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Home>Service> Awardees of Fervent Global Love of Lives Award> 7th Fervent Global Love of Lives Award 2004> After rain comes the sunshine—Ku Ching-Yu
Beautiful views at perilous peak, let’s climb up hand in hand
      I’m Ku Ching-Yu, born in a small village in Sangzhi County, Zhangjiajie City, Hunan Province. I grew up in a happy family in my beautiful hometown, so I had no idea about poverty and pain at that time. Our country has begun to follow a path of reform and opening-up when I graduated from senior high school in 1985. Therefore, I decided to keep tune with the trend of the times and make contribution to the local economic development. I contracted a fishpond in our village; with two-year hard work, I achieved good results, and then I was appraised as the first batch of “ten-thousand-yuan households” and “specialized households” in Sangzhi County. But then, a Friend Seeking Notice in a magazine changed my life. Through this Notice, I made friends with a disabled young man, Ma Wen-Chung in Changyuan County of Henan Province. After communication with him lasting over a year, I really admired him for his courage of running a school by himself. I couldn’t help missing Ma and his poor students. Then, it drove me to take a French leave to my family and go there after Spring Festival of 1988.
       At my first sight on Ma Wen-Chung and his school, I was shocked deeply. In his family, his mother and brother were also physically disabled, and his two younger sisters were too young. On the other side, his school had over 40 students, and there was no teacher but Ma Weng-Chung. He had to teach the students independently all the way, but nobody could give him a helping hand. For example, he could not take off clothes, so he slept with clothes in the winter. Sometimes, he couldn’t fall asleep overnight, but he had to teach his students in the daytime. His poorly-dressed students sat in a so-called classroom in which the only teaching aids were a few planks taken as blackboard. At that moment, I fully understood what is poor and what is suffering!
      I decided to stay in Changyuan since I wanted to assist Ma in running this school. I believed the meaning of life lies in helping others live a better life!?
       But, it was a big problem for me to stay there and help him in the everyday life. Moreover, I had to eat maize steamed bun due to absence of bread and rice. In order to solve the food problem, the first thing for me was to learn the farming work there.
      Extremely tired in the work in addition to bad diet, I wasted away physically. I often felt dizzy due to anemia. What is worse, my little sister told me our parents felt sad for my leaving. I was once on the verge of breakdown. But as long as I saw Ma and his students, I became steadfast since I must be responsible for my decision. I couldn’t let Ma Wen-Chung experience a blow any more.
      When I was pregnant, I had no choice but to build the classroom by myself. I didn’t have enough money to buy milk powder, so I had to feed my baby with noodle soup. I felt sorrowful whenever this scene kept recurring to my mind.
      The situation became more difficult since I gave birth to a baby. After a day’s work in the farmland, I had to tease the crying child and help Ma move his body before cooking supper. It was usually midnight till I finished these things. In the morning, I must dress up them before the students came to school.
      Our school once had 340 students in a semester, but we had no money to employ a person for hygienic treatment of nightsoil. So, I often ladled out and shouldered to the field with buckets in the last 15 years.
      In the summer, Yellow River often flooded, but I had to wade it with the new textbooks. It usually took me several days to do this work.
      Hard as this life was, the students treated us heartily. During my confinement, the children bought some eggs by their pocket money and send to me; when Ma Wen-Chung was in a bad mood, the children would sing songs to make him happy. Nothing in the world is more precious than this invaluable sensation. I find I’m lucky to possess it.
      We felt quite glorious and proud, and had a sense of happiness whenever it occurred to me that 1500 students had been taught by us, and many of them had played a big part in the society.
      Though it was a little bitter, I still enjoyed the happiness the others cannot experience. So I think the God is fair-minded!
      My experience justified my original choice. I think I find my biggest happiness in my life!
      Ma Wen-Chung becomes worse physically, I really don’t know how long he can live with us; however, he is still struggling for life. We will accompany him all the way without any hesitation! 

      When we fell in love, I once sang a song to him named ‘Traveling in the Storm’: 
      Do you remember the time when we first met? 
      Though it was raining cats and dogs, 
      No stronger than our love. 
      So let’s climb up the mountain hand in hand. 
      As the saying goes well, 
      Beautiful view always appears at perilous peak. 
      Waiting until fair weather after rain, 
      Good news will come as rainbow. 
      I’ll never give up for I’m still expecting Ma and our child to get better, and I believe the sunshine will come after the rain at last!