1980 My literary era

After listening to Zheng Guo's statement, Lin Weimin felt heavy.

He initiated the China Youth Education Development Foundation and Project Hope, for which he donated 10 million yuan. After a vigorous publicity campaign at the end of last year, he thought the foundation would soon become self-sufficient. the way.

Then continue to expand the scale and frequency of charity activities to help more young people in need.

But now it seems that it is not feasible to expect to eat a fat man in one go.

In fact, the China Youth Education Development Foundation and Project Hope are already considered to have been born with a silver spoon compared to the domestic foundations established in previous years. The Chinese Literature Foundation, which also had Lin Weimin participating in fundraising and serving as vice president, was launched that year. The capital is only a few million Hong Kong dollars.

However, the situation of the China Literature Foundation is very different from that of the China Youth Education and Development Foundation. The initial purpose of the China Literature Foundation was to help comrades in the literary world with difficult conditions, but its larger purpose is to support the creation, dissemination and reading of domestic literature. To achieve the purpose of prospering literary creation and improving the cultural quality of the nation.

The purpose of the China Youth Education and Development Foundation is to provide domestic teenagers with a better growth and learning environment so that they can have a better tomorrow.

To put it bluntly, the cultural attributes of the Chinese Literature Foundation are greater than its charitable attributes, but the China Youth Education and Development Foundation is different. It is a completely charitable activity, and it also has the vision of benefiting the whole country.

Therefore, the amount of funds required for the development of the China Youth Education Development Foundation is not at the same level as the China Literature Foundation.

After pondering for a moment, Lin Weimin agreed to Zheng Guo's request.

A few days later, Lin Weimin followed comrades from the foundation, including Zheng Guo, on a train to Ningxia. Along with them were reporters from CCTV, People's Daily, Yanjing Youth Daily and other media.

Xihaigu's name is taken from the first letters of the names of Xiji, Haiyuan and Guyuan counties. A few years ago, it was under the jurisdiction of GS Province. Since then, the administrative divisions have changed several times, and finally it became a mountainous area in southern Ningxia, encompassing Yuanzhou District of GY City and Xihaigu District. Ji County, Longde County, Pengyang County, Jingyuan County, as well as 9 counties and districts in Haiyuan County of ZW City, Yanchi County and Hongsibao District of WZ City.

In 1972, it was determined by the United Nations Food and Development Program as one of the most unsuitable areas for human survival. In recent years, Xihaigu has become one of my country's regional poverty alleviation and development experimental areas. Together with Dingxi, Hexi Corridor and Xihaigu in GS Province, they are collectively known as China's "Three Wests" and are famous for their poverty.

After more than two days of hard work on the road, Lin Weimin and others arrived at Xiji County.

"Ouch! Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!"

When Lin Weimin and others got out of the car, they were faced with a sky full of wind and sand. The county leader who came to greet them just said a few words and pulled them into the car without even bothering to exchange greetings.

Looking around from the car, the entire county is spread out, and there are not a few tall buildings in sight. The level of infrastructure in the county may not be able to keep up with some wealthy towns on the southeast coast.

"Bah, bah, bah! Where did you get so much sand?" Xiao Song, a young man from the foundation, complained unintentionally on the bus.

The bus that picked up Lin Weimin and others was specially brought by the Xiji County Government. The secretary-general in the bus looked apologetic and said with a smile: "I'm really sorry. This is the weather we have here. There is a wind every year, starting from spring. When it comes to winter, the wind is filled with sand and gravel from the desert and Gobi."

Everyone looked out the car window and saw that the sky was dark due to the wind and sand, which made people feel unhappy.

Lin Weimin and his party were arranged to the county guest house, and the county arranged a meal in the evening.

The hostel was in poor condition and we stayed there for one night. The next morning was the day when Hope Primary School would be opened.

Xinglong Town is the southernmost town in Xiji County. One of the first 10 Hope Primary Schools of the Hope Project was built here.

The bus bumped along the dirt road for nearly an hour before everyone arrived at the town.

Xinglong Town is said to be a town, but in fact, except for the functional departments such as the town government and the seven stations and eight stations, it is not much different from an ordinary village.

The car did not stop when it reached Xinglong Town. Instead, it continued driving and walked a few more kilometers. When it reached the village, it stopped in front of the school gate with the sign "Xinglong Town Hope Primary School, Xiji County". The people who had been waiting here early in the morning The town leaders immediately came up to say hello.

Today, not only Lin Weimin and other foundation people and media reporters are here, but also leaders of governments at all levels and local media reporters.

The first batch of Hope Primary Schools of the Hope Project were established in the Sanxi area, and the governments of each place attached great importance to it. The establishment of Hope Primary Schools in the local areas has alleviated the lack of local educational resources to a certain extent, and can also be regarded as helping the government solve difficulties.

Moreover, the Hope Project is huge. If it develops smoothly in the future, more Hope Primary Schools may be built. It is inevitable that these leaders do not pay attention to it.

A team of dozens of people entered the newly built Hope Primary School in a mighty manner, and people from the town introduced it to everyone.

Xinglong Town is the southernmost town in Xiji County. Its economic development lags behind. There are 32 natural villages in the town, but there are not that many primary schools. Most of them share one primary school among several villages.

