I want to go to school"Ever since my parents died, Grandma said my family could afford only one child in school and my little brother should go. To keep my brother in school I had to get up at 5 in the morning to catch fish for the market, and then go on to keep cattle for my neighbours. Now both of us are going to school! Everybody says I look much better than before, because I smile a lot. " Xiao Chuan comes from a rural Dai ethnic minority family from Yunnan province. His parents died from AIDS years ago. After the death of his parents his grandmother and uncle had to take care of him and his younger brother. By that time the family had sold everything for the treatment of his parents. Neither his uncle nor his aging grandmother could support two boys in school at the same time, so Xiao Chuan dropped out of school to support his younger brother. Every morning Xiao Chuan got up at 5.00 to catch fish for the market, and then kept cattle for neighbours to pay for his brother's education and to put food on the table. Xiao Chuan became quiet. He did not know if he would ever be able to get back to school. With support from UNICEF and the Yunnan Child Development Center, Xiao Chuan returned to school and is now studying in the same class as his younger brother. He was also invited to attend the Summer Camp for Children Affected by AIDS in Beijing organized by China National Committee for the Care of Children and UNICEF, as well attending local activities in which children like him learn about child rights and child participation. Xiao Chuan now keeps in touch with many of the young friends he met outside. The two brothers used to wake up having nightmares when the parents died, but now the two of them live in the house their parents left behind. Xiao Chuan is full of hope for the future, and he is ready to help more children like him.
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