LRS: Xiongyan

Xiong Yan at hospital

Xiong Yan (in Miao tranditional outfit) with her younger brother

Xiong Yan after surgery

Xiong Yan recovered quickly after surgery

​Xiongyan should have been in preschool, but the kindergarten is 4 to 5 kilometers away and there’s no one to pick up her. Furthermore, they need to pay 1470RMB for one semester, which is another burden for the family, so they had to give up sending her to preschool. In September of 2016, she will attend primary school in the village. The family just need to pay 400RMB for each semester. She can have lunch at school for free. Xiongyan’s home is about 1 kilometer away from school, so her parents do not have to pick up her.
 
Xiongyan is a happy girl. She likes to play with her younger brother and other pals in the village. She could not ran as fast as other children, but she always tried her best to catch up with her pals. She was diagnosed congenital heart disease last year in a Mengzi hospital, which is a hit for the family. The debts had not been paid off. The family fell into helpless.

Thanks to LRS project, Xiongyan was supported for the operation. The whole family thank those who helped them very much. The operation was scheduled on October 15. On October 12, Xiongyan became so nervous when she saw other 2 children in her ward. She sensed some kind of bad omen. She cried and asked to see her mother. Her father had to call her mother and asked her mother to come to Kunming. Only mother can give her sense of security.
 
On 13th, we came to the ward and visit the girl. The girl was lying on bed and eating lollipop. Her mother came and kept saying thank us. They communicate with each other with their own language. Her mother told me they are Miao people and they wear their own costumes during festivals. Every family would make a nice dress for their girls for the new year. Xiongyan understands most of mandarin and she can speaks daily sentences. She was smiling with satisfactory after eating up her lollipop. She became nervous again and began to cry when the nurse coming in and took bandage for her wounds.

On October 19th, Xiongyan could go out of hospital. She was healing well after the operation. When we came to the ward, she was about to buy food in the hospital canteen. We were waiting for the lift together. One booth was full when it stopped at our floor. She came to another booth and asked all of us to wait for that booth. Her happiness made everyone smile. She is a happy and lovely girl who will influence people around her.
 
I would like to thank this lovely Miao girl who brought me a lot of happiness. I would like to thank her parents whose unselfish love is nursing the little girl to grow up healthfully. I also want to thank those who helped and supported the family. Thanks to your love, the girl regain health and energy. Wish the little girl healthy and happy forever.

Original article written by Guo Lin, translated by Maggie Li, and edited by Yanyan Zhang

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Little Red Scarf is in Lanzhou,  Gansu and Yunnan province and provides financial support and encouragement to children suffering from congenital heart disease. In addition, they provide families with post-operative care and help the children sustain a healthy lifestyle.

I was attracted by her cute eyes when I first met Xiongyan in the ward of hospital. She comes from a miao village in Mengzi city of Honghe prefecture. Though it is her first time in Kunming, she got accustomed to the hospital soon. She is 5 and like moving. She is curious for everything. When I looked at her closely for taking photos, I found her face is yellow. Her hair looked thin, yellow and no light. She looked malnutrition compared with her contemporaries.
 
The family has 4 and live in a mud brick room with 40 square meters. Her father took photo with his mobile phone, which showed unclear picture. The room was divided into 3. One is bedroom, another two are dining room and kitchen. There’s one small room for the cow. The family planted some corn and paddy rice with poor harvest. The corns were sold in the market for some more rice.

Xiongyan’s village is near a place where people plant Sanqi, a kind of Chinese traditional medicine. Her father borrowed 120,000RMB from relatives and friends in 2012. He planned to plant Sanqi, too. In 2013, her father input 65000RMB and planted Sanqi in their own fields. When the family were expecting a good harvest, there was a big snow which buried all Sanqi greenhouses. In 2014, the price of Sanqi became lower. After 2 years’ hard working, the income was 37000RMB. The family owed over 100,000RMB of debts. The hit made the young couple depressed.