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"this is our lovely primary school, a primary school in the frontier. the old bronze bell is hung on the thick branches of the big green tree. the shadows of the phoenix tail bamboo are swaying on the white wall..."

the first lesson of the first volume of the third-grade chinese textbook published by the people's education press describes the opening scene of a primary school in a frontier area with childlike words, allowing children who have just entered school from all over the country to have a preliminary understanding of the frontier area.

so, what are frontier primary schools like in reality? what are the frontier villages where frontier primary schools are located like? how do people there live and what do they need? let's follow the staff of the love border village development projectfield visits, and visited the border villages and schools in yunnan.

entering dibian village

starting from xishuangbanna airport, it took three and a half hours to drive to jingmai mountain, and then another two and a half hours to drive from jingmai mountain. after about six hours of tossing on the winding mountain road, the project team finally arrived at nanduan primary school in nuofu township, lancang lahu autonomous county, pu'er city, yunnan province.

as soon as we entered the school gate, the eight big characters on the roof of the dormitory building on the hillside in front of us attracted everyone's attention - "study hard and get out of the mountains." after being tortured by the bumpy mountain road for a long time, seeing these eight characters made us feel particularly emotional.

according to chen hongjing, principal of nanduan primary school, the school has one class for grades one to four, and 195 students come from three surrounding villages including nanduan village. the students' homes are far from the school, and the farthest one takes more than an hour to drive. therefore, most students need to live on campus, even first-grade students.

this is a normal situation for students in nuofu township. nuofu township is located in the southern part of lancang county, 68 kilometers away from the county seat, and borders myanmar in the south, with a border line of 56.843 kilometers. 98.8% of the area is mountainous or semi-mountainous, with a vast area, high mountains and steep slopes, scattered population, inconvenient transportation, and long distances between villages. the proportion of boarding students in nuofu middle school reached 95.15%, and the proportion of boarding students in nuofu central primary school (including three village primary schools) also reached 90.89%.

although they have to live in the school dormitory at a young age, the children are very optimistic. "i am not a child, i can wash my clothes by myself. there is a washing machine in the school." when asked if he needs his sister to help him wash clothes at school, jiaxin, who is just in the second grade, answered quickly, as if it was a matter of course.

jiaxin and her sister xiangnan, who is in the third grade, are both boarding students. they have a very good relationship and love to laugh. "children here are shy when they first meet someone, but they become very cheerful after getting to know people." chen hongjing said that many of the children are left-behind children, but few of them have serious psychological problems.

although they live in the mountains and attend a primary school on the border, the children have beautiful visions for the future. fourth-grader xie lan wants to be a teacher, while her sister sala wants to be a principal so she can manage her sister; xiangnan hopes to become a doctor with her "little bestie" when she grows up, and jiaxin wants to defend his country when he grows up...

when asked why he wanted to defend his country, jiaxin's answer was very simple, "because my grandpa also defended his country." this answer also appeared in the mouths of other children, but the protagonist would change - grandfather, father, uncle...

in addition to farming and working, many of the villagers in the border villages also participate in border maintenance work, such as patrolling the border or maintaining boundary markers. they live on the border and guard the border, becoming "border guards."

jiaxin and xiangnan's grandfather zha si is a "border guard", and xielan and sala's father li zak is also a border guard. they patrol along the border at least 15 days a month. they bring their own machetes, gauze, etc. to clear the route, check the prevention and control facilities and equipment, and prevent illegal crossing of the border.

regardless of whether it is sunny or cloudy, day or night, scratches and abrasions are common, and sometimes bears and poisonous snakes are encountered. but when asked if there is any danger, li zak, who was scratched just the day before yesterday, smiled and said honestly: "no danger."

on days when they are not on patrol, they return home to plant crops, pick tea leaves, pick up and drop off their children...patrolling the border and living on the border have become the norm for villagers living near the border. it can be said that the door of the home is the national border, planting crops is like standing guard, and herding is like patrolling.

there are many such border villages. take yunnan province as an example. its border is 4,060 kilometers long, with 8 border prefectures (cities), 25 border counties, 108 border townships, 374 border administrative villages, of which 2,207 are border natural villages, accounting for 64% of the total number of border natural villages in the country, and most of them are in remote mountainous areas.

tribute to the border keepers

the villagers of the border villages have lived on the border for generations, and have used their homes and their lives to defend the border of the motherland. although their lives are not rich due to factors such as the natural environment, transportation, and industry, they still study, work, and live hard, and are optimistic.

whether children or the elderly, they can all be called "heroes" in their own lives and "heroes" in peacetime. they deserve more care and more opportunities for development.

in september 2024, the yunnan charity federation and shenzhen longyue charity foundation officially launched the "love at the border·border village development project". the project focuses on the border and provides precise assistance to the "border guards" team and education in border villages.

