Report_2003

Well that is not fair; if I have to go to school, then everybody should have to go to school! Inspired by my mom’s video-story, I decided to write my own. I would find some friends, we would raise some money, and we would send those kids to school. If my mom’s movie had been so dynamite this time around, she would only have to wait until my friends and I had tried to change things; when she went back after we were through, her sequel would be a blockbuster.

Those kids do not even have anything that they can take for granted. I had to change that. With two of my friends, we spent the summer giving presentations as the EEPY, the Enlightening Education Program Youth Group. We addressed the Optimist club, the Moon Festival Committee, and even gave presentations for the Ch. 11 and Ch. 26 news. My aim was money, the donations, but as the months passed, I could see that the most important message was to just get it out there. If we were able to touch one person every presentation like my mom had for me, then we would already be setting a great thing in motion.

That great thing became realized this past September. We held a booth at the 2002 Silicon Valley Moon Festival. Two days straight, nine-to-nine, we stood under the sun and shouted our tale to those that passed. The lemonade we peddled was not bad, but I think it was the story that hit the spot and drew the crowds. We were not alone either, on a scale that I had never expected; we had help from our little siblings, to our classmates, to students that were not our schoolmates, to our grandparents. For me at least, the slightest hope of what we could accomplish with our earnings gave me renewed strength and quieted the fatigue.

And to think it all started with a little tape, and what I’d accomplished from it; rallying almost a whole high school district for one goal, to build a school for the kids in rural China.

We had made less than $2000 for two days of sales. With costs， we had made less than $100. We needed $3800 to build a school. I had wanted to build a school so badly; in my anger I was still immediately planning with my friends for another event.
But that night my mom just said， “Keep an open heart, appreciate what you have, and think about what you’ve done.”

She called me over, and showed me what she had in her bag. Inside was a woman’s check, a donation for $5000. I looked at her face, and her look told me that there was still more. Another $1000 more, to be honest. We had enough for the building of two schools; the first of which was called Homestead Elementary, after our high school, and finished last month.

My mom went back to that village this past October. This time the streets were empty, silent; there was no patter of the children’s feet. To me, that is the best thing that I could hope for; a happy-ending story but not nearly the end of mine.

這太不公平了, 我每天都得上學，那麼大家都該上學。決定不讓媽媽的錄影帶專美於前，我找來一票死黨，我們也可以募款送這些孩子上學。如果說媽媽的錄影帶這次造成轟動，等著瞧咱們扭轉乾坤，包準她下次去的時候, 情況會大為改觀。

這些孩子簡直是一無所有，我一定要改變現狀。我找了兩個朋友，成立了這燃燈青年團，整個暑假到處演講宣傳. 我們到過慈善團體，民俗團體去募捐，甚至上了電視。我的目標是錢，是捐款，可是過了兩個月，我終於看清楚最重要的是把訊息傳出去。如果在每次的募款活動裡，我們能打動一個人的心，就像我老媽感動我那樣，這就是一樁非常有意義的事了。

今年九月我們就辦了這麼一場頗具意義的活動。在2002矽谷中秋節慶典中，我們連續兩天，從早到晚頂著艷陽向路人訴說這些孩子的遭遇。我們的檸檬攤固然是價廉物美，但我們說的故事才真是賺人熱淚，引來大批群眾。德不孤必有鄰，我真沒想到會有這麼多的眾家兄弟姐妹們，還有學校的同學，不管同校與否，甚至爺爺奶奶們都來給我們幫忙打氣。至少對我而言，當日所得雖然不多難成大事，但眾人的參與卻讓我信心大增，疲勞頓消。

回想起來，就從這麼一卷小小的錄影帶開始，我所做的一切，現在幾乎整個高中學區都目標一致的要為中國偏遠地區的孩童建所學校。

兩天下來銷售成績不到兩千元，再扣除成本，總共賺不到一百元。我們建一所學校需要三千八百元。我真想建學校，雖然生氣這樣的成果，我還是立刻和朋友們籌劃下一個活動。但當天晚上，媽媽只是輕描淡寫的說「敞開心胸別氣餒，想想你所擁有的， 想想你已盡力所為的事。」她又從皮包裡拿出一張五千元的支票。這是一位女士的捐款. 我望著她，她臉上的表情告訴我，還不只這些，原來還有一千。這一來可以建兩所學校了。第一所已於上個月完工，就以我們的高中命名。

媽媽十月份又回去視察，這回大街上空寂無人，再也聽不到光腳板踏地之聲。這正是我最希望的圓滿大結局。但我的燃燈大計卻是革命尚未成功，同志們，仍須努力呀！