Lao village school teachers, pupils cheer after receiving reply from President Xi Time:2019/12/20
"The Forbidden City, the Great Wall and
the Tian'anmen Square ... everywhere we have been to are beautiful!"
Six students from China-Laos Friendship
Nongping Primary School gathered in their classroom in the Lao capital
Vientiane on April 28 and shared their impressions of China during a recent
trip. They were part of a sub-forum on people-to-people exchanges during the
Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) held on
April 25-27 in Beijing.
On the eve of the forum, the teachers and
students of the village school in the north of Vientiane, wrote in a letter to
the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and
Chinese President Xi Jinping that the Chinese Dream and the Laotian Dream are
connected together through the Belt and Road Initiative, and that they hope to
take the Laos-China Railway to Beijing as soon as possible.
"You may not know that Grandpa Xi has
received and read our letter and the album of your paintings," Lin Jieyu,
a Chinese volunteer teacher at the school, told the kids. "In his reply,
he also wishes our China-Laos Friendship Nongping Primary School will grow
better and better, and welcomes you an early trip to Beijing by taking the
train on the China-Laos railway!"
"China's train is the most beautiful. I
saw it on the way to Badaling!" the 9-year-old Khamphet said loudly.
"We will have the same train soon in our country."
Khamphet is correct. In last December, the
first China-Laos Railway T-shaped concrete beam was successfully erected at the
site of China Railway No.2 Engineering Group (CREC-2), just dozen kilometers
north of the Nongping Village, marking a milestone in the history of the
construction of China-Laos railway.
"I love China," echoed the
9-year-old girl Phonephivanh. "I also hope that I can take the train to
Beijing in the future."
Different from the excitement of the children,
responsibilities are added to the 56-year-old Bounmy, the Nongping Primary
School principal.
Principal Bounmy has witnessed the tremendous
changes of the school with the aid from the China Foundation for Peace and
Development.She also represented the school to express sincere gratitude to
President Xi at the sub-forum in Beijing.
"On receiving the reply letter from
President Xi Jinping, I feel grateful and thankful for his kindness. In the
letter, President Xi encouraged students to pay attention to their studies and
catch a chance to get a scholarship to study in China," Bounmy told
Xinhua. "I see that President Xi is generous and very kind to us. He wants
us to improve in a better way."
"We benefit a lot from joining the Belt
and Road construction. We must bring our children up well and strive to help
them realize their dream of studying in China soon," she added.
Amphouvone, a resident of the Nongping
Village, felt surprised and glad after hearing that the Chinese president wrote
back to her village school.
"This reflects the importance that
Chinese leaders and people attach to the Lao government and people, and also
shows that the relationship between the two countries is becoming more and more
intimate," she said to Xinhua.
The Nongping Primary School is a demonstration
project of China-Laos friendship in recent years, which is funded by the China
Foundation for Peace and Development in 2012. Since then the foundation has
been sending volunteer Chinese teachers and offering teaching materials to the
school.
"We are encouraged by President Xi's
reply letter, feeling warmness and kindness," said Yao Changhua, a
volunteer teacher at the school. "I will try my best to do my job well,
hoping to teach children more knowledge, introduce Chinese culture, and promote
the continuous development of China-Laos friendship."