Better Tomorrow for Girls

Wang is one of thousands of poor rural girls whose fates have been changed by the Spring Buds Program launched in 1989 by the China Children and Teenagers’ Fund with an aim of helping poor girls who had dropped out of school to resume their education. To date, more than 3.69 million girls have been assisted by the program, making it the most widely funded and longest running public welfare program for girls since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

- WANG PENG & WANG RUOYAO

WANG Fumei, 33 years old, knows the power of education from personal experience. The woman, hailing from a poor family in a remote rural area in Sichuan Province, never expected that she could lead the agenda of ensuring rural girls’ access to nine-year compulsory education as the deputy head of a township named Dala in southwest China.

Eighteen years ago, Wang was one of many poor girls in need of help. An education support program called Spring Buds Program ignited the hope of the 15-year-old girl who had dropped out of school three years before. Thanks to the support, Wang continued her education, secured a diploma, and got where she is now.

Preparing Girls for Tomorrow

About 30 years ago, many children in poor areas across China had to quit school due to strained financial conditions. About two thirds of these children were girls. Their lives have been transformed thanks to the “Spring Buds Program.”

Lan Zhilin, a member of the Yao ethnic group, comes from Rongshui Miao Autonomous County in southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Before 1989, no Yao girl had ever gone to school or been educated. Benefiting from the Spring Buds Program, Lan became one of the first local girls who received education. She completed her studies at a nursing school in Nanning, the capital of the autonomous region.