Page 9 - Sphere No.6 (Jun 2002)

S PHERE
7
Z hang Jing had been looking
forward to the start of a new
school semester in her home-
town of Lanzhou, in Gansu
Province.
The little girl imagined herself walk-
ing to school along the banks of the
Yellow River, breathing the crisp morn-
ing air and laughing with her friends.
Lanzhou, at China’s geographic centre, is
a pleasant environment to grow up in,
even though earthquakes frequently
shake its stark, mountainous terrain.
A few days before the new school
term began, Zhang Jing suffered a per-
sonal earthquake of her own; she was hit
by a car. At that awful moment, her life
changed course.
Zhang Jing was fortunate to survive,
but she lost her left leg.When she woke
up in hospital, everything she had once
looked forward to now seemed out of
able to walk again but was also able to
pursue her dream of receiving an educa-
tion at a local primary school. She stud-
ied hard and made new friends. Zhang
Jing was smiling again.
The name Li Ka-shing may be well
known to businessmen and journalists,
but Zhang Jing had not heard it before.
This changed, however, on February
20, 2001 when Mr Li paid a visit to the
Gansu Disabled Persons Rehabilitation
Centre. On this occasion, in a gesture
that caught everyone’s attention, he gave
his business card not to government
officials or business partners but to two
disabled girls. One of them was Zhang
Jing. She was able to proudly present her
benefactor with a school report – she
had scored marks of 97 and 100 respec-
tively in Chinese Language and
Arithmetic. To everyone’s surprise, she
even demonstrated the success of her
A HELPING
HAND
“To be able to contribute to society and to help those in need to build a better life, that is the
ultimate meaning in life. I would gladly consider this to be my life’s work.” – Li Ka-shing
By Mark Caldwell
reach. Not only was she in physical pain,
but she had also lost the opportunity to
lead a normal life. Instead of asking:
“What will I do next?” Zhang Jing was
forced to ask: “What will I do now?”
Her future was in ruins.
During the months of recuperation
that followed, Zhang Jing began to fear
that she might never attend school. In
the mornings, she would hop on her
right leg to catch a glimpse of the stu-
dents walking past. Sometimes, tears of
disillusionment rolled down her cheeks.
Then, in July 2000, her future began
to look more promising.
With help from the Gansu Disabled
Persons Rehabilitation Centre, which
is sponsored by the Li Ka Shing
Foundation, Zhang Jing received an
artificial leg at minimal cost.
It wasn’t long before the little girl
regained her mobility. Not only was she