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Li
Meng, rescued from abortion and abandonment by our "Save a
Girl" Campaign.
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This
August 2nd, China celebrates the
Qixi Festival, China’s
Valentine’s Day – an important day for young Chinese girls. Will you
“Save a Girl” – a girl like Li Ming -- for China’s
Valentine’s Day?
Look
at beautiful baby Li Ming! (Her name has been changed to protect her
identity.) Isn’t she as cute as a button?
Her
grandmother doesn’t think so, and she did everything she could to force
her mother to abort her. But Li Ming’s mother cried out for help and was
amazed to find it -- not from her own family, but from people like you.
When
Li Ming’s mother met her father, they wanted to marry. But his mother did
not approve of the match. Why? Because Li Ming’s mother appeared “too
thin and unhealthy.” According to Chinese superstition, only a robust woman
can give birth to a boy. When Li Ming’s mother did conceive and the child
was found to be a girl, Li Ming’s grandmother tried to force her mother
to abort her. Li Ming’s grandmother cast blame on her poor mother, saying
it was her “fault” that the baby would be a girl. Traditionally, raising
a girl in China
is a sign of shame for a family, for one day she will grow up, marry a
husband, and become joined to his family. Girls are seen as a potential
waste of time and money, only something to be acquired later on in life.
Once
Li Ming was born, her grandmother tried to force Li Ming’s mother to
abandon her. Li Ming’s mother began to cry out in anguish and did not
know where to turn or what to do. Thankfully, one of Women’s Rights
Without Frontiers’ (WRWF) undercover fieldworkers found Li Ming’s mother
before it was too late. The fieldworker told this mother about our “Save
a Girl” program.
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