Li Feng (李逢) was born blind in a poor farming village in Sichuan Province in central China. She doesn't remember very much about her family. The memory of her parents and siblings is fuzzy, lost in the depths of time.

The day after her younger brother was born, her father took her for an outing. They traveled for a long time, deeper and deeper into the countryside. When they finally stopped to rest, her father instructed her to wait while he went to buy some buns. Li waited and waited, but her father never returned. She began to cry, fearing she would forever be alone on the roadside.

Eventually, a passer-by noticed the five-year-old blind girl crying on the side of the road and stopped to help. It wasn't long before Li was sent to the Wuhan Children's Welfare Home and became part of the large family there. The welfare home was a beacon of light in her world of darkness.

That was 15 years ago; Li is now a confident young woman, 20 years old. She recently passed her university entrance exams and was accepted to Changchun University. She plans to study traditional Chinese medicine and psychology. She wants to help others as she was once helped by the side of the road.

"My broken wings were healed with love at the Wuhan Children's Welfare Home. Now I'm going to Changchun University to learn how to fly!"

When Li Feng called, her excitement was evident from the moment I picked up the telephone. "I passed the university entrance exams!" she proudly exclaimed. Although she was in China and I was in Taiwan, we yelled, jumped, and celebrated as though we were both in the same room. When we finally calmed down, she asked me, "What's the best way to celebrate such a momentous accomplishment?" We decided that the best way to celebrate was to share the good news with all the friends that had helped her along the way. Li phoned those she knew in Wuhan, China, and shared her wonderful announcement. She also sat down and wrote a letter of gratitude to Master Cheng Yen.

Her letter read, in part, "You once said that if I thought, cultivated myself, and concentrated on the things I did, I could do anything I wanted! Now, I truly comprehend what you meant. On July 15, I received a letter of acceptance to Changchun University. I was so thrilled that I tossed and turned all night. I couldn't sleep a wink!"

Li took the university entrance exams in May 2006 in Changchun, northeastern China. Afterwards, she traveled to Taiwan on behalf of the Wuhan Children's Welfare Home to celebrate Tzu Chi's 40th anniversary. She met Master Cheng Yen in the Abode of Still Thoughts in Hualien. The Master gave her a set of chanting beads and wished her good luck in getting accepted to the university. In gratitude, Li vowed that if she was accepted to Changchun University, she would be sure to transplant the seeds of Tzu Chi to her new school.

A new building, a fresh start

In the summer of 1991, regions in eastern and central China experienced severe flooding. Tzu Chi volunteers wanted to enter China to help the flood victims, but were barred from doing so. At that time, the relationship between Taiwan and China was still tentative, even when it came to humanitarian aid. Fortunately, Yan Ming-fu, deputy chairman of the China Disaster Relief Association, was familiar with Tzu Chi and wholeheartedly supported it. As a result of his advocacy, government officials relented and reversed their position. Tzu Chi volunteers were finally allowed to enter China to investigate the plight of flood victims. This marked the beginning of the foundation's work in China.

By 1994, Yan had been promoted to deputy minister of Civil Affairs, in charge of all welfare organizations in China. In that capacity, Yan visited the Wuhan Children's Welfare Home and was heartbroken at what he found. He saw how the roof leaked when it rained, how the rickety wooden stairs protested with creaks and groans under his big feet, and how the orphans were squeezed three to a bed. Yan knew that Tzu Chi could bring the children a brighter future, so he contacted Wang Tuan-cheng, vice president of the Tzu Chi Foundation, to visit the dilapidated children's home.

Soon after that first visit, Tzu Chi began donating funds for the construction of a new building. In October 1997, a new building for Li Feng and over 500 other children was completed in Wuchang, central China. Best of all, the roof doesn't leak and the children sleep in their own beds.

In her letter to Master Cheng Yen, Li shared her gratitude to Yan and Tzu Chi for helping to make her dreams come true: "If it hadn't been for Grandpa Yan, we wouldn't have met the Tzu Chi volunteers, and we wouldn't have this building where we now live and study. This building brings us closer to our dreams, and it is Tzu Chi's love that paved the road to our dreams."

