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A senior couple in Beijing, Zhu Mincai, a former commercial counselor in the then Ministry for Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, and his wife Sun Lina, a teacher in a primary school, are enriching their lives with voluntary service in rural primary schools after retirement.
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Sun Lina (L) and Zhu Mincai receive honorary certificates and awards for their voluntary service in rural schools. [Photos/bjby.bjwmb.gov.cn] |
Unwilling to idle away their time sitting in a park or watching TV, the couple happened to know that there was a severe shortage of teachers in remote villages in rural areas of Guizhou province, where Zhu grew up. Sun proposed to serve as teachers there, and Zhu heartily agreed.
Despite their children's worries, they travelled extensively by train around Guizhou trying to find a school to realize their dream.
However, no one accepted their offer because of their old age. Fortunately, they got help from a local journalist and found Wangmo No 2 Primary School, the first stop of their voluntary teaching tour in Guizhou in 2005.
One day in 2006, they learned of a shabby school in a poorer village that had only one substitute teacher and only two courses – Chinese language and mathematics. They decided to work there.
They added English, sports and music courses and started teaching more than 80 students from four grades on almost a fulltime basis.
With their unremitting efforts, they gave the students knowledge of the outside world, and helped them cultivate good habits in study and daily life.
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Sun corrects homework for students [Photos/bjby.bjwmb.gov.cn] |
