TARGET 100519
Walking to School
Definitely not the normal walk to school.
The daily walk to and from Primary school certainly takes some courage with a 5,000ft sheer drop on one side. The total altitude is over 9000 feet, so the air is always very thin and cold, and when stormy or windy weather strikes, there is no protection from it except to huddle closer to the wall.
Looking back at town
On the way to school, the children of Gulucun village in Hanyuan county, Sichuan province, China, can look down on their homes, hundreds of feet below.
The walk to and from school takes almost 3 hours in each direction. Why is the school so far from where the kids live? Because it is located atop the mountain so it will be reachable by children from six such villages on all sides of the mountain and along the cliff facings.
The walkway is long, but most of it is covered
The walkway is several miles long, and was cut by hand into the mountainside. The Chinese government provided crews to blast and clear paths to the school. The fact that is is inset provides enough coverage to keep the snow from piling up too high to be impassible. Although the path is crumbly in places, and not really cared for since it was cut, it was strong enough to survive the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, hitting over 8 on the Richter scale, which completely destroyed many cities and towns in the area.
Other people use the trail, too
Other people use the trail, too, of course. It is the only viable way of getting between the villages. Sometimes, if a mule isn't already carrying a load of supplies, a kid can get a ride.
The staff and student body
Pictured above is the total staff of 3 teachers and 46 students. The six villages consist of about 60 families which live in the vast mountainous area. As in the rest of China, the number of children a family is allowed have is government controlled. All grades from primary to high school are taught in the same school which consists of a cement building with five rooms.
One of the students looks out on her world.
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To learn more about the school which serves Gulucan village and the other five villages on the mountain, take a look at the following web sites:
The Daily Mail
For more information about the Sichuan earthquake, see the following site:
Seattle Pi
Boston.com
Time web site