A touching reunion

In November 2005, we accompanied Vice President Wang on a trip to China to visit the children's home. As producers for Tzu Chi Great Love TV, we wanted to record and film Li Feng's inspirational life story. We also hoped to become acquainted with Yan Ming-fu--or Grandpa Yan, as he is known to the children of the welfare home.

Although Yan has since retired from his government post, he flew in from Beijing to meet his old friend. When Wang and Yan met, they greeted one another like the best of friends with a heartfelt hug.

The reunion was very touching. I was moved to see these two strong men, united in their compassion for the children, embrace as old friends in front of the new children's home they had helped create. Next, Yan hugged Ding Xiao-an, whose two arms were atrophied but who could draw beautiful pictures with her feet. Finally, he offered warm hugs to his adopted grandchildren: Xiao Li, Xiao Wei, and Li Feng. He knew their backgrounds, experiences and feelings by heart.

Yan felt a special affinity for Li, no doubt due to her zeal and determination. "I know she is smart, but heaven has not been fair to her," said Yan, referring to Li's blindness. Yan wanted to help Li recover her eyesight, and he had arranged for examinations and even surgeries, but to no avail.

The power of music

Li can't see, but she is very intelligent. When she was nine years old, the children's home sent her to a special school for the blind. She quickly realized how wonderful it was to be among other children that faced similar challenges. The first lesson she learned was, "Be content." At the welfare home, all of the children lacked parents. At the school, all the children were visually impaired. When she thought of the other children in these terms, she stopped pitying herself. It was as if a new window on life had been opened for her.

Li also has an ear for music and a sweet voice. She likes to sing her favorite song, "A Doll":　

The snow falls quietly down.
There is a doll by the road.
Dolly, dolly, why aren't you going home?
Don't you have a home either?
No Daddy or Mommy?
Oh, Dolly! Don't be sad or afraid.
Let me lend you half of my mommy,
So we can have the same family together.

In 1995, 20-year-old Hu Hong came to volunteer at the children's home. Attracted by Li's voice and musical ability, she decided to give her piano lessons. Only 10 years old, Li learned piano very quickly. She and Hu began making wonderful music for the other children in the home.

Unfortunately, despite her success at the piano, Li's interest in the lessons began to wane after a few months. She felt the piano had become "boring." She refused to practice and began avoiding Hu.

Fortunately, Hu didn't give up as easily as Li; she persisted in dropping by the home every weekend to encourage Li to practice. "A student's desire to learn fluctuates up and down, like a wave. Sometimes, a student needs an adult's encouragement to move ahead. If the student gives up every time he or she becomes depressed, then that will become a habit in the future."

Despite Li's resistance, Hu did not give up. She kept encouraging the young girl to begin again, trying to convince her to not abandon the piano. Finally, Li relented and took up the lessons again.

One year later, she received her level-one certificate and a grade of "Excellent." No other child in the home had ever received such a wonderful honor in music, let alone a blind student. Looking back, she is happy that she didn't give up the piano. She will never reject the charm of music again.

Like a light in her mind

Li wasn't able to play piano at the school for the blind during the week; she could only practice when she returned to the children's home on weekends. Even so, she spent a lot of time practicing. In 2003, she received her level-seven certificate and won a special prize in an Asian piano competition. Through the piano, Li discovered a confidence within her that she had never before experienced.

In 2005, Yan presented Li with a new piano as a New Year's gift, hoping to further encourage her musical development. Yan was certain that Li would choose a career in music. One day, Li played a song called "Childhood Memory" for Yan, and he asked her what she planned to do in the future.

"I want to enter the department of acupuncture and massage at Changchun University. It's true, not many people can excel in piano. But if I can master acupuncture and massage, I can return to the children"s home and help the youngsters."

Yan was surprised at her answer. He had expected something entirely different, but he wasn't upset with her. Although he had always expected Li to choose a career in music, he was impressed with her reasons for wanting to learn massage.

Although Li had decided on her goal, no one was sure how much hard work would be necessary to reach it. Making her task even more difficult, the school for the blind was classified as a vocational school, and she had never taken any regular high school courses! The children's home generously agreed to purchase the books that she would need to study for the university entrance exams, but how could she make up for all the high school courses that she had never taken?

