My name is Li Bo, I was born on April 30th, 2005. When i was very young, I broke my right hand twice. The first time, I accidentally fell down the stairs. The second I fell while climbing a mountain. In elementary school, because my family was too poor to provide adequate food, I was much smaller and slimmer than the other kids. I was bullied frequently because of my size. I was sad and lonely which affected my grades drastically. In third grade, I saw how my parents sacrificed so much for me everyday. I started to study harder, studying until midnight as an elementary schooler. My grades slowly improved under these conditions.
In fourth grade, my parents were both struck by sickness. Our income dwindled further. I snuck out of school to see if my parents were okay. My grandparents were on the edge of their death bed as my father rushed back to see them. Our financial stability worsened as we went to sleep hungry every night. In sixth grade, we lost access to water in our house. One time in the winter, I had a high fever. My mother didn’t know how to drive and my father wasn’t at home. So we walked more than 10 kilometers to treat my sickness.
Later, my brother tested into high school and my mother became sick yet again. There was no one at home to take care of her so I skipped school again to take care of her and our farm animals.
My father spends every day under the glaring sun working to stay alive. Anytime he rests, his boss would deduct his pay. My father’s body was lined with scars and wounds but he pushed forward in order to provide for my life. Freshman year, my father rode the train home to see us. On the train, his entire yearly savings were stolen. That year, our crops were worse than ever as well. Our pigs were dying from illness. Our family situation worsened drastically.
Everyday, my mom goes to the farm at dawn and comes back at dusk. In the midst of the harvest season, my mother broke her ankle. My father rushed from another village to take my mom to the hospital and rushed back to his work, yet was fired anyways. This is the story of the past 9 years of my life.
