Long Haifen, who was once taught by voluntary teachers from Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU), was recently recruited by the university.
Starting from fourth grade, she had been learning from HZAU volunteer teachers.
She studied at Weimin Primary School in Xinghe, a village in the city of Bijie, Guizhou province.
Long Haifen in class [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]
Like many families in mountainous areas, Long's parents relied on doing odd jobs to feed the family. Her father, however, got injured in a car accident, and their situation inexorably worsened.
In August 2020, as Long was about to enter her third year of junior high, her family was in debt and could not afford her schooling. Cao Yuanyuan, one of the voluntary teachers, quickly raised 2,750 yuan($382.77) along with other volunteers.
Fortunately, Long’s outstanding performance also earned her a scholarship that could cover the high school tuition and living expenses, enabling her to continue her studies.
Volunteer teachers stepped up to support Long at crucial moments, such as when she was unsure about which subjects to choose in high school and when her college entrance examination results came out.
In August 2017, volunteer teacher Li Ang took Long and others on a study tour to Beijing, where she experienced a lot of "firsts": the first trip far away from home, the first time taking a train and bus...
The skyscrapers and heavy traffic, the National Museum, the Palace Museum, Tian'anmen and the Great Wall all impressed the young girl, igniting her dream of leaving the mountains to see the broader world.
"I hold sincere gratitude and admiration for HZAU," Long said.
Looking forward to university life, she hoped to exchange ideas with peers from all over the country, make friends and discover her passions through study and contribute to society.
The story of dedication began in the summer 22 years ago. In July 2002, Xu Benyu, a junior student at HZAU, went with classmates to the mountainous area in western Guizhou. The following year, Xu gave up the opportunity to further his studies so that he could return to the rural villages in Guizhou, where he taught at Weimin Primary School and Dashi Primary School for two years.
In 2005, the "Benyu Volunteer Service Team" was established at HZAU to continue this dedicated teaching service.
More than 200 volunteers have served at HZAU Benyu Hope Primary School, Dashi Hope Primary School, Weimin Primary School and Mofeng Central Primary School.
With the campus of Weimin Primary School moving from a primitive cave to a spacious and bright teaching building, the students now have access to the outside world via the internet. Volunteers have also enriched the students' lives and helped them to discover their passions by teaching them science and arts.
The volunteers' efforts have profoundly changed the children's lives. Kang Shengmei, who returned to school with Xu Benyu's help after dropping out and became the first university student taught by the volunteer teachers. She returned to Weimin Primary School as a volunteer teacher after graduating in 2014.
This year, in addition to Long Haifen's admission to HZAU, three other students were also admitted, by Guizhou University, Wuhan University of Technology and Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
