The Ida Pruitt Scholarship Fund at the Shandan Bailie School is now affiliated with Give2Asia, the philanthropic arm of the Asia Foundation. A U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity,

Give2Asia makes giving to easy and tax deductible, leveraging more than 200 overseas staff in The Asia Foundation’s 18 field offices. In China and India, Give2Asia has its own staff to conduct due diligence, so you know that your donation is well-managed and is received by the students. Please consider the girls in rural Gansu province as part of your holiday giving.

You may contributre online at: www.give2asia.org/idapruitt

Look for "Education in Gansu Province: A Project of the Ida Pruitt Memorial Fund."

Dear Friends of Rural Chinese girls,

Thank you for your past gift to the Ida Pruitt Memorial Fund, which supports girls at the Shandan Bailie School, a vocational high school in China’s arid Northwest. Visiting the school last July reinforced my commitment to offer scholarships to the poorest daughters of rural China. Young rural Chinese women’s lives are harsh, as recent suicide statistics reflect.* Vocational education trains girls to find jobs to supplement their families’ meager farm income and hope for a better future. Seven of our scholarship recipients have already graduated and work at well-paying jobs.

I found that the Shandan Bailie School administration had put into place a transparent accounting system for the funds and a careful recruiting procedure. Teachers reported that their entire classes participate in the scholarship selection process. Students and their families expressed deep gratitude for the aid from their foreign friends. Fifteen U.S. dollars a month for living expenses ($150/year) allowed girls to remain in school. Otherwise, they would have dropped out to earn a meager income as a waitress or low-paid part-time laborer.

I know that you care deeply about global problems and give generously to many causes. While you are choosing last-minute holiday gifts and end-of-year tax-deductible contributions, please consider the girls in China’s desert region along the Silk Road. You can read details about the girls and the school in my 2006 report in the attachment. The girls’ photographs are online at : www.idapruittfund.org.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish you happy holidays and a peaceful, prosperous 2007. We would enjoy hearing from you.

Marjorie King, Chair, Board of Directors, Ida Pruitt Memorial Scholarship Fund ________________________________________________________________________

* “Chinese women now make up half the world total of female suicides. A high proportion of these suicides are among young women, in the 16-26 age range…But because of the massive social upheavals going on at the moment, there is still insufficient understanding of this sort of problem among the general population .” Radio Free Asia August 30, 2006

“Many Chinese scientists attribute the suicide rate to the economic and social changes during the last 20 years, as large numbers of rural men moved to the cities seeking work, further burdening their wives. And with the gap widening between rich and poor, some believe that rural women are increasingly aware of the comforts they will never have.”
New York Times January 24, 1999

China's American Daughter: Ida Pruitt, 1889-1985 is now in print. It may be ordered through the Columbia University Press.

Shandan Bailie School