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Speech, Third, International, Charity
Joint Efforts by the Eastern and Western Regions to Develop Both Urban and Rural Areas

To Explore the Unique Path of Assisting the Poverty-Stricken People in Mountainous Areas in Western China through Science and Education
---------A Speech on the Third International Charity

Forum
By Li Xiaoqing from Xieshui Town, Nanzheng County, Shaanxi Province
中文版见http://kjfpw.cn/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=287&extra=page%3D1
翻译：殷雅蓉
校核：赵斌、元懿

Browning said；“The Earth without love is like a grave! ”Yes, love is like the warm spring breeze, love is like the bright sun, love is like the beautiful landscape, love is an eternal theme that has been passed on from generation to generation. Because of love, the world becomes more beautiful; Because of love, life becomes so colorful.

It is said that love is so great that it can travel across the boundaries of time and space and grow in the other distant end of the world. Established by four elder citizens and supported by a group of netizens, the Hanzhong-based Association of Poverty Relief has been exploring the unique path of assisting the poverty-stricken people in the mountainous areas in western China through Science and Education.

Early in 2006, in order to assist the out-of-school teenagers and popularize vocational and technical education in rural areas, four elder citizens in Nanzheng country, Shaanxi Province spontaneously established the Association of Poverty Relief. This association, located in the mountainous areas in western China, attracted many volunteers and enthusiastic people all over the country. It integrated public love, transferred social morality. It initiated public activities without seeking any private profit. In order to achieve the purpose of helping the poor students, the comrades in the association used nearly 10000 RMB (it is their personal savings) to purchase computers, printers, digital cameras. They connected to the Internet and used their own house as library and reading-room. They often contact friends all over the country through the Internet. In a short period of time, they gained support from home and abroad. Also, in a short period of time, they built the network of Chinese Poverty Relief Forum, thus providing a platform to contact friends from home and abroad.

Public welfare is a glorious undertaking. It advocates good social morality and harmonious interpersonal relationships. Because of it, more and more people are out of poverty. At the beginning of its foundation, the Hanzhong-based Association of Poverty Relief proposed the concept “Joint efforts by the eastern and western regions to develop both urban and rural areas, combination of material aid and intelligence support”.Our Association mainly insists on material aid and intelligence support. Centering on town library in the countryside of western China, we lent books regularly to the reading-rooms in surrounding villages. We extensively contacted friends from home and abroad to raise donation of books and magazines. We cooperated with local school to build communities in villages to popularize science knowledge, thus making them convenient for teachers, students and villagers to get information. We have been making continuous efforts to build more and more village reading-rooms in the mountainous areas in western China. At the same time, we made full use of the Internet to provide farmers with marketing and production information. We supported and helped the village agro-technical station and officials in the village committee to carry out traditional agricultural technique training and advice.
We carried out “one helps one” activity in the mountainous areas in western China. It does not simply mean to donate money and stuff. In addition to donating the students’ study, the activity itself is of great significance in purifying the society and promoting good commonweal activities. In the summer of 2007, we cooperated with Shandong province and carried out “victory one helps one” activity in Nanzheng county. Practice had proven that “to develop both urban and rural areas through the joint efforts of eastern and western regions” was the most reliable way to reduce the cost of intelligence assistance. During the summer vocation of 2007, in cooperation with “love Association” in Hubei province, we successfully organized “3000 kilometers traveling along the Han River” activity. Volunteers gathered in the mountainous areas in the south of Shaanxi province. In response to this, many benevolent people from Wuhan, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xi’an and Shenzhen supported this activity. Now many cities are supporting the countryside in the western areas of China. Volunteers all over the country gathered here, they exchanged ideas, leant from each other,and supported each other, therefore this broadened their horizons. Now “one helps one”, “Temporarily applying for aid” and “to develop both urban and rural areas through the joint efforts of eastern and western regions” have become the most effective way of reducing the cost of help the poor students.

