Ａ Ｎｉｎｅｔｙ－Ｙｅａｒ－Ｏｌｄ Ａｍｅｒｉｃａｎ Ｌａｄｙ Ｅｕｎｉｃｅ Ｍｏｅ Ｂｒｏｃｋ

(Continued from the previous issue)

II

When Eunice arrived at Liumiao Village， the villagers vacated the best courtyard in the village for her and equipped her house with household electric appliances and furniture including refrigerator， colour television， telephone， computer， and sofa. As she had lived in the United States for about 70 years， she forgot almost all the Chinese she had known， the villagers’ committee hired a woman interpreter for her. She was grateful for the meticulous arrangements made by the village cadres and villagers， and insisted that she pay up the electric appliances and furniture with her own money and that from then on she herself pay all the fees including electricity fee and the interpreter’s salary， not wanting to add any burden on the villagers’ committee.

When the children in the village learnt that an American granny had come to live there， they went to see her curiously. Eunice liked children very much. Holding children’s hands in her own， she asked about their well being with loving care. In these children she seemed to see herself， Xiao Lin and her other young friends， reminding her of her happy childhood. She said to these children with emotion: “From now on， I am your granny!”

Eunice likes children， and the children also like to play with her. In her house often gather many children. On the floor of the sitting room toys lay everywhere and on the roof of her house there are shuttlecocks that fall on it when the children play badminton. Every now and then she has to ask someone to climb up the roof to collect them.

Not long after she settled down， Eunice visited the primary school in the village. When she saw that the teaching facilities were simple and crude， and the school lacked modern teaching facilities， at once she donated 30，000 US dollars for building a computer room and a teacher’s room， and buying sportswear for the sports teams. In the following three years she successively donated about 20，000 RMB yuan to the kindergarten in Liumiao Village and other schools in the town for purchasing toys， musical instruments， and things used in sports and fine arts classes. Meanwhile， she worked as an English teacher in Liumiao Primary School. Even the English teachers in the town’s middle schools often came to Eunice’s home to attend English training course she opened free of charge. Every Spring Festival， she would give all the teaching staff in Liumiao Primary School some money and souvenirs for the lunar New Year.

She has subscribed some educational newspapers and periodicals from abroad， and made research on the ideal of “l(fā)etting every child be successful”. She often sends emails to her friends abroad to get to know their ideas about education and tell them about the changes in China’s rural education. She gives the results of her research to Liumiao Primary School.

To express their thanks to Eunice， Liumiao Primary School was renamed China-US Friendship Primary School and she was invited to serve as its honorary principal. She once worked in Liaocheng University to help raise the English level of the English teachers of senior middle schools in the city， and many times gave lessons to the students in Wuxun Senior Middle School， Guan County， Liaocheng City， and encouraged them to study English well.

Despite her advanced age， Eunice leads a busy life. In the daytime she likes to sit among the children， studying and playing together with them. At home she is busy planting flowers and grass that she has ordered from abroad， turning her courtyard into a garden. Every evening she surfs on the internet for hours， chatting with her friends abroad and asking them to care and help the children in China’s backward areas.

Every Christmas she would ride a pedicab and go from house to house to give gifts to the children in the village. Every Spring Festival she， like an ordinary Chinese lady， would stick up New Year couplets and make dumplings and offer them to the villagers.

Last year on learning a primary school pupil in Liumiao Village who left home because of high pressure in study， and a pupil in the neighbouring village who committed suicide because of poor results in the exam， Eunice began to pay more and more attention to children’s mental health and make investigation and study on their psychological problems.

This year， what she wants to do most is to buy with her own money an instrument for psychotherapy which she once saw in the Colorado State Medical College in the United States. This instrument， similar to the brain wave instrument， can detect signs of trouble in a person’s mind and consciousness so that it can help doctors to diagnose and treat patients’ psychological problems and ease students’ pressure in study and dispel their nervousness in exams.

It is out of her own experience many years ago that she decided to purchase this instrument for the Chinese children. Thirty years ago she knew a small boy who was very naughty and did not study well. Other people’s gossip gave him great psychological pressure.One day a teacher gave him a book and asked him to write a composition within three days on what he thought of after reading. He said to the teacher that he at least needed three weeks to finish the book. The teacher asked him whether he wanted to be a good pupil， and the boy said yes. Then， the teacher resorted to the above-mentioned instrument to treat his psychological problems. After the treatment， the boy spent only one day finishing the assignment given by the teacher.

Eunice said， though this instrument is rather expensive， she herself can afford it. If it can ease children’s psychological pressure and let them keep a healthy and happy mentality， this will affect their whole lives， and maybe the tragedy of young students committing suicide because of psychological problems will never happen again.

Every year Eunice is elected as “advanced individual who respects teachers and values education”. Every time she receives the red certificate， there is a gratifying smile on her face: “I feel so proud that I can get an award in China.”

