Four days ago, China was hit by a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed over 22,000 people, and left over 15,000 people buried under the ruins waiting to be found.

Many schools, which were poorly built, where the first ones to collapse when the earthquake hit. Hundreds if not thousands of children were killed.

19 year old Meng and Gong were neighbors, they are two of the lucky ones to be alive. Despite losing their homes and classrooms, and without enough clean water or food, they were still studying hard in the ruins for their tests.

“Getting into the college is my only goal, so I can help my parents not be poor anymore.” Meng says.

Yi, a college student was able to dig up a few wet and wrinkled books from her collapsed home, which she will dry out and begin studying for her test to become a paralegal.

June 7th is an important day for students who want to get in the college. This earthquake occured in the central part of China, which is the poorest area among the nation.

Having a college education is the only way for most kids to escape poverty and even in this disastrous situition, these kids were still working hard for their future.

If you ask these Chinese kids what they have to say about the disaster, their answer will be “The earthquake can ruin our homes, but it can’t ruin our future!”

(link)

By Mui Mui on 17-05-2008