Nvgu Impression

August 2007, Cammie and I went from Zhaotong to Zhongshui to Shimenkan.

It rained the night we arrived at Zhaotong, caused the landslide, and stopped the road to Shimenkan. We had to try an old trail to Shimenkan.

Fortunately our jeep got stuck in the river right outside this small village-Nvgu. While we waited for the river to recede, we visited Nvgu and took pictures of the fun-loving villagers.

Later I check map and learn this trail alongside the river in the valley is just the old route way from Zhaotong to Shimenkan, where numerous times Samuel Pollard stepped on it.

View of Zhaotong from our hotel window.

We took train from Guiyang to Zhaotong. Zhaotong train station was about 10Km away from the city. When I settled in Jinding Hotel, it’s already two in the midnight. We caught the first bus to Zhongshui at 7 am.

Zhaotong is a very important city in China southwest missionary, see in many China missionary history records.

Before he went into Shimenkan, Samuel Pollard preached here for ten years, but harvested little.

The driver is checking the road, he is the vice governor of Shimenkan branched in agriculture.

The jeep gets stuck. Local villager is telling us big water and flood in the front, we can’t go further. We have to wait till the river recede.

In Shimenkan, Nvgu is one of the few villages close to water, so they are easy to fetch water, but not easy for merchandise transportation.

Pig is swimming across the river.

Chenlong will study in senior middle school grade one.

He is a good student, he says English is his favorite course, but when he faced foreigner Cammie, he is too shy to speak.

Chenlong’ brother took university entrance exam in 2007, and got the high score of more than 630, he choosed Harbin Institute of Technology, partly of finance reason.

Chonlong’s sister studies accounting in a junior college in Zhaotong.

Unfortunately we didn’t meet them cause they left home before the schools bagan.

Chenlong’s father is the leader of the village. We didn’t meet him neither cause he saw his son to Harbin.

Chenlong’s mother tells us, for three children’s education, they are already in deep debt, total number should exceed 100,000 Yuan after Chenlong to university. “Life is really miserable, however matterever the hardship, we have to support them nowthat they want to study.”

I ask about how to pay the debt, she says, every child, whole family work to pay.

I also ask, how if children leave home and ignore the family, mother looks at Chenlong and smiles, Chenlong also smiles, and me either.

Chonlong is a dilligent boy, silent in word but a very quick hand in shitwork. Whenever he is unoccupied, he fiddles with his cat.

这个母亲很了不起。祝福这家人！

也祝愿陈龙能考个好学校。

村子里随便逛，和这妇女聊天。聊了几句，她递给我她手中吃了一半的玉米，非要我吃玉米嘛，我要和她套近乎，当然不敢嫌她手中的玉米。我掰了一排玉米粒。这是CAMMIE拍下的照片，她看着我笑，所以我就把掰下的玉米全塞给她吃了。呵呵。

上学的孩子都不在。
这里的孩子上学比较麻烦。女姑小学离这个寨子比较远，走得慢的孩子步行单程要二个小时。一般带二个土豆当中饭。
有些孩子因此缀学。
拍照的时候，陈龙的妈妈一直在对几个孩子的母亲说，要让娃娃去读书，要让娃娃去读书。
这几天刚开学，威宁在搞师风教育，下午不上课。所以孩子们早上六点多离家到学校学不了多久，又回来了。父母们挺心痛的，意见很大。