Background of the Starlet Program
Childhood in the Mountain Terrains
Since 2006, in Butuo, Jinyang, Zhaojue County of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, Fu Hui has been assisting 1,300 orphans, age 7 to 11, from impoverished families to begin school.
The Starlet classes are situated in the high mountainous area of the Yi Minorities. With zigzagging gullies landscape, domestic productivity is low. The surrounding mountainous ranges make for hazardous transportation. It was a slavery society prior to 1956. Despite the advancement of the Chinese society in the past sixty years, there was little impact on the Yi people living in these deep mountains.
Here, for various reasons, an unusually high number of children are orphaned at an early age. They are raised by their elderly grandparents who often rely on income from cultivating a piece of barren farmland. Sending the children to school is far beyond their ability.
These children, living in the treacherous mountainous terrains 2,000 metres above sea level, do not speak Mandarin or attend school. They wander aimlessly in the mountains. Some of them need to take care of the families despite of their young age, the main source of food for these growing kids is potato, therefore most of them don’t grow in normal rate for their age.
More students' stories:
Work to Support my GrandmotherStarlets Life at School: Living in Loving EnvironmentI Love Book CornersExhibiting Singing Talents in Shanghai and Beijing
