Zhejiang retirees' literacy campaign benefited over 12,000 people over past 7 years

(ECNS) -- A literacy campaign launched by Sun Yuwei, a retired woman from Zhejiang, has benefited 12,000 middle-aged and elderly people.  

Sun Yuwei started her public welfare career of literacy campaign in 2018. In her trips after retirement, she found that many middle-aged and elderly people who had not attended school faced inconveniences.

"I heard about WeChat groups for literacy by chance, so I established one, hoping more people would have access to knowledge to live better,” she said.

After three months, she established a total of 12 groups to teach illiterate people.

In order to improve the quality of studies, she asked retired teachers for advice and learned from online practices to develop courses according to actual circumstances. For example, she usually posts a teaching video in five minutes with homework every day. She records the learning progress of each group and urges her students to finish their task.

Over the years, Sun has suffered from illnesses, but she has never given up her course. Whenever her health improves a little, she rushes to prepare teaching videos.

She is proud to see that many illiterates have made progress. For example, a woman in her 40s became educated through online teaching.

However, it is not a simple task to manage so many study groups and prepare study materials. The shortage of teachers has put Sun under pressure. Fortunately, since 2019, many like-minded teachers have joined her, giving her renewed hope of success.

“I’ve experienced the power of education through public welfare teaching. Most illiterate people value the opportunities very much, which has encouraged us,” said Zhu Xiaoli, a retired teacher.  

No one complains about the work, although there is no reward, she added.