Mark wrote to tell me: "What I remember most in these years is watching Ryan grow up little by little, but he never gave up his dream." He now knows that there are many places in the world where people don't have water except Africa. I believe he will continue to do what he thinks is worth doing. "
Susan said that she would never forget how many people came to thank her when she set foot on Rouen's land. Ryan's dream came true and really helped so many people. "As an adult in a modern society, it may be inevitable to become pessimistic and secular." She said, "But Ryan just let me know that as long as everyone works hard, they can change the world."
She repeatedly stressed: "This is the most important lesson my 1 1 year-old son taught his 42-year-old mother."
"You remind us why we live on this planet instead of consuming and buying things we don't need."
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" I asked Ryan.
"I want to be a water conservancy engineer and go to Africa to help people find water. I want to work as old as my father and live quietly by a lake after retirement. " Ryan answered calmly.
"It never occurred to you that this is a very difficult job?" I asked Ryan.
"No." He replied cheerfully, "Besides, I am willing to do anything difficult as long as I can help others."
"I thought Ryan would stop donating the first well." Susan said, "But when we see that there are so many places in Africa that need water, we think we should stick to it."
"Have you ever thought that if one day Ryan suddenly gets bored?" I asked Susan.
"Will you?" Susan asked Ryan with a smile, then turned to me and said, "But don't you think he has done enough?" If he chooses to give up, we will not force him. "
"After five years, haven't you thought about giving up?"
"Of course." Susan replied, "Mark and I both work full-time, and we also take part in a lot of voluntary work. I work in four non-profit organizations in my spare time. Mark is the coach of two school basketball teams, and we have three children to take care of. Although some friends come to help us, sometimes I still feel too tired. "
"It would be nice if the foundation had several full-time employees." In reply to my email, Mark said, "However, this is only a small foundation. All donations go to Ryan's well, and we have no right to use this money to pay for any paid work. Of course, the most important thing is that people who support us all over the world give us strength. "
Susan said, "Many emails are very touching. I read them to Ryan, and I burst into tears. "
After listening to Ryan's story, a little girl in Texas, USA, wrote them a letter and sent it to them 17 dollars: I was moved by Ryan. I also want to help others. I sold my hair. I hope these are useful.
A girl named Janice 18 gave up her concert in Backstreet Boys. She has saved money for this for seven years.
"But I suddenly found out how boring it is! I intend to donate money to those who are short of water. When washing dishes tonight, I suddenly felt that we were so lucky that everything was taken for granted. You let me look at life from a new perspective. "
Steven, who works in nursing, said, "You have given people new hope. Like a snowball falling from the mountain, it is getting bigger and bigger ... Although I have donated three African children and donated 10% of my salary to charity every month, you make me feel that I have not done enough. Thank you, Ryan, for reminding us why we should live on this planet, not to consume and buy things we don't need, but to love and help others. "
A 40-year-old man said, "I almost forgot what else I could do." I have heard too many people say to me: stop dreaming; You can't do that. Now I know that's not true. Thank you, Ryan. "
"I'm a locomotive engineer. I will retire in six years, but I am still in good health. " Richard of the United States wrote: "I have a technical certificate, my hands can still work, and I can repair the drill bit." If you need a volunteer driller or porter one day, don't forget to tell me. "
A letter signed "Ordinary Americans" wrote: "You have proved to me that we should not lose confidence in the next generation. Pleasure and greed are not as rampant as people think. I save some money and time every month to help those unfortunate people. Your foundation is my donor this month. Besides, I will put you on the annual donation list. As long as you persist, I will always support you. "
"These letters give us strength." Susan said. "Most of the donations are small. Children go out to pick up waste, and adults deduct a little from their wages. It is these passions that infect and support us. "
Ryan said aside: "An American girl only sent us 5 cents; Two sisters in Taipei sent me $200 1. But I think, for that little girl, 5 cents may be all she has, so they all helped a lot. "
At first, Ryan insisted on writing thank-you letters to every donor, even those who donated only 5 cents. After the letter is written, my brother Keegan is responsible for putting it in an envelope and putting a stamp on it.
"My hands are sore." Ryan shook his hand. With more and more donations, Susan decided to print out a thank-you note, and Ryan filled in the name of the donor.
Not long ago, Ryan received a letter from a college student in China: I was touched by your story. I wish I could do something for you.
Susan wrote back that our website is available in English, French and Japanese. If you like, you can help us translate the home page into Chinese. After a while, Susan received a reply.
