Helping Rural Revitalization, Pinduoduo Brings Material and Spiritual Food to Rural Students in Hebei and Gansu Provinces

On September 12th, a batch of caring materials, including 4.5 tons of rice, 2.5 tons of flour, 970 kilograms of sweet potato noodles, 200 barrels of grain and oil, arrived at the nine-year school in Yacheng Town, Lixian County, Longnan City, Gansu Province, at an altitude of 1652 meters. Principal Yuan Miao saw it in his eyes, but at the bottom of his heart, he knew how to use it for the students' "big stove" and how to distribute it to classmates from disadvantaged families.

On the same day, the Second Middle School in Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, more than 1500 kilometers away, also received a batch of caring supplies, including 5 tons of rice, 100 boxes of beef, 60 boxes of chicken, and 200 barrels of grain and oil. About two months ago, they also received 410000 yuan from the same donor for the renovation of the library.

"After preparing the supplies, we set off from Linquan County, Anhui Province and delivered them to the school overnight without stopping." The person in charge of Pinduoduo, who donated the supplies, said, "I hope these supplies can improve the children's meals and give them a stronger 'physique' to focus on learning."

In recent years, Pinduoduo has responded to the government's call to go deep into key national rural revitalization assistance counties in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and other regions, actively donating funds and materials to help improve the hardware conditions for learning and work in various regions, supporting rural infrastructure construction, and building a solid foundation for rural revitalization.

Previously, in November 2021, Pinduoduo donated 1 million yuan to build an observatory in Xiaohe Township, Liuyang City, Hunan Province, fulfilling children's wish to use an astronomical telescope to see stars. Last November, Pinduoduo donated 620000 yuan to Xiwanzi Primary School in Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City to build the school's roller skating rink and develop campus sports. In July this year, Pinduoduo donated 240000 yuan to the First Experimental Primary School in Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City to build a space satellite laboratory and cultivate children's interest in aerospace knowledge.

"From poverty alleviation to rural revitalization, Pinduoduo, which started in agriculture, insists on providing feedback to rural areas. In addition to rooting in rural areas as an e-commerce platform and vigorously promoting the 'Agricultural Cloud Action' and agricultural technology progress, we also continue to increase investment in specific needs of the areas we assist, striving to contribute our modest efforts to the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and rural revitalization," said the person in charge.

"These supplies can reduce children's meal expenses from 6 yuan to 4 yuan per meal."

Yacheng Town is located in the northern part of Li County, Longnan City, Gansu Province, 20 kilometers away from the county seat. The relatively flat town is home to the only nine-year school here, surrounded by the towering mountains of the Qinling Mountains. Pinduoduo's donated materials were purchased from Linquan County under the jurisdiction of Fuyang, Anhui, and after a day and night of continuous transportation, they finally reached the depths of the mountains.

At present, the nine-year school in Yacheng Town has taken over all eligible students from 20 villages in the town. The villages are scattered, even more than a hundred kilometers away from the town. At present, the school has 9 grades, 18 classes, 781 students, and 60 teachers. Every semester, Principal Yuan Miao gathers all the students in the school together to take ideological and political courses and educate them on their moral character.

According to Yuan Miao's statistics, among these 781 students, there are over 200 left behind children and over 110 children from single parent families. Four to five hundred students rented houses in the town, with their parents or grandparents accompanying them in their studies and cooking for them.

More than 30 years ago, Yuan Miao also studied at the same school. At that time, his home was 6 kilometers away from school, but he could only walk to and from school. I have to wake up before dawn and walk with my classmates. The mountain road was rugged and difficult to walk, with wolves present. The most memorable experience for him was on their way to school when a wolf jumped over their heads and quickly plunged into the grass.

In winter, the weather was cold and the hands and feet were covered with sores. At that time, there was no glass in the classroom. Each student dug a hole under his feet and lit the picked branches for warmth. At that time, there was no white flour Mantou. At noon, he threw potatoes brought from home into the hole and baked them for lunch.

