Ponytail, big eyes, childlike as a 12-year-old child, but also with fortitude that doesn't match 12-year-old age. She studied hard with the tuition money saved by collecting garbage. She takes care of her elderly grandparents with her weak body. She spilled her love to every "left-behind child" around her. She wrote a colorful childhood with self-improvement.
Her name is Tan Haimei, and she is a seventh-grade junior high school student in Liujiafan Town, Feidong County, Anhui Province.
■ Abandoned by my father when I was a child
Tan Haimei was born in Huguang Village, Liujiafan Town, Feidong County. When she was six months old, her father was unfortunately crushed by the collapsed billboard iron frame while working, and his right arm was shattered. As much as100000 yuan in medical expenses, the originally poor families are heavily in debt. Seeing her husband lose the ability to work, Tan Hai Midea's mother abandoned her husband and daughter forever. After her mother left, her father, who could not take care of herself, had to take her to the suburbs of Hefei, where she was raised by her grandparents and went out to make a living alone.
Grandpa and grandma temporarily live in a temple. Grandpa used an old motorcycle to carry passengers, and grandma picked up junk, so they barely made ends meet. The arrival of Xiao Haimei makes life more difficult for the elderly.
■ "There is nothing shameful about picking up junk and reading books."
"When Haimei was 5 years old, she followed me to pick up junk. She and I climb up and down a three-story garbage dump every day. After school, she helps me dig out the garbage from the garbage every day after school. Seeing a child about her age drinking cans with relish, she quietly stood aside, waited for others to finish, and picked up the cans put aside. I know from her eyes that she really wants to drink, but she can't afford it. I am very sad to see the child swallowing. " Speaking of this, the grandmother of 7 1 year old cried.
"I remember asking my grandmother for a can of drink. My grandmother had no money to buy it, so she squatted on the ground and cried. A kindly passing aunt bought me a can. I can't bear to drink it. I gave it to my grandmother. She didn't drink, just kept crying. I think grandma is sad and will never drink again. When she is thirsty, she will go to other people's homes for tap water. " Haimei said, "The canned mango juice is made of iron, with a dime of three, the canned Jianlibao is made of tin, with a dime 1, and three plastic bottles ..." She could name the names and prices of more than a dozen drinks in one breath, but she had never tasted them. She said that when she was the most, she picked up more than 60 beverage bottles a day and earned two dollars and sixty cents.
Due to the high tuition fees in suburban schools, grandpa had to take Xiao Haimei back to his hometown to study. Haimei studied hard and got the best grades. On weekends and winter and summer vacations, Xiao Haimei will come to the suburbs to help grandma pick up junk and climb the garbage dump. "Are you afraid of picking up rubbish?" The reporter asked. Haimei shook her head: "At first, some students looked down on me. Grandma told me that we didn't steal or rob, and we weren't ashamed. I think grandma is right. I pick up junk to save money for school and to help my father pay the bill. "
■ "Haimei is a filial child"
Due to the disrepair of rural houses, Haimei and Grandpa live in two rough houses of villagers' houses. Every morning, she gets up early to clean the house and yard, make breakfast, wash clothes and ride to school seven miles away. After school, she hurried back to help grandpa cut wood, cook, do farm work, beat his back and comb his hair.
"Xiao Haimei is a filial child." Zhang Xiaohong, secretary of the Party Committee of Liujiafan Town, said, "Last summer vacation, I invited a tutor to help my daughter with her English, so that Haimei could study with her daughter. During this period, she heard that her grandmother was ill and burst into tears. Every day, as soon as she finished her class, she went to her grandmother's house dozens of miles away by car, fetched water for her grandmother to cook, accompanied her to see a doctor for infusion, and came back early the next morning to make up lessons. Grandma is ok, and Xiao Haimei has lost a lot of weight. "
The hard life has made Haimei develop the habit of frugality: never buy snacks to eat, and pick up the rice that fell on the table to eat; She did her homework with a pencil, erased it with an eraser, and then used it until the paper was worn by the eraser ... In June 2005, she was invited to participate in the "First International Forum on Child Development" jointly sponsored by UNICEF and China Soong Ching Ling Foundation. During the meeting, Haimei put the leftover cakes into plastic bags every day, and then took them back for grandparents and classmates to taste.
■ "Let' left-behind children' no longer be lonely"
Hearing the song "Only a mother is good in the world", Haimei always has an unspeakable taste in her heart. She wrote an essay "My Grandma", full of grandma's true feelings and longing for a complete family. This article won the silver prize in the magazine essay contest. Seeing that many students' parents work outside the home all the year round, she came up with a bold idea: to set up a "left-behind children team" to help each other, "so that left-behind children are no longer lonely."
Her idea was supported by the counselor. In 2004, the first "Left-behind Children Team" was established in Zheng Yang Central Primary School in Liujiafan Town, where she attended. Through the activities of the left-behind group, the children's extracurricular life is more colorful and they become close friends with each other. However, Haimei has a more amazing idea. She told reporters: "I heard from Aunt Buwei, a social science expert, that there are hundreds of thousands of left-behind children in rural areas of China. They are all lonely and need help. If I have a computer in the future, I want to build a website for left-behind children so that left-behind children can communicate freely and study together. "
Haimei's spirit of self-improvement touched people around her. Because of her outstanding performance, Haimei was named "three good students" every year and won many honorary titles such as "excellent young pioneers" and "civilized teenagers". On June 5438+ 10, 2005, I won the title of "Top Ten Young Pioneers in China" for the 10th time. This year, I was elected as "the person who touched me the most" among the national teenagers together with Yang Liwei and Liu Xiang. (Xinhua Viewpoint)