The life story and struggles of a Tibetan woman within her own community as well as on the streets of Beijing.
Facing discrimination in her village because she opts not to remarry after becoming a widow, she came to Beijing because she needed to earn money to pay for her son Yang Qing’s schooling. Even though her life in Beijing was a constant struggle, she decided to stay here because she wanted him to have a brighter future.
Zanta’s adventure started with a love story. She fell in love with a young man from a neighbouring village – already a no-no in Tibet, where marrying outside your own circle is frowned upon greatly. A son was born, and then some years later, tragedy stuck and Zanta’s life was shattered. Her husband passed away, and in Tibet, the son is generally returned to the husband’s family, who are all shepherds with no education. Zanta wanted a better life for her son so, after much soul-searching, she journeyed to Beijing. At first, life was very difficult, but she eventually found friends in the MCF community who helped her and her son. She made Tibetan jewellery to support herself, and now she lives in a small home with her son, who is attending school. He loves it but he needs remedial tutoring to keep up with his peers and ensure his continued success and enjoyment at school. MCF provided support every Saturday for Yang Qing and also a private tutor to help him with his academic subjects.
“The Saturday tutoring (Beijing Buddies) is very important to me. My son is now 12, but he’s not doing so well in school. His teacher says he doesn’t socialize enough so his Mandarin isn’t very good.”
-Zanta
“I am so happy that Yang Qing has the opportunity to be with people who have good manners, I want him to learn to be polite. I am so happy he can be with college students so he can understand how important education is. I really hope when Yang Qing grows up he will be as capable as the college students.”
-Zanta
“The first time I went to Saturday class I was very nervous. The school was very big. Usually, my two cousins and I study with our own tutor. Today we studied English with other students. I was really happy. It was the first time we all studied together. Other students helped me. I hope we can all study together again.”
– Yang Qing
MCF also provided his mother, Zanta, with support for both her son and for her livelihood. Zanta is one of thousands who have made the long journey from villages and towns all over China to Beijing, and her story of hardship is just one among so many. The decision to travel so far is never taken lightly and we hope that by highlighting her story we can encourage greater understanding of the plight of the migrant workers here in Beijing and, perhaps more importantly, their children, who can so easily escape notice in a city of 25 million people, but who desperately need our help.
Yang Qing is now 16 years old and is volunteering with MCF to support other migrant children!