The Diary of Ma Yan

(wrote this on November 25th 2010- just realized I haven't publish it)

Remember I promised to write about the Diary of Ma Yan? She is a Muslim peasant girl of Ningxia, China. the area she lives is almost a desert and life is very hard there. In winter the snow is heavy, although it is a blessing to them because the snow is one of their main source of water (collected, stored and melted in underground cisterns to use in dry times). She rarely gets to eat meat, sometimes only once a year in eid-ul Adha.

She kept diaries of her days in a boarding school with her brother. There they only eat once a day during lunch, no breakfast or dinner. And only rice is provided. If the children have money they could buy vegetables.

I copied here her entry on one particular day that she was very hungry.

Tuesday 30th October 2000


It's freezing today. My brother and I have no more bread. At lunchtime, the comrades are all eating and we have to stand by and grit our teeth.

Seeing my tears, my brother says, as if his heart were light, "Wait, sister, I'm going to borrow some lunch tickets," But I know he feels no better than I do. He simply wants to console me and stop me worrying about him. I go back to my dorm and sit on my bed and wait for him to return.

I'm dreaming of tthis bowl of yellow rice.

He takes a very long time to come back. Then he says, "Sister, there's no more rice."

He turns to leave. I watch my brother's receding back and I can't help letting the tears flow.

Do you know what hunger is? It's an unbearable pain.

I wonder when I'll stop experiencing hunger at school.....

***
During one school holiday, her mum broke the news that she could not continue her education anymore. They dont' have enough money. Her parents could only afford to sent her brother to school. That particular year the draught was harsh.

She wrote her mother a sad letter. The mother was distraught. On the sight of some foreigners her mother made a quick decision. She gave the letter and Ma Yan's diary to them. That became her lifeline.

Alhamdulillah, she is not hungry anymore. She now receives scholarship from France (yes France, not any Muslim country) to complete her studies. She also receives royalties from the publication of her diaries, in which she kindly donated 25% of it to the Children of Ningxia Foundation to help her neighbors and other children of Ningxia to complete their education.