Editor's note: The Sichuan-Tibet Plateau, a beautiful region that reaches toward the heavens, is a place showered with blue skies, covered in white clouds, and dotted with snow-covered mountains, but recently, something truly remarkable has been materializing among the households that call this place home. A groundbreaking historic change has been reshaping the land and its people. From today on, we will publish a series of stories to tell you those changes. 

Pasang Lhamo, a poor student who did well while in school, was considering dropping out to go home and become a farmer, but the Qingyang-launched Entrusted Students Training Program rekindled her hope of attending college. Staff members from Qingyang's Bureau of Education have made a special trip to Derong County to select students, who are financially constrained but have outstanding academic performance, to attend excellent high schools in Qingyang District and enjoy high-quality educational resources with their Qingyang counterparts. Pasang is one of many such beneficiaries. When she received her Letter of Admission to Southwest Minzu University, she was cooking and squatting in front of a broken stove together with her mother, A Mu, in a dimly lit kitchen. A bright flame shined some light on her instantly flushed face, with beads of sweat sparkling in its reflection. Her mother cried out in excitement and brushed away her joyful tears. Her grandfather, who had been bedridden for quite some time, muttered, "Thank the heavens! We now have hope!" and then shed built-up tears of his own.

After having graduated from college, Pasang Lhamo came back to her hometown and became a civil servant for Derong County. She not only shoulders her family's burdens, but now, she also fights on the front lines when it comes to local poverty-relief efforts. "I'm so unbelievably lucky. My family's condition is becoming better and better every day, and thanks to favorable policies, my fellow townspeople in neighboring villages are now able to find ways to overcome poverty like I have! Since I have an opportunity to take part in our local poverty-relief campaign, it is my honor to make my own contributions to my hometown.”

The purpose of assisting impoverished students is to build their dreams, and its ultimate purpose is to pave the way for more human resources. In fact, Pasang Lhamo is only one of many who have benefited from Qingyang's aid in education. An entire batch of impoverished students in Tibetan-inhabited areas have now received better educations, not only changing their lives, but also making radical changes to their families, ethnicity, and country.

The Chinese version of this story is written by  Gaoyan, Xia Zuxian,& Weng Zeyu and translated into English by Huang Wenjuan. And the story is sourced from the United Front Work Deparment of the Communist Party of China (CPC)Sichuan Provincial Committee.

Editor: Ana Wu