The times have developed, and now, the school cafeteria - what children call a "big stove" - has enriched a lot. "In the morning, we have free nutritious meals, including eggs, milk and Congee. For lunch, 6 yuan is enough for various types of pasta, such as stewed noodles and fried noodles. For dinner, 6 yuan is enough, including one meat, two vegetables and rice," said Yuan Miao.

After learning about the situation of the school and students, Pinduoduo took the initiative to contact Yuan Miao and proposed to donate 100000 yuan in supplies. Due to the development of his own animal husbandry in the local area, Yuan Miao chose rice, flour, grain and oil, sweet potato vermicelli and other food items from the donated funds.

Now seeing bags and boxes of supplies being carried into the school, Yuan Miao has a plan. He planned in his heart that for the children eating in the cafeteria, each person's meal cost could be reduced from 6 yuan to 4 yuan, or even more, so that they could all save some money; Those students from difficult families can be directly given a bag of rice, and they should be happy to move back home; There are also hardworking teachers who can be rewarded for their poor family conditions.

Read more books to make knowledge accessible to the rural land

The Second Middle School in Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province is the second school donated by Pinduoduo.

Similar to the nine-year school situation in Yacheng Town, Chongli District Second Middle School is also the only middle school among the 10 surrounding towns. There are a total of 20 classes, 3 teaching buildings, over 800 junior high school students, and over 120 teachers in the school. Many of these students are left behind children, as well as children whose parents are bedridden. Some children have strong self-esteem and keep difficulties in their hearts. Teachers can only see the small hardships they have endured during home visits.

Chongli District Second Middle School is a fully boarding school, with students taking three days off every two weeks. The cafeteria provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast costs 5 yuan per person, and both Chinese and dinner are two meat dishes and one vegetable. The main course is sufficient, and each meal costs 8.5 yuan. Among the 100000 yuan worth of supplies, Chongli District Second Middle School selected 5 tons of rice, as well as 100 boxes of beef and 60 boxes of chicken.

"When students are growing physically, they still want to eat more nutritious food," explained Yun Xiangbin, the secretary of Chongli District Second Middle School, referring to the selected materials.

Not long ago on July 17th, Pinduoduo also donated 410000 yuan to this school for the renovation of the library. Previously, this school only had a library on the fourth floor of one teaching building, and the collection of books was not rich enough to meet the students' thirst and needs for fresh knowledge.

After a summer vacation, the brand new library has been almost built and is expected to be completed in a week. According to the new plan, the school will transform the entire fourth floor of the teaching building into a library. Yun Xiangbin introduced that the expanded library includes three parts: a book storage room, a reading room, and a reading appreciation room, which can store more than 50000 books. In addition to renovating the library, all remaining donations will be used to purchase books and meet the reading needs of over 900 teachers and students in the school.

Not long ago on Saturday, Yun Xiangbin eagerly went to the school to inspect the construction of the library. Previously, the blank walls were covered with celebrity quotes, and seeing these inspirational words seemed to have received an intangible motivation. The wooden floor was also laid on the ground, and in the spacious study room, the blue seats were neatly arranged. The brand new six large bookshelves were also filled with books, quietly waiting for the children to happily browse. At some point in the future, they may find answers to questions here or plant seeds of dreams in their hearts.

This is one of the many campus reading rooms and libraries donated by Pinduoduo for construction. Since 2021, the public welfare action of "reading for you" has successively entered mountain primary and secondary schools and special schools in Xizang, Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, Guizhou, Shaanxi, Anhui, Yunnan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan and other places. It not only supports schools to improve reading hardware facilities, donates more than 300000 books to students everywhere, but also holds "reading class" activities with writers to promote "fair consumption, inclusive knowledge" and help narrow the reading gap between urban and rural areas.

"Our public welfare donations will continue, and we hope that more children can read more books, so that they and even more people can step out of the mountains of reality," said the person in charge of Pinduoduo.