In Liumiao Village of Yanggu County, Shandong Province, there lived a 90-year-old American woman, Eunice Moe Brock. Eunice has been living in here for more than eight years. "Yes, I am an American, but I have a Chinese heart." Eunice said.

 

"Help the poor"

 

Early last century, Eunice's parents came to Liaocheng, Shandong Province. Eunice was just born here. In Eunice's memory, the old China stands for war, poverty, pestilence and suffering. When she was 13, she secretly determined, "I will return to China to help the poor people after growing up."

 

In 1998, Eunice sold her 40 acres of woodland, her villa, garden, car and other belongings in the US and moved to China. She settled down in Liumiao Village. Informed that the village's primary school has not yet established any computer class, she immediately donated US$30,000 to build a computer room. In the following three years, she donated a total of nearly 20,000 yuan to buy toys and teaching equipments for kindergartens and schools in Liumiao Village.

 

In 2001, Eunice bought glasses for short-sighted persons in the village and funded surgery for five elderly people who have been suffering from cataract. She also served as honorary president of Liaocheng International peace hospital and invited foreign experts to give lectures in there. In 2006, Eunice became the most special one among those elected as the "Top ten people touching Shandong."

 

"Road in the village expanded"

 

During the past eight years, Eunice has written more than a hundred of letters to her family in the US, in which she has told all the changes that have taken place around her in China.

 

In her first letter written right after she arrived, Eunice described, "Quite a few cement roads in Liumiao Village have been broadened. People planted shrubs and trees along one of the very wide main road."

 

In 2002, Eunice found out that because of instable power supply, students cannot use the computer room quite often. Two months later, the government invested 4 million yuan in reconstructing 5,000 meters of electronic lines and installing broadband. The computer room can be used now. Eunice also started to write e-mail instead of sending letters. In her email, Eunice said, "I am pleased to have a reliable power supply here. And I don't have to rewrite my emails because there is no longer a sudden power outage or computer shutdown. I think the same thing happened in other villages. The Chinese government made a lot of efforts to improve rural infrastructure to help the poor."

 

Eunice's neighbor Aunt Zhang told Eunice that she has got the first reimbursement for medical expense from the government. Eunice wrote in the email then, "I was told that the villagers joined the cooperative medical insurance service in May. They will only need to pay 10 yuan per person to get a half of their medial expense reimbursed by the government."

 

Eunice said that she was very happy these years because she can witness the changes brought by China's rapid development along with other villagers.

 

"I will donate my remains to China"

 

Villagers like to visit Eunice and bring her some fruits such as dates and pears. Many come to her to celebrate her birthday every year. In the Spring Festival, Eunice will hang up red couplets in front of the door to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Now Eunice is already accustomed to the Chinese rural life style. She even grows vegetables by her own and turns some abandoned land in the village to beautiful garden.

 

 

American woman, Eunice Moe Brock celebrates her 89-year-old birthday with an old lady in In Liumiao Village of Yanggu County, Shandong Province.

 

Nearly everybody in Liumiao Village has received Eunice's greetings. Nearly every child has visited her family, playing toys and taking photos with her. Every Christmas, Eunice would love to buy a bunch of candy and pull on her donkey to school. Every time she met some villagers on her way to the school, she said in Chinese: "Have you eaten?"　

 

Eunice used Chinese to express her wish, "I hope I can get a 'green card' so that I can always live in China. I am an American, but I have a Chinese heart. I would never leave here. After death, I would like to donate my body to the Chinese medical institute."

 

(People's Daily August 14, 2007)