African Diplomats' Wives Help Chinese GirlsA group of 18 wives of ambassadors from African countries Monday donated 40,000 yuan (about 4,800 U.S. dollars) to help some 57 poverty-stricken girls to continue schooling.They went this morning to the Central Primary School of Dacun Village in the western suburbs of Beijing and attended the donation ceremony. Hua Fuzhou, vice-chairperson of the All-China Women's Federation, also attended the ceremony and expressed thanks for the donation. Hua said that China and African countries have a deep friendship and have long cooperated well in political, economic, cultural and other fields. The donation for China's "Spring Bud" project shows African women's concern for Chinese girls and China's future, she said. Hannah Deen, wife of the Sierra Leone ambassador, said that attention to education and children is a common awareness of the wives, who are members of the Group of Spouses of African Heads of Diplomatic Missions in Beijing. The group was established in 1981 and comprises 39 wives of African ambassadors. The "Spring Bud" project was jointly initiated by the All-China Women's Federation and the Children's Foundation of China in 1989, with the aim of helping girl dropouts in poverty-stricken areas. By the end of 2000, the project has raised a total of 330 million yuan (39.8 million U.S. dollars) in donation and helped 1. 05 million girl dropouts. |
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