"I am very excited." She said, "Originally, we just wanted him to help us translate the homepage, but his emails were page by page, dozens of pages long." Susan stared and made a gesture. "Can you believe it? He translated all the contents of the website! "
This college student's name is Song Yang, and he comes from Shenyang University. He wrote back to me and said: Ryan made his own contribution to our world when he was six years old. "As a 2 1 year-old college student, I am deeply ashamed-what have I done for the world? I said to myself at that time, I should do something for the world! "
"Who do you think has helped you the most?" I asked Ryan.
He wriggled shyly in his chair, blushing, naughty and serious: "Mom-she is considerate. She loves me very much. I really don't know what I can do without her. "
"You see, he is just an ordinary child, no different from other children."
March, 2003 15 "Tell the truth" was recorded live.
An old woman stood up and said that after listening to Ryan's story, I felt that my grandson was particularly lazy and did nothing. What can Susan do to make him do so much housework?
Burst into laughter.
Susan said, "Our whole family should share the housework. Ryan used to make the bed, walk the dog and wash the dishes, but he won't get paid for doing these things. "
Some viewers asked: Is this for fame or is it helpful for going to college?
"No, I don't want to be famous at all." Ryan is busy arguing.
Susan explained, "I remember at the end of the first TV interview, Ryan said to me, Mom, I don't want to be interviewed anymore. There are so many cameras pointed at me and so many lights shining on me. This feeling is too bad! "
"You're not worried about the negative impact of such multimedia publicity on Ryan?" I asked Susan.
"Of course I'm worried." Susan said. She once talked to Ryan's teacher, Lynn, about this matter, hoping that everyone would not place too much enthusiasm and concern on Ryan.
"No, you don't have to worry." Lynn said. Lynn told Susan that the whole class decided to help after learning about the dream of "Well of Ryan". They put a pitcher with Ryan's photo on the lecture table, and everyone can put the saved change in it. One day, she found Ryan secretly taking off his photo while everyone was out playing.
"I have enough money to donate my own well." Ryan explained: "The money should be donated by the whole class."
To tell the truth, the show gave them two China masks. When I told Kevin Keegan that his mask was Zhang Fei, an ancient hero of China, Ryan anxiously took his Monkey King and asked me, "What is this? Is it also a hero? "
"This is a monkey. Very amazing. Being able to go to heaven and enter the ground is endless. "
Ryan happily put it on and went to bed with his brother. "You see, he is just an ordinary child, no different from other children." Susan said.
During the recording process, the most frequently asked question by China audience is: Will Ryan's participation in these activities not affect his study?
"I have asked so many times!" The translator who had been with Ryan and Susan later complained, "The people sitting around me are tired of asking questions and keep muttering: Why is this problem again?"
Susan's answer is simple: "We will try our best to control his schedule and prevent him from participating in social activities too much."
Ryan only attends meetings or lectures on holidays, but even on the road, he is doing his homework or reading.
"Ryan turned out to be just an ordinary student." Susan later said. "Later, his grades rose instead. We never asked him to have too much pressure on his studies, but he felt from this incident that everyone can do things well as long as they concentrate. "
There is only one corner in Celie Jack's house that belongs to this dream.
That was the children's room when the children were young. Now it is on Zhang greatly's desk, and the walls are covered with photos of Ryan's participation in various activities. On one side of the wall, there is a map of the world. Whenever an email or donation arrives to support Ryan, they will make a mark on the map, and 65 countries have been circled. On the other side of the wall, there is a map of Africa, which shows where there is water shortage and where wells are drilled. Every night, the whole family gathers in this room to deal with mails from all over the world. Susan and Mark usually only choose one letter for Ryan to reply, and more work is undertaken by adults.
"In addition to these, Ryan still has a lot of room." Susan said, "He needs to study, play and rest. He plays basketball, swimming and hockey. We try our best to arrange his life, and dreams are not everything to a person. "
"Will it affect your study?" This question frequently asked by China audiences intrigues me: Will a 6-year-old China child have the same dream as Ryan? If he did, what would China's parents think of this dream? How will the public in China view such a dream?
In my correspondence with Song Yang, I asked these questions to "verify" him, especially if he had his own dreams when he was a child.
Song Yang wrote back saying-
First, he won't have a brother, and no one will help him pick up pinecones and share toys with him.
Second, if both parents are laid-off workers and have problems in life, can we still talk about giving children money to take care of others?
Thirdly, I don't think there are many parents in China who can support Ryan's dream like Susan ... Parents will spend more time to let their children study hard and go to a good university in the future ... They will also send their children to cram schools, and they will even refuse to let their children use their spare time for activities other than study.
"Maybe many children in China have dreams similar to Ryan's," he finally said. "But I think their dreams are much less likely to come true."
He didn't answer me what dreams he had when he was a child.
Attached is an illustration of the registration process.