Chen Kenan, a rural primary school teacher in Anyang city of Central China's Henan province 

With the help of the "Spring Bud" project and a public interest-minded woman, Chen Kenan, a rural primary school teacher in Anyang city of Central China's Henan province, has successfully grown from a disadvantaged girl into one who is committed to making love and warmth reachable by more underprivileged children like she was once.

Become a Girl of the "Spring Bud" project

Chen was born into a rural family in Linzhou of Anyang in 1999. Her mother left the family when she was only one year old.

Chen dropped out of school and stayed at home to take care of her bed-ridden father for a year at the age of 12. Additionally, she had to wash clothes, make food and do agricultural work on the farmland like an adult.

After the death of her father, Chen and her grandmother lived on basic living allowance. Meanwhile, she was lucky to go back to school.

In 2014, a group of public interest-minded women, including Yang Yufeng, paid a visit to Chen. Yang   pledged to help the parentless girl fully feel maternal love after gaining the consent of her grandmother.

During an interview, Chen said that she was lucky to receive deep love and tremendous support from Yang and other charity-minded people and become a recipient of the "Spring Bud" project and that there was nothing she could do but study hard to convey her thanks to them.

Gain Lifelong Strength from Public Interest-minded Women

To help Chen quickly adapt to the new family environment, Yang encouraged her to be in contact with her grandmother on a weekly basis, regularly attend charitable activities along with two young brothers, and take turns to do household chores.

In addition, Yang asked her two biological sons to vacate their bedroom for Chen at the early beginning of her arrival.

Gradually, Chen became more bright and cheerful and she also made a large stride in the improvement of her academic performance at school.

Chen always said that she was deeply grateful to Yang and her family for their selfless love and assistance. Meanwhile, other charity-minded women also lent a helping hand to her in both life and study.

Chen said that Yang became her only relative after her grandmother passed away in 2016.

Yang and other charity-minded women jointly sent Chen to Anyang Normal University where she was admitted by the university in 2018.

Chen said if not for their tremendous support, she would never go to a university.

Determined to Pass on Love to More Needy Children

Chen chose to be a primary school teacher in Linzhou when she graduated from Anyang Normal University in 2022.

Noting that she is clear about what matters much to rural children, Chen said that she will do her utmost to spread love and warmth to more disadvantaged children and strive to be a charity-minded "mother" like Yang.

In this summer, Chen formally became one of public interest-minded "mothers."

To better meet the expectations of disadvantaged children, Chen has sought advice from other charity-minded "mothers" and endeavored to provide them with both material and emotional support.

Meanwhile, Linzhou Women's Federation has provided Chen and other charity-minded "mothers" with comprehensive guidance   to work with psychological experts toward giving mental counseling to needy children.

So far, there are a total of over 200 public interest-minded "mothers" in Linzhou and they have built pairing-up assistance partnerships with 105 parentless and other disadvantaged children.