A wee bit of Scotland in Nanning - MacMatthew

A Day to remember our special links between Scotland and China

with our

Nanning Girls!!!!!!

Heading to the Hope4China Office where we would meet all the girls who had now moved to highter education in the city.

When we first met these lovely girls they were Yizhou girls!

Friends there, and now studying together in Nanning

 Sisters who have been with us for so long...one now working and doing really well.

She still wants to come back to see us!

 Before the fun begins, Lucy is making sure they all do their homework 

- sharing news about themselves with their sponsors.

                                            Now it was time to head to the Park across the road!

                                I love how everyone "mucks in" to get the work done!

                                 Assembled together under the "Wise Tree" - I LOVE IT!
                                         For a wee chat with Matthew & Lucy

                     And then a quick change as  Matthew appears in his new Scottish attire :-)

He loves his Scottish connections and was keen to have a kilt of his own. 

Our friend, Keith managed to find him one- 

so we now have a very proud MacMatthew

              The later arrivals, completing their homework before the fun! Lucy is a tough cookie!

Party Time as girls came out to sing a song, share news, give insights....wonderful to share what is going on their lives and how much hope they have for the future!

                              Lucy, still working, making sure she has photos for each sponsor

                                      Some had other things on their mind..........

A reminder from MacMatthew about the support from sponsors and responsibilities of the students to do their very best.

Then the fees are paid out to each student who has signed & completed their "homework"

This money does not cover all the girls needs, 

but goes someway to helping, giving them support and hope!

Thank you to all who give so they can have this chance.

I know it will be paid back in a hundred different ways in their families, communities and society in general

                                                          Clearly exhausting work!

                                            Letters for the girls from their sponsors
Truly I know that they are more excited to receive these than the support fees!!!!!

Please, sponsors, remember to write to your girls? Even if they do not have the confidence to write back, the LOVE to see and hear from you!

We bought a scarf for each girl as a Gift from their sponsors- thank to all who contributed for them!

              The girls loved them & had great fun arranging them in all sorts of cool ways.......

These are some of our girls who have left and are now working...

but they love to come back and meet with their Guangxi Girl friends!

Soon it was time for the girls to go...with a few coming back to the office to collect sponsor letters & record some wee messages for them

And soon, our lovely Fang who has no use of her legs,

was scooting away in style to continue her studies!

These girls will change the world!

Thank you for making this possible!!!

Someone Special Needed!!!!!!

Everyone needs someone special.........

                            One of the girls we met this trip is very poor!

                                              But we meet many, many poor girls..........


                                                    She is an orphan!!!

                                                Sadly, we meet many orphans.............



                                                 She has no sponsor!!!!!

                                     Unfortunately many of our girls have no sponsors...............


  It is hard to find the words to explain why this girl urgently needs someone special in her life

But we will try........

When we meet with the girls here we always have a lot of fun - it is one of our first groups going back to 2005- they are "old friends"! But in recent years this little one has become more withdrawn, until this trip when we noticed that she was standing on her own, always separate. As we could not communicate in Chinese, we asked the Women's Association leaders who were with us, to have a gentle word......She told them she had an upset stomach.
It seemed to us that it was much more than an upset stomach, so we went to speak with her with Matthew.
                                          She sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed
                                           til our hearts almost broke with her!

Even after we spoke with her, tried to comfort her, she left broken hearted........

We passed her later in our Van and stopped to ask if she would like to come eat with us 

- the tears were still streaming down her face.

Her emotional pain is causing her physical pain.

A public blog is NOT the place to share anyone's heartache,
so I can only say here that she needs our help.

         She needs a sponsor!

   But she needs a Special Sponsor!!!!

Of course I know that ALL our sponsors are special :-),

 and together change the lives and families of our Guangxi Girls.

What could we do without you?

But this is a job for someone who can spend some extra time just communicating with their girl, 

cards, photos, letters, small gifts, qq...

anything that brings you together and makes a girl feel Special.

Are you that Special Sponsor?

We told her that she is now part of our family and that she is special to us. 

Matthew is her new dad and Lucy is her big sister

Does that make us Aunties?

She struggles to fit in with the girls here because she says it is too painful.

It is her Birthday in December and she has asked Matthew and Lucy to travel for her Birthday.

We want to make this a Special celebration for her.

My lovely RMPS class today, 

on hearing about this are collecting money for Matthew to buy her a Birthday Cake 

and we will work on sending photos and messages from Scottish teenagers to her in China.

Lucy called her today to ask if there was anything she would REALLY like?

She asked if she could have a Big Teddy to cuddle :-)

We cannot change her circumstances, but we can make a difference?

So, many have asked how to help?

You could be that Special Sponsor (£120/$190) a year.

You can donate for Gifts for her Birthday.

You could send a Birthday Card?

And you can share the needs of so many other precious girls just like her thro our work

http://www.hope4china.com/index.php?p=3&s=1

Thank you for caring!

Gifts that Give...this Christmas

Christmas is the time of Giving.....

Instead of lining the pockets of the big companies, here are some gifts to give where EVERY PENNY of profit will give another Gift....

to children in China who have so little.

        1. Silver Bracelet with Chinese characters wishing long life and prosperity in red Gift Box

 (young child size )

                                                                    £7/ 9euros/$11

 2 Gift set with 2 Bracelets ( as above) and necklace on red thread (child) £12
SOLD OUT NOW - SORRY

3. Compact Mirror with beautiful Character £4

4. Beautiful Character Brooch £2

5 Yuan Keyring  £1 (SOLD OUT NOW - SORRY)

6. Panda Hat £8 ( only 2 left)

7. Panda Tammy £4

SOLD OUT NOW - SORRY

8 Panda Bag H 24cm  £8

SOLD OUT NOW - more en route!

 9. Panda Rucksack - Cotton H38 cm -£10

10. Panda Purse/Small bag - Felt - 18cm - £3

11. Sporty Panda 30 cm ( sitting) - £10

12. Chinese Panda ( sitting) 25cm - £8

                                               13. Mum & Baby Panda (30 cm sitting) - £12

14 Zhuang Minority Doll £25 ( only one left)

                                                                       15. Da Mo Dolls ( Miao) £25

 16. Dancing fans £5 each  or £8 pair ( only a few left )

 17.Hello Kitty Wall Decoration £3

 18. Assorted Wall Decorations £3

 19.  Beautiful Panda Story £4

20 Selection of Hello Kitty items (Notebooks, Bags, Purses,Brollies etc) from £2-£10

SHIPPING IS EXTRA and WILL BE CALCULATED ON ORDER

And if there is nothing there that you need, 

we have Gift Cards where you can donate any amount from £5 

and we will send you a Gift Card to give as a Present.

More details later :-)