A valuable lesson for life

When Zhi Yueying, then 19, went to the remote Niyang village in Yichun city, Jiangxi province, to work as a village teacher in 1980, villagers were doubtful if she was going to stay long. After all, a number of voluntary teachers had arrived before, but all had left soon after.

Zhi, though, was there for the long haul. She worked there for more than three decades, before going to a more remote village school in the mountains.

Over the past four decades, Zhi has devoted herself to rural education. She is a recipient of China Central Television's Touching China awards that recognize the most inspiring role models in 2016. She was also awarded as a model poverty fighter by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's Cabinet, earlier this year.

Born in Nanchang city, Jiangxi, in 1961, Zhi wanted to become a teacher since childhood. She applied to work as a teacher at the primary school in Niyang village after graduation, despite her mother's strong opposition.

Located amid the mountains, the village was very poor and far from any town. Villagers had to hike in the mountains since there was no road. "I arrived at the school in an early evening, and was shocked by the poor conditions there. I had known the conditions were poor, but the reality was worse. The blackboard, door and windows were in a state of disrepair, some stools had legs missing, and desks were pieced together at different heights," recalls Zhi to Shanghai-based news portal thepaper.cn.

Moreover, local people needed to go downhill to buy daily necessities, and transport them back in their hands or balanced across their shoulders with the help of a carrying pole. "I had never walked uphill on a mountain road before, so I walked much more slowly than others, sometimes I lagged behind too much and was scared to tears," says Zhi.

Sometimes she had to walk uphill by herself with a flashlight at night. The wild boars and rabbits sometimes startled her and she bolstered her courage by singing loudly.

But she gradually got used to her life there. At the beginning, she found many local people valued their sons far more than their daughters, and would not like to let them attend school. Zhi went to their homes repeatedly and gradually persuaded them to send all their children to school. For those who could not afford the tuition, she spent her own money to help.

She has a profound understanding of the importance of education in the mountains. "Education is an essential part of our efforts to help people escape poverty, and children who live in the mountains can only change their lives through schooling," says Zhi.

In 2012, Zhi was assigned to work in another school in the town and could leave the mountain area, but she refused and applied to go to the Baiyang village school, which is situated even more remotely in the mountains where she remains.

Over the years, Zhi taught the students, joined in their games and cared for them, since many of them were "left-behind" children whose parents migrated to other places to work. More than 1,000 students of hers have left the mountain area, and created a better life for themselves.

Tu Sha and her mother Liao Zuoying are both students of Zhi. According to Tu, a teacher like Zhi is the last hope for students who live in the mountains like herself. She made up her mind to learn from Zhi, and finally became a teacher as well after graduation.

Liu Qiang, another student of Zhi's, is fulsome in her praise. "Since I was a student, 'Mother Zhi' has always been the model who guides me. She makes me understand the importance of learning."

Zhi says seeing her students prosper beyond the mountains is deeply rewarding. "Seeing them leave the mountain and achieve progress, I'm so happy that I feel richer than any millionaire," says Zhi.

"I know poverty will forever say goodbye to us, to the mountainous villages, to my students, and to myself," says Zhi. "My dream, the same as before, is to stay by the side of more children and help them."