Girls struggle to pursue dreams

Initiated by the National Health and Family Planning commission in 2013, the program helps girls in underdeveloped regions to build their self-esteem and self-confidence.

Xi Peiyao, 12, who attended the training course, said her dream is to be a teacher.

“I want to be a teacher teaching Chinese because I like Chinese and writing,” Xi said. “By teaching I can not only share knowledge with my students, but also keep learning new things from new versions of textbooks.”

She is living with her mother in a room that has no bathroom and costs 300 yuan ($48) a month to rent. Merit certificates she received from school are displayed on the wall. Yan Lingling, Xi’s mother, said she is proud of her daughter.

According to the family planning policy, couples in which both the husband and wife have rural residential permits can have another child if their first is a daughter. Yan said she isn’t planning on adding to the family because she wants to give her daughter the best she has.

“My husband is away most of the time, working in construction sites and making no more than 30,000 yuan ($4,840) a year. I work as an hourly worker sometimes. The rent of our apartment is expensive. One more child means one more burden,” Yan said.

“My husband’s parents, who live in the village, have been pressuring us to have a son to pass on his family name. But my daughter is also our blood.”

Speaking about how she plans to achieve her dream of becoming a teacher, Xi said: “I will not give up on my dream easily, though I know it may be difficult. When something becomes difficult, it only makes me want to try harder.”