Weibo Recommendation | Today's Weibo Hotspots (Editor: SN029) In a sense, Huang He and Cao Mingxiu are both "celebrities". Huang He was one of the earliest individuals to establish schools for migrant workers' children and once appeared on CCTV's Face to Face. On the other hand, Cao Mingxiu is known as the female post-doctoral researcher who pursued her career as a nanny.
This time, the entity in trouble is the Riyin Wangwei Fund managed by Huang He. This fund, established in April last year with the support of the China Women's Development Foundation, was initiated with a donation of 1 million yuan from Wang Wei, then chairman of Beijing Dao Heng Company. The fund focuses on education for migrant workers' children and training and employment support for rural domestic service women workers.
However, they are not understood by everyone. "If I stop now and give up, I could easily find a job with an annual salary of at least 500,000 yuan."
Affected by the Guo Meimei incident, social donations to the Riyin Wangwei Fund have almost come to a halt. The couple has no car, no house, no deposit, yet they face questions.
Recently, a Weibo post titled "Tsinghua Postdoctoral Fellow Cao Mingxiu and Her Husband Run Education in Debt" has been widely circulated online. Yesterday, the parties involved, Cao Mingxiu, a postdoctoral fellow in finance at Northern Jiaotong University, and her husband Huang He, were interviewed by our newspaper. For the long-established domestic service women worker training project and support for teachers at migrant workers' children schools, the couple has accumulated significant debts, amounting to nearly 500,000 yuan. Last week, their office was closed due to unpaid rent. Written by reporter Li Ying.
Since this April or May, the fund has experienced a cash flow interruption. "Firstly, because Mr. Wang Wei, the founder, has passed away, subsequent funds cannot be provided. Secondly, this year coincides with the Guo Meimei incident. We were negotiating some social donations, but all of them fell through," said Huang He. They owe four months' worth of teacher subsidies.
Besides money borrowed from parents, relatives, and friends, without any real estate collateral, Cao Mingxiu and Huang He had to borrow over 300,000 yuan from companies and individuals in society to maintain the operation of the fund. The interest rate is as high as 10% to 20%. "One person lent 60,000 yuan, which needs to be repaid as 72,000 yuan after a month," said Huang He. With compounded interest, they already owe more than 400,000 yuan.
Cao Mingxiu wrote online: "For one and a half years, since I completed my postdoctoral studies, creditors have been chasing me down at home every day, even calling the police at 2 AM. I am carrying my child and elderly family members; I can't hold on anymore."
They did consider seeking help from public welfare organizations in society. But "they don't care about teachers at migrant workers' schools or domestic service women workers."
Additionally, they have extra debts. In 2008, Huang He donated the Xingzhi School for farmers' children that he founded himself. "I left 420,000 yuan in cash for the school's operational costs, took responsibility for two months' teacher salaries of 160,000 yuan, plus 400,000 yuan in construction fees," accumulating over 900,000 yuan in debt. Cao Mingxiu told reporters that she used her parents' retirement funds and loans from relatives and friends to repay nearly 600,000 yuan, but still owes over 300,000 yuan. "Public welfare requires the attention and support of the entire society."
However, just as the fund was established, the founder Wang Wei passed away due to illness. The fund relied solely on the initial investment of 1 million yuan for public welfare activities. In one year, they sponsored a total of 120 teachers at five schools for migrant workers' children: Beijing Yuzhu, Mingxin, Dongfanghong, Huilei, and Jinbang. "Each teacher receives between 300 to 600 yuan per month. Adding the money from the school, the teachers' salaries range from 1200 to 1600 yuan. To ensure quality education for the children, four schools are equipped with executive principals. These are experienced principals from various places, some of whom have stepped back to a secondary role. Each principal receives a monthly subsidy of 2000 yuan," said Huang He. Thus, the monthly expenses for the migrant workers' children schools alone amount to nearly 80,000 yuan.
Last week, their office was also shut down due to unpaid rent, and next week, two places where female farmer workers live will also be closed.
The act of "borrowing money for public welfare" has drawn criticism. Some netizens questioned why they borrowed money for public welfare instead of earning money first before doing charity work. Huang He faced multiple school closures while running the Xingzhi School for farmers' children. Regarding the doubts raised by this incident, he told reporters that the large populations of teachers at migrant workers' children schools and domestic service women workers objectively exist. "The two of us could stop immediately and live comfortably, but they are still there."
Response to Doubts: They Objectively Exist
Meanwhile, Cao Mingxiu continues to run the social enterprise "Green Heart Light", providing domestic service training for female workers to help them find jobs. The couple plans to establish a sustainable social enterprise, including a public welfare fund, a training school, and a domestic service social enterprise, using the profits to further support education for migrant workers' children. "We currently only have stores in two neighborhoods. According to our model design, opening five stores would make this model sustainable. But we didn't expect it to be suddenly interrupted," said Huang He.
Facing Dilemmas: Repeated Encounters with Creditors
Tsinghua Postdoctoral Fellow Cao Mingxiu runs education in debt. (Picture from the Internet.)