My friend Mao Ting in China

This is a photo of Ms. Mao Ting....who likes to be called Sherry now. I first saw her on the street of a small village as a shy 3 year old and took this photo. The other picture is of Sherry at age 15 with her mother. Sherry's parents were both physically handicapped. Her father died that past year; so her mother and grandmother now raise Sherry still in the small village. I have gone back to the village about 10 times to visit the family to follow their lives. Sherry was always at the top of her class in school and just entered high school this past year but must go to a boarding school away from her village. She is doing well and after just one year speaks very good English. She wants to be a singer and a teacher and we want to see her go to the University so we keep up the contact and help out a little bit with tuition should she need it. I have a few other people that we follow also but Sherry has been the youngest. One is now married to a French man and lives in Paris with their new baby. Another is working on his Master's degree in France but is from Beijing and I have known him and his parents since he was 8 years old. Getting to know families and individuals in China has been very rewarding and I come away learning so much about Chinese culture and people. For more personal experiences watch the Blog from week to week.  Update 2015.  Sherry had graduated from the university and now is a teacher in Chengdu.  Sherry has a boy friend also and plan to get married later.