Boy gets soccer ball - and then some

Online post softens hearts; donors give equipment to Xinjiang school

An 8-year-old village boy who had been saving up for a soccer ball since winter in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region not only got what he wished for but a lot more. Training gear for his classmates came as an unexpected bonus.

It all started when Abudulnabijan Kahar, a soccer coach at a primary school in Taremubage village, Kashgar prefecture, received a visit from Abudulhalik Amudula, a shy second-grader, on May 12.