and she vows to spread love and kindness among needy individuals in the years ahead.

(Women of China English Monthly)