Our four-wheel-drive jeep bumped along an uneven gravel road, jolting us up and down, right and left. Someone joked, "It's so difficult to pay these schools a visit. These car rides really give our bones a shake."

As we drove slowly through one village after another, children ran out of their homes to look at us. Their curious, innocent eyes drew our attention, just as similar eyes had drawn the attention of the volunteers who first visited the area nine years ago.

In 1997, when Tzu Chi volunteers in China, mostly Taiwanese businessmen, were visiting remote, poor regions to extend aid to the needy, they discovered that many local children were unable to go to school due to poverty. Knowing how important education is, the volunteers started providing scholarships and building schools in provinces such as Jiangxi, Guizhou, Henan, and Gansu to help these children.

On September 20, 1997, Baizhu Elementary School--the first school funded by Tzu Chi volunteers in China--opened in Yichun, Jiangxi Province. Originally children who lived in this area had to cross a dam to go to school. With the inauguration of the new school, they no longer had to risk their lives in order to receive an education.

In the same year, Tzu Chi volunteers paid their first visit to Danzhai, Guizhou. Two years later, in 1999, Wuwan Elementary School opened with the financial assistance of the foundation. With the establishment of the school, 496 children who had been forced out of school due to the closing of the original Wuwan Elementary School could finally resume their studies. The tuition scholarships given out by the foundation every year have also gone a long way towards making education available to more poor local children.

With the joint efforts of Tzu Chi volunteers and the local government, an increasing number of children in Danzhai have been able to go to school. For example, in 1995 in Songlong Village, only 62 percent of the children attended elementary school; by 2004, the number shot up to nearly 96 percent. The rate of students who enrolled in junior high school also jumped from 10 percent in 1999 to 72 percent in 2004.

In February this year, another school funded by Tzu Chi opened in Danzhai. Danzhai Tzu Chi Junior High School has a total of 30 classes and 1,500 students. It provides full tuition scholarships and gives reductions on board and lodging fees. To help students from impoverished families pay for their living expenses, it also offers subsidies of 100 renminbi (US$12.70) per semester.

Tzu Chi volunteers not only build schools and provide scholarships in these remote areas, they also introduce teachings from Master Cheng Yen's Still Thoughts Aphorisms to local students. Through the pithy, wise sayings of the Master, they hope to teach the children what love is and how important it is to love.

To raise money to help these children, volunteers gather together every year during the Dragon Boat Festival to make and sell zongzi, or rice dumplings. Eight years ago when the charity event was first held, 20,000 rice dumplings were sold. Over the years, the number has shown a rapid growth. This year, it jumped to 210,000.

"These zongzis represent people's love and care for the children, which we will faithfully deliver to those remote mountain areas," said volunteer Lin Zong-min (林宗明). It is every volunteer's sincerest hope that no child will have to worry about not being able to go to school.

Every time Tzu Chi holds a relief distribution in remote areas, Lin can always be seen at the distribution site. From taking inventory of relief goods, putting them in boxes, to moving and delivering them, he always helps in every way he can. "I'm thankful to be able to serve." He says that he can fully empathize with the children who cannot afford their tuition fees, because he himself was poor before and he knows what it is like to lead a difficult life. Because of this, he works even harder to help these children. He calls himself a "Tzu Chi farmer"--one who gratefully cultivates his field of blessings by reaching out to help others.

"Education is especially important for children living in remote, backward areas," said volunteer Qiu Yu-fen (邱玉芬), who has also put in a lot of effort towards helping indigent children obtain scholarships from Tzu Chi and go to school. She said that she seemed to be able to see herself in these children who were too poor to attend school. Coming from an impoverished family, she herself was forced to drop out of school when she was young, so she knew how painful the experience was. "I always keep in mind what my mother said to me, 'Only through incessant efforts can a poor country girl change her fate.'" Determined to help these children, she has visited many places in Guizhou, Jiangxi, and Henan to help in whatever way she can.

"We really admire Qiu for her endless energy," observed volunteer Wu Long. She mentioned that every time they visit the poor in the mountain regions, Qiu, the most senior among all the volunteers, always remains at the head of the procession and trudges bravely forward no matter how challenging the mountain trails are. "And she always volunteers to visit the families that live the farthest away, determined to reach every household that is in need of help."

Wu recalled that at the beginning of 2003, when the weather was still bitterly cold, Qiu and a team of volunteers visited Dangba Village in Danzhai. Because the trails they traveled on could be very steep and slippery, many volunteers tripped and fell on the way. Some of them tried to persuade Qiu not to go any further, but she still marched staunchly forward. By the end, she had covered more than five kilometers (three miles) and visited three households. "The perseverance she shows in helping the poor is remarkable," said Wu.

Qiu often says that helping a child go to school is like giving his or her family hope. It may even change the fate of the child's descendants. "Our determination to help these students is greatly strengthened when we hear some of them say that their greatest wish is to help those in need in the future--just like what Tzu Chi volunteers do!"

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Impressions of Danzhai

By Guo Shu-hong
Translated by Wu Hsiao-ting
Photographs by Lin Yan-huang

Located in southeast Guizhou Province, Danzhai County lies at altitudes of 600 to 1,200 meters above sea level. It has a population of about 150,000 people from 18 different ethnic groups, including the Miao, Shui, and Buyi. Most of the houses in the county are built on terraces, in the mountains, or by rivers.

Because most people in Danzhai are adept at playing the mangtong and lusheng and dancing the traditional lusheng dance, the county is dubbed "the hometown of mangtong and lusheng." The lusheng dance, often performed at festivals or to welcome guests, is the Miao people's most widespread and longest-surviving performing art. The dance steps are characterized by a natural, primitive simplicity. Dancers sometimes dance and play the lusheng at the same time, forming a large circle and then leaping and hopping towards the center or spreading out while spinning around.

The Miao people regard silver as a sort of talisman that can drive away evil spirits. Exquisite silver ornaments in the shape of lions, fish, butterflies, or birds can often be seen on Miao headgear.

This young Miao woman holds an earthenware wine cup in her hands, ready to serve it to a visiting guest. Those who cannot drink alcoholic beverages do not need to worry. You only need to put your hands behind your back and touch the cup lightly with your lips. The one who serves the wine will understand and will not force you to drink it. But once you accept the cup of wine, which is a symbol of treating the Miao as your own family, you need to drink it down in one gulp.

Danzhai boasts a colorful, diversified culture. One of its most famous arts is batik. To make batik, patterns are traced onto a piece of white cloth with a wax crayon, the cloth is soaked in a dye vat, and then it is heated until the wax melts off. The designs or patterns will then finally appear.