Chinese girl volunteers to teach in world's underprivileged communities for four years

Stories of a compassionate Chinese youth making full use of her summer and winter vacations to volunteer and provide educational assistance to local children in less affluent communities in countries abroad over the past four years, including in Tanzania, Kenya, Thailand and India, have recently touched the heartstrings of many netizens.

Cheng Lijin, a 24-year-old youth from Guilin, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, came up with the idea of volunteering as a teacher in 2016 based on the influence of a movie entitled Desert Flower.

"My undergraduate major was related to film. After watching Desert Flower, I wanted to see what Africa looked like with my own eyes," recalled the young woman, who is now a postgraduate student in the U.K.

In December 2016, Cheng was finally provided with a four-month opportunity to volunteer in Mwanza, Tanzania's second-largest city, along with Nairobi, the capital and largest city in Kenya, having received a monthly subsidy of 8,500 yuan ($1,315).

Teaching English, science and technology as well as fine arts classes for fourth and sixth graders at a primary school in Mwanza, Cheng not only brought hope to her impoverished students, but also befriended many outstanding young people during the course of her volunteer work.

When Cheng arrived in Africa for the first time, she still continued to use chopsticks when eating food rather than using her bare hands as the locals did. However, in order to avoid any misunderstanding, she decided to set aside the dining habits she grew up with in her own country and instead got accustomed to the traditional local way of eating. "All that the others knew about me was that I came from China, so I wanted to do my best to be a good ambassador for Chinese youth," said the young woman.

In addition to the language barrier, the most challenging part of local life for Cheng was not having access to a hot shower. "Since there was no tap water available, I couldn't access a hot shower at all. Only on special occasions was I able to take a long trip to the downtown areas of the city and purchase running water for a bath," Cheng recalled.

In the face of an unfamiliar environment and difficult circumstances, many quit their post, including a volunteer teacher who chose to return back home during just the second week after arriving. Nevertheless, Cheng continued to hang on. "I also thought about giving up, but I believed this was not a good idea, since I had made a promise to the local children. If I chose to leave so suddenly, that would have been totally irresponsible," she explained.

In March 2017, when Cheng arrived at an orphanage in a Nairobi slum, she was shocked by the deep level of poverty the local children were subjected to, especially in one instance when she discovered that there were seven children sharing only one pencil stub. Responding to what she saw, Cheng launched a fundraising campaign in an attempt to raise money to purchase daily necessities and study materials for the orphans.

Thanks to her relentless efforts, Cheng successfully raised more than 20,000 yuan within three days.

"When I was leaving the school at the end of the program, all the kids in my class were crying next to the doorsteps," Cheng said. The innocence and lovely nature of the children left an indelible impression on Cheng, while the gratitude they showed made her more determined than ever to organize and participate in additional volunteer activities in the future.

After Cheng's volunteering stories went viral on the Internet, a few netizens doubted her intentions. "Why didn't you be a volunteer teacher at home?" one questioned.

In her retort, Cheng explained that international communication is also of great importance. She would like to become a kind of messenger to show the outside world the excellent spirit of Chinese youth. Moreover, during the process of engaging with and seeing the wider world, the love she has for her motherland has also become all the more deeper over time.

After graduating in the U.K. from her postgraduate program in October this year, Cheng planned to return back to her native Guangxi and become a teacher there. "I want to continue to teach what I have learned, as there are many poor and backward areas around my hometown in Guangxi and many young children who have a thirst for knowledge," the young woman disclosed.