The Diary of Ma Yan
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The Diary of Ma Yan: The Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese School Girl (马燕日记) is the diary of a Chinese schoolgirl Ma Yan (马燕) from a remote village in Ningxia autonomous region, China.
In March 2001, Pierre Haski, a French journalist was filming a documentary on Chinese Muslims. Haski arrived in the extremely remote rural village of Zhangjiashu (in the northwestern region of Ningxia, an autonomous region)and stayed for a few days in the village imam's modest hut. There, Haski and his team were treated well [1] by the impoverished villagers, although facilities such as drinking water and education were very poor.
As they were leaving, the mother of thirteen-year-old Ma Yan thrust her daughter's handwritten diaries into the arms of Haski and his team,[1] pleading with them to help her. Back in Shanghai, the team was moved by the words in the diaries in which Ma Yan described her desire to continue to attend school and help her family. Being desperately poor, the Ma family had already pulled Ma Yan out of school as the fees were too expensive for Ma Yan's family to afford.
Ma Yans diaries were edited and initially published in France by Haski.
In the summer of 2002, a fund known as the Children of Ningxia was set up to send Ma Yan and children like her to school. Since then, the diary has been published in seventeen languages and sold over 200,000[1] copies worldwide.
Later Ma Yan said "I want to study journalism at university", citing her motivation as "Because Uncle Han (Mr Haski) and others traveled across the country and found poor children, like us. ... I'd like to be a journalist so I, too, can help poor children."
Through Children of Ningxia around 250 Chinese schoolchildren have been able to access or continue their education. Ma Yan’s village has also benefited, with better access to freshwater and agricultural fertilizers.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Suela, Fats (2010-10-21). "The Diary of Ma Yan: The Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese Schoolgirl". Gathering Books. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
- Ma, Yan, and Pierre Haski (2005). The Diary of Ma Yan: The Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese Schoolgirl. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-076496-1. ISBN 978-0-06-076496-8.
- Riding, Alan (March 24, 2004). "A Chinese Girl's Diary Builds A Bridge Out of Rural Poverty". The New York Times.
- "The Diary of Ma Yan". South China Morning Post. 2004-08-15. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
External links[edit]
- Children of Ningxia (English version)
- Enfants du Ningxia (French version)