I was born at the start of China’s Cultural Revolution, when Mao Zedong was determined to wipe out all wealthy and educated Chinese citizens. My family was among this group. I was separated from my mother at birth and handed to my ailing grandmother to survive on the streets. My father had been thrown in jail, and my mother was immediately exiled to the remote countryside. Her life was spared because, as a physician, she could be useful to Mao’s people.
Golden Courage International (GCI) provides opportunities for poverty-stricken children of central China to grow into thriving adults. GCI believes that every child has a right to a family, a home, healthy nutrition, sound education, and an opportunity to grow fully in body, mind, and spirit.
Lii Yuhan (“A Very Cold Rain”) is an 11-year-old fifth-grader who lives with her grandparents and her mother. Her mother, a burn victim, has lost her fingers, and her face is badly disfigured.