III．

When asked whether she had got accustomed to the simple rural life in China， she answered; “I don’t want to lead an extravagant life. I want to spend my limited savings and remaining energy to do something I can for the Chinese people—to do good things makes one’s life more meaningful.”

Eunice spent her childhood in China and the poverty and sickness that the Chinese peasants had suffered left deep impressions on her. Since then， she made up her mind that when she grew up she would earn money to help those poor people. Now， at last she has got the chance to realize her childhood’s dream.

At the time when Eunice just came to Liumiao village， the village was planning to build large-sized orchards of pear and date. For this， she donated 41，000 RMB yuan. Since then， every year she donates some money to help Liumiao Village to develop economy. In order to help the villagers in Liumiao Village to become prosperous through production， she has asked her relatives and friends in the United States to send her by post books about how to grow fruits， vegetables， and crops with which she can help the villagers to grow American crops with higher economic returns. She asked one of her American friends to send her 7 seedless pomegranate saplings which she planted in her own garden. The pomegranate wine made from this kind of seedless pomegranate is very good for old people’s health. She said， if her experimental planting was successful， she would recommend the villagers to plant them and make planting and processing a coordinated process， which would soon make the villagers rich. In 2002 she introduced from the United States a kind of “PAW” fruit tree that have purple-coloured blossom and bear big fruits. She said，” If this rare kind of fruits is sold at the market， they surely can sell well at a good price.” She is also planning to introduce from the United States a kind of cauliflower that is both decorative and edible and recommend the villagers to grow them which after being processed can add a new variety of products for export.

Eunice who has received higher education and has a wide range of interest wants to make contributions to the Chinese people with her knowledge; therefore， she wishes to continue to live in China so that she can work for the Chinese people she loves. She once served as president of a children’s hospital and chairwoman of the nurses’ association in Denver， Colorado State of the United States. Using her special skills， she often organizes free medical treatment for patients. She now concurrently serves as honorary president of the Liaocheng International Peace Hospital. Every Friday afternoon， she will come from Yanggu County to Liaocheng City on time and give medical and nursing lessons to the young doctors in the hospital. She encouraged her friends to donate some expensive medical instruments to the hospital. In November 2003， she invited British doctor Harry Oldfield and two Canadian partners to come to China to display two latest medical inventions， for she believed that the new inventions would help improve human body’s circulation and health， hence reduce people’s medical expenses. In April 2006， she financed the Liaocheng International Peace Hospital to build rockeries， pavilions and a fish pond in the hospital compound for the patients and the doctors to enjoy a beautiful environment.

Caring about the health of the villagers in Liumiao Village， in April 2000 she provided funds to invite doctors in the Liaocheng International Peace Hospital to give health check-up for the old people in the village， finding that five old people needed to have cataract extraction. Soon， she paid for all the five to have the treatment. In September 2005， she bought more than 110 pairs of glasses for short-sighted villagers in Liumiao village.

When SARS was spreading in China in 2003， through the charity organization Eunice donated 10，000 US dollars to the local government for fighting off SARS. On November 30， 2003 she was invited to attend a conference on legal aid for the old people in Diaoyutai State Guest House， Beijing where she gave a speech. In 2005 after Indonesia suffered from a powerful earthquake and tsunami， she donated some money through the Liaocheng charity organization.

Now she has already got used to Chinese rural life. She plants vegetables by herself and enjoys doing it very much. She told me that because she loves China， the Chinese people and lively children she will permanently live in China， in Liumiao Village where she leads a meaningful and happy life. She also told me that she and her husband had made a will on the donation of their remains to the hospitals. Her husband’s remains have been donated to the United States， and she would donate her remains to China， thus fully realizing her “China dream”.

Eunice has won respect and love from the villagers of Liumiao and neighbouring villages. Whenever the latter come to Liumiao Village， they will call at her home. On festivals the villagers will spontaneously call on her and send greetings to her in different ways.

Eunice’s deeds have evoked great repercussions in Shandong Province and all over China. In May 2006 she was invited by the Shandong Charity Federation to attend the “2006 Shandong Charity Evening Party” and was conferred upon the title of Shandong Philanthropy Ambassador. At the end of June， 2006 she was invited to attend the “2006 Conference on the Development of China’s Public Welfare Undertaking” and was conferred upon the title of China Philanthropy Ambassador.

At the beginning of 2007， she won the title of “Ten People Moving Shandong， 2006” and the title of “Ten People with Their True Stories Moving China， 2006.” At the “Ten People Moving Shandong， 2006” prize-awarding ceremony sponsored by the Shandong TV Station， on receiving the prize cup， she said excitedly: “Come back to China and settle down here is the thing I like to do most in my life.”

A netizen wrote in his blog: “What kind of life is meaningful? I think， at a tranquil night when we recall the past and compare it with the present and ponder over our pursuit of life in depth， we often ask ourselves the similar question. Eunice， the old American lady has told us everything with her own deeds—the meaning of life is， not in chanting impassioned slogans， but in doing good deeds earnestly， wholeheartedly and devotedly!”