Tibetan volunteers promote love for the needy

Photos of an elderly, blind Tibetan woman struggling to survive have aroused widespread sympathy on the web and prompted the local government to take action.

Khonkyi, 86, and her mentally-handicapped son, 50-year-old Sopel, were placed at a government-run nursing home last week, thanks to the intervention of volunteers and the local civil affairs authority in Hainan prefecture, a predominantly Tibetan area in northwest China's underdeveloped Qinghai Province.

Meanwhile, the public has donated more than 20,000 yuan (3,268 US dollars) to a bank account opened for her by the volunteers who exposed her difficulties on the web.

The volunteers, led by 34-year-old Tibetan businessman Lhamo Tsering, posted several photos of Khonkyi and her shabby home after their first visit on Aug. 20.

"I couldn't hold back my tears when I saw her," said Lhamo Tsering, whose private firm sells CDs and provides a Tibetan language typing system for local computers and cell phones.

Khonkyi's decades-old house was built of hollow bricks. Rainwater had penetrated its roof and her belongings were soaked.

"Most days, the mother and son fed on a paste of flour, oil and water. On holidays, neighbors would take them to their house for a square meal," said Lhamo Tsering.

He visited the woman on Aug. 20 with eight other volunteers. "We brought her new clothes and bedding and stewed mutton for her. She smiled heartily but cried when we were about to leave."

The photos the group posted at Weibo.com were forwarded nearly 26,000 times within two weeks. Many people were prompted to open their wallets to help the woman.

In the past few weeks, Lhamo Tsering has visited Khonkyi frequently, bringing supplies and keeping her company.

"It's a relief she's now staying at a government-run nursing home. I hope she'll be well-fed, taken care of and be convinced there's love in society."

Lhamo Tsering himself was born in a poor rural family. "I knew how tough it was to be poor, so I promised to help the needy when I became rich," he said.

When his private business began to boom in 2007, he joined with other volunteers to find and help the needy in his hometown. He has at least 70 volunteers to date.

One of their first beneficiaries was a man in Qinghai's Golog prefecture, Deng Bentai.

Deng was seriously injured in a hit-and-run traffic accident in 2007. Knowing he could not afford the medical bills, Lhamo Tsering donated 10,000 yuan. Deng was paralyzed, but the two became lifelong friends.

Non-governmental charity work has been playing an increasingly important role in China.

One of the best-known charity projects, "Free Lunch for Children," was initiated in 2011 by Deng Fei, a reporter with the Phoenix Weekly. More than 500 other journalists joined in to help with the project, which has helped improve nutrition for more than 36,000 rural school children.