China’s “Frost Boy” melted hearts across social media when photos went viral showing the eight-year-old arriving at school with swollen hands and ice encrusted in his hair after walking 2.8 miles in the harsh winter cold, and a week later donations were pouring in.
Wang Fuman, a student at Zhuangshanbao primary school in Yunnan, walks the same route to school each day regardless of weather conditions, even in temperatures as low as last week’s -22F degrees, Newsweek reported.
When he arrived at school last Monday with rosy cheeks and frosted hair, Fuman’s principal decided to take photos and share them online in an attempt to highlight the circumstances in which the boy, and many other children, are faced with growing up in impoverished rural areas, The Straits Times reported.
Since then, more than $300,000 in donations have streamed in, according to The Daily Mail, and debates over the poverty in China have ignited.
The Yunnan Youth Development Foundation confirmed that donations had been sent for Fuman and his school, stating that it would manage the funds on their behalf in conjunction with the local Zhaotong Youth Development Foundation.
However, many have since voiced their objections to this, saying the funds were meant for Fuman but now they might be used to help others, or end up in the hands of corrupt officials, The Daily Mail said.
Fuman is one of thousands of “left behind” children whose parents have been forced to seek work in other cities in order to support them, and who rarely see their children, according to the BBC News.
Fuman’s father is a migrant worker who only returns home every four or five months, so the responsibility of raising the child falls onto his grandmother and sister.
In spite of the tough conditions, Fuman remained upbeat, telling journalists that he hopes to be a police officer when he grows up “to fight bad guys,” adding that “the journey to school is cold, but it's not hard,” NDTV reported.
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