Public welfare explores the common interests of the society, especially solves the pressing problems of the lower class’s survival problem. With the support of the netizens all over the country, the Hanzhong-based Poverty Relief Association has initially established the first “love supermarket” in Xieshui Town, Hanzhong City. In the service of poor families and students in the mountainous areas, we keep learning from experiences and improving the management system, and now it is regularized and institutionalized. We have already reached an agreement with Hanzhong Communist Youth League and other counties and districts, and we have established friendly cooperative relationship in “one person helps a certain student”, “village library” and “love supermarket”. In July 2008, in cooperation with the Communist Youth League in Nanzheng county, we established a “love supermarket” in Beiba Village which is located in the mountainous areas. In March 2008, we cooperated with local government and built a “love supermarket” in Xieshui Village. We issued some “love consumption voucher” in accordance with the poverty degree and abruptness. We provided poor families and students with timely regular help. Our “love supermarket” not only provides villagers and students with clothes and stationeries, but also accepts donations from local officials, citizens, and enterprises. In this way, we have built a platform for the donors and recipients. It has become the link which transmitted love among people. The new custom of villagers, officials and citizens help each other is taking shape. Our regular and targeted assistance have resolved the temporary difficulties of the poor people. It has further improved the quality of assisting the poor, also it has become a new way of social assistance which institutionalized, standardized and regularized public welfare activities in mountainous regions. This kind of way largely reduced the cost of assisting the impoverished students and filled the blank of no public welfare activities in the remote mountainous areas.

There is a kind of spirit which often moves people; there is a kind of strength which often inspires people. The elder comrades’ selfless dedication touched countless young people with lofty ideas. The members of the Association of Poverty Relief has expanded from four senior citizens to hundreds of people in various fields. This association was set up in the spring of 2006, then it established village library in zhangpin Village and Zhou Jiaping Village, later on, it organized an activity “stand up and eradicate poverty” during International Poverty Eradication Day. In May 2007, netizens from home and abroad followed martyr Li Yuanzhou’s wish to donate books on science and technology, then, we built a “Circumference Library” in Xie Shui Town, Nanzheng County, we also built five village reading rooms. In 2007, the “1500 kilometers along the Han River” activity held
volunteers from Shaanxi, Hubei and many other provinces together, those volunteers supported each other. In 2008, friends from Tian Jin, Beijng, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang province donated books and clothes to Han Zhong. Zhong Nan Finance University and Jianghan Oil Field Youth League donated a large number of clothes. Until now, more than 100 students are under help and three “Love Supermarket” have been built in mountainous areas. Those activities gained cooperation and support from local school, government and media, and had great response in the community. Some media, like Huashang Newspaper, Tianjin Daily, Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao, reported the Association of Poverty Relief and they all spoke highly of it.

We have practiced “one person helps a certain student, Village Reading Room, Love Supermarket” for three years. Our practice has repeatedly proven that measures like “Eastern and Western Regions Make Joint Efforts to Develop Both Urban and Rural Areas”, “Promote Farmers Specialize in Production and Cooperation”, “Continuously Protect and Develop Ecological Resources” are of strategic importance in flourishing our economy, prospering our country and building harmonious society. Centering on town library, we have built several village reading rooms. Generally, we have formed Village Science-Study Communities. In those communities, we carried out science and technology popularization and training. Those are our main ways of intelligence support to the countryside. To establish a donation warehouse for the Poverty Relief Association, then，to build Village Love Supermarket, will become the most effective ways to regularize the material assistance for the people in mountainous areas in western China.I have been convinced that love is a miracle, it is beyond the intelligence and civilization, it is the sublimation of the human soul. If human beings harbor love and use it to create life, convey warmth and maintain harmony, the world will be more prosperous and beautiful.We firmly believe that if we keep carrying out “to develop both urban and rural areas through the joint efforts by eastern and western regions, Combine Material Aid and Intelligence Support”, if we keep popularizing vocational and technical education, if we keep assisting poor students to finish their studies, if we keep training practical agricultural science talent, if we keep establishing and developing technological popularization study community, if we keep promoting the protection and exploitation of ecological resources in the mountainous areas and countryside in western China, then, our long-term goal of assisting the poverty-stricken areas through science and technology will be progressively realized.

The society needs love. Human-beings can not be separated from love. Let us work together to build a harmonious world. With belief that people help and care each other. Let us embrace everyday,and love touch every heart with love,thus ,the world full of the peaceful and friendly fragrance of love!