Hai Qin, a 12-year-old girl of Hui ethnic group, feeds a cattle in Kaicheng Town of Guyuan City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, October 23, 2009. Guyuan is a region plagued by difficult farming conditions and local farmers have struggled with drought for generations. Just like many children of the Qingshi Primary School, Hai Qin, who has faced to the hardship since early childhood, has to share the heavy burden of housework. "I and my two sisters are all at school and my father work at a construction site in the county. My mother is too busy", as Hai Qin recounts, "I love my mother and I feel obliged to help her with the housework."In the mind of the children, studying hard is one of the way to change their lives. "I love studying and deem it as happiness," wrote Hai Qin in her diary, "Because only by studying hard can my dream of getting rid of the poverty to be fulfilled." Eight years ago, with the investment of local government and the donation of a merchant from Hong Kong, the school was expanded, while the State's policy of fees-exempt on books and tuition, together with subsidy on living expenses for boarding students, providing full guarantee for local children to finish the obligatory education."I enjoy writing diary. And I dream of becoming a scientist to produce aerospacecrafts." said Hai Qin. [Xinhua]

Hai Qin, a 12-year-old girl of Hui ethnic group, helps with housework after class in Kaicheng Town of Guyuan City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, October 22, 2009. [Xinhua]