The conditions for running primary schools are also very poor. The school buildings were built by the villagers themselves in response to the government's call. There are not many students in each school. The local economy is poor, and many families are resistant to sending their children to school.

Xinglong Town Hope Primary School was visited by the foundation’s young staff who traveled across mountains and rivers, and finally chose Yujiawan, which has the worst school building conditions.

The new Hope Primary School is built next to the original school building. The old and new primary schools are right next to each other. The contrast is shocking.

"This school is really well built!" A staff member of the Xiji County Government muttered to himself as he looked around the brand new Hope Primary School.

The new Hope Primary School has built two rows of school buildings, one horizontally and one vertically, one in the north and one in the west. On the north side are the students' classrooms, on the west side are the teachers' offices, dormitories and canteens, and on the east side of the school are Dry toilet.

The entire school is more than 200 meters square, with a building area of ​​1,400 square meters, including 12 classrooms, 3 teachers' offices, 6 dormitories, 1 canteen and dry toilets.

"After our Hope Primary School is built, at least the children in the seven or eight surrounding villages will not have to worry about going to school. Recently, teachers from our school have been going from village to village to promote the benefits of Hope Primary School to adults.

The baby goes to school to take care of the food, and everyone is willing to send their children to school. "

The principal of the school is named Li. He is not yet fifty this year, but his skin is dark and his face is full of grooves. It would not be inappropriate to say that he is in his sixties.

According to him, the original Yujiawan Primary School covered seven or eight surrounding villages, but there were not many parents who sent their children to school. At most, the entire primary school had only over a hundred students, and the average class had less than 20 students. .

Moreover, the higher the grade, the fewer students are in the class, because the children are getting older and can help the family when they are older. If they are half the labor force or even one labor force, parents will not let their children continue to study.

Now that Hope Primary School has been built, through publicity, parents know that students will take care of the food when they go to school. This will save the family a lot of money in a year, and they are no longer so resistant to sending their children to school.

The school building is new and well-built, and it is not a problem to accommodate four to five hundred people. Principal Li smiled brightly when he spoke, and the trough on his face deepened.

Today is the opening ceremony of Hope Primary School. The students gathered on the playground early and looked curiously at the group of adults who entered the school.

The launching ceremony was very simple. Just in front of the podium at the south end of the school playground, under the organization of the school teachers, Lin Weimin and his group watched the students raise the national flag, and then the leader gave a speech.

At the end, everyone asked Lin Weimin to say a few words, and Lin Weimin was pulled to the podium by everyone.

"Let us welcome our country's famous writer, Lin Weimin, who is also the initiator and donor of Project Hope, to give a speech to the students!"

Principal Li introduced Lin Weimin and applauded enthusiastically, and the students below also applauded.

Lin Weimin stood condescendingly on the rostrum. The faces of these students were all tanned by the sun, and their clothes were all patched. The expressions on their faces were innocent and ignorant. They may have never even heard of Lin Weimin's name. .

Lin Weimin was silent for a moment and said loudly: "I have nothing to say. If I insist on saying it, let me borrow a few words from Mr. Liang Qichao: A young man's wisdom will make the country wise, a young man's wealth will make the country rich; a young man will make the country strong, and a young man's independence will make the country rich." If the country is independent; if the youth is free, the country will be free; if the youth progresses, the country will progress; if the youth is better than Europe, then the country will be better than Europe; if the youth are strong on the earth, then the country will be strong on the earth."

When Lin Weimin recited this passage, the primary school students did not understand the meaning of this passage, but the adults present were a little excited and their expressions were excited.

Lin Weimin smiled and continued: "Children, you may not understand what these words mean. It doesn't matter, you will understand when you grow up."

After saying this, Lin Weimin returned to his seat, and Principal Li took the lead in applauding again.

After the ceremony, everyone visited the school building under the leadership of Principal Li, and reporters took photos along the way.

Lin Weimin followed the crowd to visit the school building. The brand-new school building, brand-new tables and chairs, everything was brand-new. Principal Li, who had a ravaged face, looked a bit younger standing inside.

Today, more than a dozen reporters came to the scene, some invited by the foundation from Yanjing, and some local reporters. This group of reporters has been busy since the ceremony. Now they are grabbing everyone for interviews, even the elementary school students who are running around. Didn't let go.

After the ceremony, the group of students did not attend class and ran around in the classroom and playground.

After being interviewed by reporters, Principal Li searched among several classrooms and then grabbed a student.

"Where is your teacher, Mr. Li?"

"have no idea."

Principal Li asked two more students, and one student said: "Teacher Li is lying down and sleeping in the dormitory!"

The leaders of the town frowned when they heard this. They hoped that the primary school would be launched. So many people came to participate in the activities. As a school teacher, he was actually asleep!

"Principal Li, what's going on?"

Principal Li looked ugly, but he still explained: "I'm probably too tired to prepare for today's ceremony. I'll call him!"

Principal Li said as he walked towards the dormitory, everyone should stop paying attention.

Unexpectedly, after a while, a fierce quarrel broke out in the dormitory.

"What are you doing? What are you doing? It's just a few wages, and if you don't pay them every year, you might as well starve to death!"