Village gets water thanks to SZ charity

Han Ximin

THE vice manager of the Futian Shangri-La Hotel, Rudolf Gimmi, attended a signing ceremony for an annual charity event the hotel sponsors called Ride for Hope. Gimmi said the charity was a great way to raise money for remote villages in China.

The Futian Shangri-La held its 2014 Ride for Hope, an 840-kilometer charity ride from Guilin to Hong Kong, this January, raising nearly 1 million yuan (US$156,250) in six days.

The Ride for Hope was first held in 2013 when a group of cyclists rode 2,500 kilometers from Shenzhen to Shanghai.

The charity donated 108,080 yuan for the construction and maintenance of the Haokun Village Central Primary School, a school in a remote village in Lingzhan Township in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The village is made up of people from the Yao ethnic minority.

Gimmi headed a team of 12, including donors and organization representatives, on a weekend inspection of the school’s renovation progress and construction of water cellars, which collect rainwater.

“It is an eye-opening trip, seeing the living conditions of the children, and a happy trip, seeing their situation has been improved through our charity,” said Gimmi, after signing an agreement with Wei Huaxi, headmaster of the school.

According to Wei, the school has six teachers, including himself, and 130 students, some of whom stayed at school over the summer holidays as their homes are too far away to return to.

With funds from the program, the school built showers in the dormitories, dug wells and added toilets with a septic tank.

“Simple things like water, electricity and other necessities should be part of everyday life, even for people living in faraway villages. Nowadays, thanks to our technology, we have the opportunities to help the disadvantaged with our resources. Ride for Hope, which will hopefully grow and gain momentum, could help more,” said Gimmi.

At a welcoming ceremony, Jia Shenghai, vice manager with the Chang’an Wealth Center, of Chang’an Trust, donated books and sports equipment to the school.

After the visit, the chairwoman of the V7 Car Club, Tian Ying, who donated 8,800 yuan to help build a water cellar, said she would promote the program in her 140-member club.

Before the trip to the Yao village, four other members had donated 44,000 yuan for water cellar projects. The club had just completed a charity project by building a school cafeteria in Daliangshan, Sichuan Province.

The school was founded in 2002 with a donation of 150,000 yuan from a Hong Kong monk and some government support. Many families moved to live at the foot of the mountains after the government initiated a relocation plan a decade ago.

In 2014, 24 water cellars were built for the villages. The money raised this year will also be used for water cellars and schools.