Home / Life
Editor's Note: Li Xudong has been a teacher at the Beijing Tibet Middle School for 13 years. After graduating from Capital Normal University in 2001, he joined the staff of the school as a Chinese language and literature teacher. Here, Li tells about a special relationship he developed with a student from the Tibet.
Sonam was my student from Shannan prefecture, Tibet, a small county neighboring Nepal. His father died when he was young. He lives with his mother, and they struggle with a limited income.
When a student told me that Sonam wore one pair of shoes all the first semester in Beijing (from September to January), I was shocked about his poverty. Yet he still had the motivation to pursue his schooling.
Since the government pays for all food and accommodations, I put an extra 100 yuan ($16) in his dorm for pocket money. I did not want to embarrass him and decided to keep my gift secret.
Sonam didn't know, at first, where the money came from. But he found out the truth later. He was very touched and repaid me, but not in money. He entered Beijing Normal University and became a teacher in a remote county in Tibet, showing kindness and concern to his own students.
When Sonam was about to leave Beijing, he wrote me a letter.
"I don't have a father, but I have a fatherhood relationship in Beijing," he wrote.
I replied that he began as my student, but we had become brothers.
I am grateful that Sonam found his dream. And I am grateful I met my younger brother.
