A 4-year-old Chinese boy who is only identified by his nickname Bei Bei finally found a school that will take him in — after several others rejected him due to an accident that left him disfigured.
Bei Bei kept trying his luck to get into a new school since March 2016. However, he got repeatedly turned down because of the serious facial burns he received from the accident in 2015, according to South China Morning Post.
Luckily, the No. 1 kindergarten in Wenzhou Xinqiao, Zhejiang Province in eastern China, stepped up to accept Bei Bei, free of charge, after hearing his story from his father who spoke with a local newspaper.
“We saw the news and would like to help. Kindergarten education is all about love. It’s too vague for the children to understand loving our country. We can start with loving someone around us,” director of the kindergarten, Chen Xiujuan, said in a statement to SCMP.
Back in 2015, Bei Bei was caught in a horrible gas explosion accident in his hometown of Sichuan, southwest China. His face and hands were severely burned, leaving him with many scars, Shanghaiist reported.
Besides getting the little boy acquainted with his classmates, the kindergarten also organized a meeting with the parents of the other children. However, some of the parents reportedly seem to show signs of protest against the school’s decision to take in Bei Bei.
“I understand parents assumed their children would be scared. We then showed them video clips of Bei Bei playing with the other children on the day of the visit. They stopped protesting after seeing that their children did not treat the boy differently,” Chen told the publication.
According to Chen, Bei Bei seems to fit in very well with the group of children at the school, with some of them even showing excitement when he was introduced to the class on Monday.
“We tried to prepare every child for his appearance, so we introduced Bei Bei to every single pupil there and asked them to say something to Bei Bei. Some said ‘I want to be your friend’,” she said.
