futeen: "Look at my children, they are studying so hard!"
futeen: "Without a playground, who would believe this is a school?"
"They have never seen a roller coaster or ridden a 'rocket', and they don't even know what KFC is, but that does not stop them from being the cutest kids." Netizen futeen is an ordinary rural elementary school teacher, having worked in the profession for only half a year. The plight of his students wanting to read books but having no access to them has become his biggest concern.
The children rely on their teachers to enlighten them with knowledge, while the teachers seek help everywhere to satisfy the children's insatiable thirst for knowledge. This is not a novel; it is happening in reality at Changwu Primary School in Huajiu Village, Tantou Township, Yanzhong County.
Recently, a teacher from Changwu Primary School posted under the pseudonym futeen on multiple forums in Yunnan Province to raise extracurricular reading materials for the children.
In a post titled "A Letter of Appeal for Book Donations from a Remote Mountain School," futeen stated, "We need help. My individual power is small, but if hundreds of 'me' gather together, it will be an unimaginable force." Even though the school is on holiday, he is still busy trying to secure extracurricular reading materials for the children.
He posted four photos in the thread, truthfully reflecting the dilapidated school buildings and the diligent attitude of the children towards reading. "Even though we only have 139 people (excluding preschool classes, data from Spring 2009), we still have a strong desire for knowledge!" he wrote in the post. "They have never seen a roller coaster, nor have they ever ridden a rocket, and they don't even know what 'KFC' is. If you ask them what tastes the best, they will definitely say 'corn cobs.'"
"Books are the windows to the outside world. Children in impoverished areas often have nothing to read except textbooks. In cities, many dusty bookshelves and boxes contain unused old books. If we can send these books to let these children see a broader world and free their minds from the constraints of real poverty, I believe every book lover would hope that their books spread strength through the eyes of those eager for knowledge." He quoted a statement from a website homepage to express his wish to solicit books from kind-hearted people and left his contact information at the end of the post.
futeen frankly admitted, "Yes! It's true, I am asking everyone for (books). For my own children, what's the big deal! What's wrong with losing face! If everyone could lend a hand to help these children, even if you make me kneel down, it wouldn't matter!"
Netizens Respond: Initiative to Establish a Love Library
futeen's sincere words moved netizens in the "Love Action" section of the Yunnan forum. Forum administrator "Er Tu" then published another post titled "Initiative to Create a Love Library at Changwu Primary School in Yanzhong County, Zhaotong City." After briefly introducing the general situation of Changwu Primary School, he issued an initiative to build a "Love Library" and began recruiting volunteers. Upon posting, the thread immediately received enthusiastic responses from netizens.
Through the contact information left by futeen in the post, the reporter got in touch with him. He told us that Changwu Primary School is a branch of Huajiu Primary School, and the school building is just a row of bungalows, "five classrooms plus one office." Before becoming a teacher, he had worked in places like Zhejiang and was considered by the teachers there as someone who had "seen the world."
Through information published on "China Rural Network," the reporter learned that Huajiu Village is located on the southern side of Tantou Township in Yanzhong County. "In 2006, the total economic income of the entire village was 15.423 million yuan, and the average annual pure income per farmer was 1202 yuan. This village belongs to the category of poor villages, where farmers' income mainly comes from agriculture, industry, and animal husbandry." futeen said, "Children in the mountains, they are just a bit poorer, and they aren't too clean either. Aside from that, especially in terms of their warmth towards people, it's something they can't fake."
futeen's salary is not high, but he often buys pens, notebooks, candies, automatic sharpeners, and other items for the children. "This semester alone, I spent 308.6 yuan on my children. Being able to do more for the children makes me very happy." He said he records every expense, but he keeps it for himself, "I won't take it out." The reason is that he wants to use the account book to witness "how my educational career has come about" when he retires.
futeen started teaching in March this year and teaches first grade, "There are 31 children in the class, teaching everything from Chinese to math... They will soon be moving up to second grade." Students at Changwu Primary School face a serious shortage of extracurricular reading materials. To address this issue, futeen borrowed a camera before summer vacation to take pictures of these children. "I want to use the vacation to raise some extracurricular books for the children." Therefore, he specifically went to the county town to go online and posted a request for help. "Some kind-hearted people have already called me. One of them is a volunteer from a Heilongjiang student aid network who wants to help us." futeen excitedly told the reporter.
County Education Bureau: Will Carry Out Resource Integration
The reporter called the office of the Yanzhong County Education Bureau. The staff member who answered the phone stated that the lack of books in rural primary schools stems from various reasons. "Village-level primary schools have relatively richer books and teaching aids. Currently, we are integrating resources and reducing school sites." This staff member indicated that in the future, branches like Changwu Primary School will be integrated into more well-equipped central schools to ensure that children can enjoy more teaching resources. "Yanzhong is currently a county that does not meet laboratory standards, but we are working on meeting the standards. We have already planned and initiated the application process for 'two-room acceptance counties' (laboratories and libraries)."