"we hope to get close to them, understand their work, understand their lives, and use the power of public welfare to do something for them," emphasized luo yangwei, secretary-general of shenzhen charity foundation.

the project provides border guards with a "border guard peace of mind package", which includes but is not limited to camouflage uniforms, raincoats, reflective vests, headlamps, first aid kits, etc., to improve their safety and comfort when patrolling the border. in addition, the project also plans to provide major disease medical subsidies for "border guards" whose families are in difficulty to alleviate their family's financial pressure.

"starting from the small love at home, you show the great love of the country to the border. you have spent your long years guarding the vast mountains and rivers. may you be safe every day and sleep well every night." this sentence on the card attached to the "border guarding peace of mind package" expresses the best wishes for the project. "this is not only a material assistance, but also a recognition and encouragement for our work. we will remember this deep affection and turn every bit of love into practical actions to protect border security and promote border development." cai xinzhuang, deputy secretary of the party general branch of danzha village, houqiao town, tengchong city, and foreign affairs officer, said excitedly when accepting the donation.

the project provides "bed warming packages" and "student dream-building packages" for children in dibian village school. the gift packages include but are not limited to dormitory bedding, clothing, student stationery sets, coloring sets, etc. "we want every child to have a warm bed; to use paintbrushes and toys to build a better future and give full play to their imagination," said luo yangwei.

the children of nanduan primary school were the first beneficiaries. "this quilt is different from mine, it's soft." li zapi, who received the bed warming pack, couldn't wait to feel it. under the guidance of the teacher, the children quickly changed into new bedding and used it for nap that day. "when we conducted a survey, we found that the children's bedding was very diverse. some of the cotton pads were lumped together, and some of the sheets were torn." zhang rujuan, deputy secretary-general of shenzhen longyue charity foundation, said, "distributing bed warming packs can improve their accommodation conditions. more importantly, it can give children a sense of equality, not too many differences, avoid comparisons and inferiority, and make them feel happier."

the project will also hold summer camp learning activities, invite college students to participate in teaching, organize study tours, and organize students to go out for visits and studies to broaden their horizons.

"we hope that through the power of the project, children will have more opportunities to go out, improve their abilities, and return to their hometowns to build their hometowns after they have learned enough," said zhang rujuan.

the project will also provide support for the renovation and replacement of canteens, bathhouses, dining tables and chairs, and shower equipment according to the needs of the school.

up to now, the project has piloted the donation of "border guarding peace of mind packages" in funing county, lancang county, hekou county and tengchong city in yunnan province, benefiting a total of 200 "border guards"; and piloted the donation of student gift packages in 7 schools in funing county, lancang county, hekou county and tengchong city in yunnan province, benefiting a total of more than 1,000 students, with the total value of the donated gift packages reaching more than 300,000 yuan; in addition, cafeteria tables and chairs were donated to nanduan primary school so that all students in the school can eat at the same time.

developing border villages

the development of border guards and children in border villages is ultimately inseparable from the comprehensive revitalization of border villages. the project did not stop at the donation of materials, but carried out more sustainable planning.

according to luo yangwei, the project plans to cover more than 4,000 children and 500 villagers in border villages in three years. at the same time, a project database will be established, a preliminary project implementation and supervision system will be formed, more than 100,000 donations will be called, and 200 donors will be organized to carry out offline visits.

"we hope to establish a link between donors and border villages, so that more people will pay attention to border villages, go to border villages, and develop industries such as tourism and environmental protection," said luo yangwei.

the project also set a long-term goal: to cover more than 10,000 children and 2,000 villagers in border villages, and to explore and improve the sustainable development model of the project. in addition, the project will strengthen brand building, drive the economic development, cultural development, environmental protection and other services of the villages, and help achieve rural revitalization. "border villages are not only the front line of national security, but also a key link in rural revitalization." chen sheng, chairman of the shenzhen charity foundation, said, "we are well aware that every edge should not be forgotten, and every voice eager for development deserves to be heard. how to take local measures and respect local cultural customs, take advantage of local development advantages, and effectively play the role of public welfare to help rural revitalization is an issue that our project must explore and pay attention to for a long time." "the project will help the elderly, children and other groups in economically underdeveloped border areas and border ethnic minority areas, so that they can be supported in old age, educated in childhood, and helped in difficulties, drive the service of rural economy, and achieve the ultimate goal of rural revitalization and harmonious social development." qi yonghong, vice president of the yunnan charity federation, emphasized.

image source: shenzhen longyue charity foundation text: wang yong