Torch lights girl's way to school

Yao Yaozhen, 11, walks to school, 20 kilometers away from home, with only a torch to light the way, at 4:30 am in Tuanbao town of Lichuan city, Hubei province, on March 19, 2012. Yao is a third-grader at an elementary boarding school and she only comes home on weekends. Each Monday, Yao has to walk for five hours, leaving at dawn, with a fiery torch being her only company. Yao Xiangping, her father, said his daughter refused to let him walk her to school, as she doesn't want to burden her father. To save the 15 yuan ($2.2) bus fee, Yao insists on walking. "I don't dare to walk in the dark. My family is poor and money should be saved for my two little brothers' education," she said. [Photo/CFP]