Stepping out of the shadow of poverty
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Bamo is able to attend school thanks to OBI. She works by a small lamp, the only light in the house.
Bamo's 70-year-old grandfather works to support the family. The family is part of a growing migrant population in China.
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POSTED: Sept. 6, 2007
By Staci Dennis
CHINA - For one family, a small lamp casts light on the path to a better future.
As the sun sets and darkness fills the house, a shadeless lamp is the only way Bamo can see to do her homework.
Thanks to Operation Blessing, Bamo is able to attend classes at Dalianghsan school. Even though there is only one lamp to light the entire house, she still manages to complete her homework and practice her reading skills.
Nights filled with doing homework weren't always the case.
Bamo's parents were divorced when she was just five months old. Several years later, her father died in an accident, leaving Bamo and her two older brothers in the care of their grandparents.
Due to financial struggles, Bamo's brothers dropped out of school in order to help their 70-year-old grandfather work the farm as well as to give their younger sister the opportunity to go to school.
Even with the extra hands in the field, the family still didn't have enough extra finances to send Bamo to school.
"A person without an education is mute and blind and will continue the cycle of poverty," said Bamo's grandfather, who remains the family's sole provider.
"Migrant worker children are arguably the most underrepresented in China's schools today," said Kara Waddell, general manager for OB China. "Approximately 50 percent of children of migrant workers are not in school today."
Currently, China has about 200 million migrant workers, 120 million of whom work in cities.
Rapid growth of urban economies in China has led to a large demand for cheap labor, which typically draws families from rural areas. The result is a large population of migrants in cities with little income and limited resources.
In 2006, OBI gave financial assistance to more than 2,000 children so they could attend school. This year Operation Blessing will help impoverished students at 47 schools in 7 provinces with educational and/or nutritional assistance.
At the Hua Ao Migrant School in Beijing, more than 1,400 students are enrolled in primary and junior high school, and since 2004, OB China has awarded performance-based scholarships to more than 800 students.
How You Can Help
Operation Blessing is helping to transform the futures of children like these through education assistance, nutritional feeding programs, medical care and more.
Please make an online contribution toward OBI's Bless-A-Child programs today and help us continue to reach those in need.
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