Hillary works for poverty alleviation in China

Her English name is Hillary and her Chinese name is Wei Yulin.

When I asked Hillary: "What brought you to China to work on poverty alleviation in such remote places?" Hillary answered with a smile: "I came to work for the Yunnan TV Station as English language advisor in 1998. One of my international friends set up a Hope Primary School at Malipo of Wenshan county in Yunnan. One day in 1999 he invited me to the school where I was deeply moved. Meanwhile I realized in my heart the difficulty for a kid in remote mountainous area to go to school. Some kids had to walk for miles, even tens of miles across mountains and rivers to go to school. It was too hard for them! Some children yearned to attend school only their families could not afford it. So they had to drop school. Therefore in my mind there arose the idea of setting up another Hope Primary School."

"But I was only a 'foreign employee'" she said with a smile "I was not rich. So I put together small money and saved every penny. I also organized 'English corners' on holidays and during spare time, so that I could raise money by coaching English."

"It is said that in order to raise money for poverty alleviation you taught classes from 9am until 4pm without rest?"

"It was often like that.", she said in a flat tone. "Fortunately my friends in Beijing were very supportive once they learned of it. There is a Chinese saying: 'the more people, the more strength'. They relayed the news to tens, hundreds of people who together raised 60,000 yuan Renminbi."

"By then I had 33 kids on my list who most needed support in order to go to school. These kids were all in Donggua village of Tongchang town in Jinping county of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture. Ethnic groups such as Miao and Han are concentrated here. Therefore I had an idea of setting up my first Hope Primary School in this town. With the support of the township government the school was soon established."

"The second school was set up in collaboration with the German Siemens and with the financial support of the British Embassy to China. It was based at Sanjia village of Lincang Shuangjiang county, which cost 90,000 yuan. It was better either in terms of scale or facilities. In the meantime a primary school was rebuilt at Gongnong Town of the same county. The dormitory was renovated and some equipment was added. The third school was built in Banglao Town, which is even better than the first two. There are more classrooms and they are bigger, brighter. Plus the student and teacher dormitories, washing rooms and toilets it cost more than 100,000 yuan. More than 30,000 yuan was raised locally. The fourth school was built in Bangxie Town inhabited mainly by the Blang ethnic group. It is even bigger."

Hillary discovered that drinking water for local people and domesticated animals was extremely difficult to get. Regardless of her age she, together with the local people, explored water sources all round climbing mountains and crossing dangerous passes. They finally introduced a sweet spring from six kilometers away and built a reservoir which cost 65,000 yuan. People were so excited that they broke to tear when they scooped up the water with both hands.

A teacher at the Yunnan Normal University, who is also devoted to poverty alleviation, said: "Do you know what we call Hillary? We call her 'old Leifeng (the name of a Chinese (1940-1962), which later became the synonym of selflessness)', 'woman Leifeng' and 'foreign Leifeng'!"

Building Hope Primary Schools is only an aspect of Hillary's poverty-alleviation effort. She has also financed the study of more than 200 children. With her help Shuangjiang County Federation of Women opened a Yulin Spinning and Weaving Training Program to teach women ability to work.

In the last five years apart from raising huge sums of money Hillary herself has also put more than a million yuan into it. She has a happy family. Her husband, mother and elder son in Britian as well as her younger son and daughter in Italy all support her and have all made donations to poverty alleviation in China.

To commend Hillary the Yunnan Provincial People's Government awarded her Caiyun Award For Foreign Experts. Hillary's moving story soon spread to her own country. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and her Consort Prince Philip signed an edict to grant her the honorary title of Outstanding National.

By People's Daily Online