In February, a retired math teacher, Wu Jin-lian, visited the children's home. The principal of the home, Li Jian-hua, asked Wu if he would consider tutoring Li in her studies, to help prepare her for the entrance exam. Wu agreed, and he and Li soon set to work. Incredibly, she completed three years of high school math, physics and chemistry in just two months. Wu said of his pupil, "Although she can't see, there is a light in her mind--she has great ambition and ideals."

When the other teachers in the children's home learned that Li had passed the university entrance exams, they were as thrilled as if their own children had just passed. Li Feng was only the second special education student in the history of the children's home who had successfully passed the university exams. In honor of her achievement, Principal Li held a special farewell party in the home. All the students and teachers gathered to wish Li well at the university. The principal presented her with a special bookmark that she cherishes to this day. Teacher Yu knitted a sweater for her to keep her warm in the winters. Teacher Rong from the school for the blind bought her a set of sports clothes. In the end, Li had received so much love and gifts that she couldn't even close up her luggage.

Learning to fly

On August 19, 2006, Li left her adopted home for Changchun. The oldest van at the children's home took her to the train station.

The van was very familiar to Li; she had taken it back and forth to the school for the blind for the past 12 years. At first, her friends envied her for being driven around like a VIP. Now she was leaving for the last time. She was growing up, and the van was getting old.

After being dropped off at the train station, Li prepared to embark on a new chapter in her life. She said goodbye to the teachers who came to see her off and to the only home she had known since youth. The train blew its whistle and slowly started moving. Li waved a final goodbye and smiled to hide the tears in her heart.

The trip to Changchun took 27 hours. During the trip, Li kept up her spirits by telling us jokes. The funniest joke came from a radio program about Changchun: "This city is windy only twice a year--each time six months long!" Despite her humor and sunny disposition, we could see she was missing her home already.

Changchun University, the first higher level special education institution in China, was established in 1987. Over the past 19 years, the university has produced 1,057 professionals, all of whom succeeded despite physical challenges. The university welcomed its latest class of freshmen, including Li, on August 21.

Li wants to use traditional Chinese medicine to help cure people's physical diseases and psychology to help cure their mental and emotional ailments. She said, "My broken wings were healed with love at the children's home. Now I'm going to Changchun University because I want to learn how to fly with my wings."

New freedom through a keyboard

In addition to accompanying Li and recording her story, the Tzu Chi Great Love TV crew had another mission: setting up a laptop computer for the blind. The computer was a gift for Li from the Tzu Chi Humanitarian Center in Taiwan.

Yi Yang is one of Li's friends from her former school. Like Li, his eyesight is very bad, but he has good hearing. His excellent grades allowed him to skip three grades, and he is now a fourth-year student at Changchun University. He took Li into town to buy the computer without any difficulty.

Xie Feng, another of Li's friends, will also benefit from the computer. He's a poor student from a rural area in Hubei, central China. However, his poor vision and rural upbringing don't interfere with his learning in a big city like Changchun. Before he came to the university, he was dependent on his friends to read to him. At Changchun, he has found a way to communicate with the world--through a computer for the blind. He now studies English and Japanese, and he hopes to become a translator.

Li's own computer skills have also started to grow. Although she is completely blind, the whole world is hers through the keyboard. She uses the computer to transmit her gratitude to those around the world.　

Li can read the world's famous books through her computer. She is learning the power and freedom of surfing the Internet. In October, I received an e-mail from her. She wrote that she had spent the Mid-Autumn Festival in Chang-chun by herself, but she wasn't alone. The children's home sent her a box of moon cakes, and she joined the celebration back at the children's home via telephone.

In the conclusion of the letter that Li wrote to Master Cheng Yen, she said, "Our world has become bigger. We are no longer aid recipients; we have learned to become givers, each according to our abilities. Our hearts carry a lot of love, which is transformed into power strong enough to prompt us to move forward. We will share this love with people who love us and with those who need it."


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LI FENG GOES TO UNIVERSITY