The Diary of Ma Yan

The Diary of Ma Yan
The Life of a Chinese Schoolgirl – transformed
Reviewed by Claudine

Edited by Pierre Haski, the man who was entrusted with the diaries by the girl’s mother just as he was about to leave the village, the book consists mainly of the entries in her diary from 2 September 2000 to 13 December 2001 (with a portion between 29 December 2000 to 2 July gone because her father had torn pages from it to roll his cigarettes).

Her entries reveal the remote and harsh terrain in which the villagers from Zhangjiashu, in the south of Ningxia (northwest of Beijing), lacking in basic amenities such as water, live. The theme which runs through her diary is Ma Yan, aged 13, is her strong determination and desire to remain in school so that she can lift her family from the vicious cycle of poverty. Sometimes going without food (and a meal for them is just plain rice – meat is a scarcity), children like Ma Yan have to endure the hunger when money is hard to come by. For us, who come from an affluent society, the hardships and abject poverty which the villagers face is astounding and beyond imagination.

But good has come out of it – Ma Yan’s diaries were published and much publicity about the educational needs of the children in her village has been done. Pierre Haski concludes the book with a series of articles in the Appendices which updates and enlightens the readers on various issues such as “The Plight of Education” which discusses the problems faced in educating the children of peasants and “How Things Have Changed” which focuses on the results of the publicity on both Ma Yan and her peers – more children receiving grants to remain in school.

While her writing is not as entertaining as Anne Frank’s diary and that should not be the point, it reminds us to cherish what we have and to work hard towards our goals, no matter how adverse the circumstances are.