| Wednesday, November 08, 2006 |
| Student's Speech |
Several weeks ago, I was walking on campus when a young student suddenly appeared at my side. I could tell she was very nervous. Breathlessly she said, "Mmm...may I have a chat with you?" I smiled and "had a chat" with her. The next week classes began and I discovered that this girl was one of my students. Since then I have gotten to know her a little more. I found out that that day I first met her was the first time she had ever seen a foreigner before and the first time she had ever spoken English to a native speaker. That explained why she was so nervous. She is from a small rural village, and when she came to the university this year, she was arriving in the big city for the first time.
Last week she participated in a speech contest. She shared her speech with me, and I thought I would share it with you. I think that through her speech can catch a glimpse of the plight of this nation, the culture of it's people, the attitudes about the future, and the heart of this passionate young girl. So without further ado...here's her speech.
Good evening ladies and gentle men:
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share with you.
My name is ________. I’ll give you a short speech about the Beijing 29th Olympic Games. My concrete topic is “concerning the poor, and constructing the harmonious Games.”
As we all know, the Olympic Games are a good chance to show our country to the world. At that time, there’ll be many foreign friends from all over the world here. The sage Confucius two thousand years ago said: “Isn’t it a great joy to see our friends from afar?” So what should we do to welcome our friends from afar? I think it is not only to construct imposing buildings, to promote the Olympic spirit or to urge people to learn English, but the most important thing is constructing the harmonious Games, the harmonious society and especially to be concerned about the poor. Why? Let me explain this for you.
China is an agricultural country that has a big population of peasants. It is said that 7 out of ten Chinese are peasants. I come from a small mountain village, both of my parents are peasants, and they work from dawn to dark everyday, very diligently. But my family still lacks money. We can’t own many things that we need and can’t afford my tuition fees. A report showed that there is only 800 yuan ($100) per year for a peasant in some places. Many children in remote villages still can’t go to school, but instead they do farm work or go to find a job far from home when they are still very young. My cousins are like this. Though they studied very hard and excellently, they gave up studying after primary school because of poverty. Don’t you think that is very sad and unfortunate for them?
In fact, not only in the countryside but also in Beijing, the big city, there are many poor people facing unemployment and high consumption. I know a poor family in Beijing which is made up of five people: the two sick grandparents, the child who is studying and the parents who work for very low salary. They live a very hard life. Every day they bargain with others to gain only one more coin, and buy only the cheapest thing from the market. For all I said above, how I wish every corner of China can be rich someday. That every child can go to school, that every grandparent can be healthy, that every peasant can live a comfortable life.
Poverty is a very big problem in China. According to a record, there are more than 300 million people in hot water for poverty. If it can’t be solved it shall influence the peace and development of society and therefore influence the Olympic Games. So let’s be concerned about the poor and construct the harmonious Games.
Lets’ reach out and do everything we can.
Thank you for listening! I’m looking forward to your criticism. |
posted by Danielle @ 1:35 AM  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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You are so right Danielle! This speech captures a lot. I would love to meet this student some day. I know she was placed in just the right class........
Love you girl!!
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Your student has such an awesome spirit. These are the speeches that need to be heard to understand what is happening. So you are really making progress and a difference in these students lives, and I am very proud of you.
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Wow, that is some pretty deep insight that is surprising to hear. Thanks for sharing that. I love and miss you guys a lot.
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You are so right Danielle! This speech captures a lot. I would love to meet this student some day. I know she was placed in just the right class........
Love you girl!!