People Who Moved China, 2005_文教Education
the mountainous areas in southwest china’s guizhou province are an enticing travel destination. but for xu benyu, the volunteer teacher who was recently honoured as one of cctv’s "people who moved china, 2005" after spending the past two years there, life was about more than charming scenery.
goudiaoyan village, embraced by the high mountains and excruciating poverty, can be accessed only by a narrow path winding through the mountains. electricity, telephones and mailmen cannot reach here. until xu decided to go there two years ago, neither could education.
xu worked in the school in 2003, determined to help the children in any way he could. the school has 250 students now, 50 per cent more than when xu became the village school teacher. xu also struggled to build a two-storey building to house the school so the students could move from the dark wet cave which used to be their classroom.
a tall man with a shandong accent, he was born into a poor family in rural area of liaocheng city in east china’s shandong province. when he first read a story about the poor conditions of a primary school in goudiaoyan village, xu burst into tears and immediately decided to offer his help as a volunteer teacher.
as a volunteer, xu received no wages or bonus and his poor family was unable to provide any support. "the local government began to give me 500 yuan (us$60) a month after my story appeared in the newspaper and attracted attention," said xu.
he has now volunteered to work in another school in the same mountainous areas. "there are students there who are in even more need of help," he said.
goudiaoyan village, embraced by the high mountains and excruciating poverty, can be accessed only by a narrow path winding through the mountains. electricity, telephones and mailmen cannot reach here. until xu decided to go there two years ago, neither could education.
xu worked in the school in 2003, determined to help the children in any way he could. the school has 250 students now, 50 per cent more than when xu became the village school teacher. xu also struggled to build a two-storey building to house the school so the students could move from the dark wet cave which used to be their classroom.
a tall man with a shandong accent, he was born into a poor family in rural area of liaocheng city in east china’s shandong province. when he first read a story about the poor conditions of a primary school in goudiaoyan village, xu burst into tears and immediately decided to offer his help as a volunteer teacher.
as a volunteer, xu received no wages or bonus and his poor family was unable to provide any support. "the local government began to give me 500 yuan (us$60) a month after my story appeared in the newspaper and attracted attention," said xu.
he has now volunteered to work in another school in the same mountainous areas. "there are students there who are in even more need of help," he said.