Gulang County belongs to Weiwu area, Gansu province, being located in the furthest east of Hexi Corridor. The south is mountainous area. Its north is contiguous to the Tengger Desert. Because of the bad geographical environment as well as the shortage of natural resources, Gulang County’s economy is quite laggard. It is national key poverty Alleviation County. Huanyangchuan village where I am is one of six mountainous area villages. In here, there is perennial drought. Poor harvest of grain has already lasted for 6 years. For the peasants, the biggest problem is the shortage of water. Except that some places have water lands, the majority are dry lands and mountainous areas that completely depend on rainwater to irrigate. The environment here is always deteriorating in the past 10 odd years, becoming drier and drier. Without rain, people will harvest nothing, even can’t ensure the grain ration. This place has no other economical industry. Except doing farming, men of most families work outside in Hexi and Xinjiang zones most of a year. And the money they make yearly is also only at the level of maintaining basic expenses of the family. Under such an economic condition, students’ going to school often becomes a very big problem. Every year there are a lot of children who have lost the chance to go to school. For them, going to school is the most important way of changing fate withal. And as a result of the same reason, in addition to inconvenient traffic of many places and inadequate information, they can’t contact more things that benefit their understanding of the world. Textbooks are the most important reading material. But for the sake of money, even many students’ textbooks are borrowed from students of higher grades. Unlike children in the city, many of them have no TV in their home and also have no way of seeing outside information regularly. They are eager to read books, eager to establish contact with outside world. Being able to read more books does good to them at any rate. It should be a right of all children. Books will produce influence to their life and future. From May of last year till July of this year, I have been teaching in Huangyangchuan Vocational Middle School, Gulang, Gansu province for a year. I mainly teach them the subjects including history, computer, mandarin and etc., as well as various other forms and things. I all the more find that they must also see and learn more things, to let them know a wider world.

    From March of this year, many friends (known and unknown) have learnt about the situation by SICKBABY website and have sent me books in succession, more than 2000 copies. I myself lend books to students. Most of them are active to read books. Some are even crazy. These books have already been handed out to students before my left in July. Some others have been given to friends that love reading books. Still a small part of books have been dealt out to school. Now I have already left school. I hope that if it is possible, I am intended to go there once again. I’ll rent a house in the street outside the school as a library. If I reopen a small library, it needs more, plenty of book sources. And no matter whether this library can be opened in the end, the books that all people have collected will be put to good use. They will still be handed out to hands of different students one by one. I think that, this is the best way. You hand them books, and then let them communicate and pass mutually among themselves. I think this place needs these things. They will make students, children understand the whole world more (no matter whether they are historical, political, individual, natural, social, other’s or they are about their own……). And I feel this is the biggest impetus that makes them able to find the hope and goal of life.

    As for the variety of books, books about junior study (elementary books and senior books can also be useful), literature, children’s books, fairy tales, middle school students’ magazines, all kinds of knowledge magazines, all sorts of useful books are all OK.

    We don’t expect books will produce influence on people except students. I think there will be influence, but first through the youngest people. If this library, whose property is unofficial, irregular, without too many goals, can be established, it will make use of all possible manners and means to fully exert the effects of books and make their effects carried out in practice on as many concrete people as possible. Whether I can go there myself or when I can go there, are all in an uncertain state. But these books are sure to be useful. At present, three internet friends have sent books to Gansu. Although I am not there, I have told my friends in the school and they will check and receive for me. They will first keep these books well. After I go there, I will deal with them. It appears for the present that, perhaps it will be next spring. These books, if it is impossible to open a library, are likely to be distributed to students’ hands, and have the probability of being distributed to different schools.

Please send books to：Huangyangchuan Vocational Middle School, Gulang County,Gansu province   Receiver:Liu Dongrao 733108

In addition，the sender, please make sure to write your address where you send books and contact manner, so as to contact you and make records

Cong Feng 2001.8.8

The friend who sends books, please at the same time, email your name, contact manner and book inventory to ：needahand@needahand.org