Editor's note: In order to vigorously foster and carry forward the socialist core values, to influence, inspire and encourage teachers and students with their surrounding lively typical characters and advanced deeds, and to accumulate positive energy for the establishment of a high-standard internationalized university with distinguished features, the news service of GDUFS launched a series of typical character reports in September of this year. The reports comprise of four chapters, which respectively are: being patriotic, being devoted to work, having integrity and being friendly. Now, we are pushing out the chapter of friendliness: a report about Cheng Fuan.
The most beautiful people of GDUFS are chosen among teachers , students and alumni. They are good examples in their respective posts of establishing firm faiths, cherishing posts and devoting wholeheartedly to work, being honest and trustworthy, constantly striving to become stronger, being eager to help others, risking one’s own life to save others, and respecting and honoring the elderly. They are role models in their ordinary posts and have achieved extraordinary results in their ordinary work.
The most virtuous people of GDUFS-Being friendly to others
Cheng Fuan: Friendliness should exist forever in the world
The elderly people may still cherish high aspiration, which means the purity of heart may perpetuate our spirit, even though our body gets tired as time goes by. Cheng Fuan is the best example to support this view. With a boxwood walking stick accompanying him, Cheng always wears a hat to protect his cataract eyes from bright light and a pair of light brown reading glasses. He was healthy and hearty when he volunteered in the Asian Games, but now time and diseases have left too many marks on him. He still says “Although my body is not what it used to be, I must be a volunteer”, which really lets us feel the glamour of the personality of an octogenarian who is eaten up by disease.
Don’t afraid of difficulties and hardships and bow as a willing ox
In the face of reporters, Cheng, who is over 80, firstly showed us not honorary certificates fully loaded with his volunteering work, and also not his substantial working history, but his calligraphy written in terms of the poems he had learnt and the poetry created by himself. “Could I get mansions with thousands of rooms? So I can house all poor scholars and make them beam with smiles.” Cheng said what he admires most is Du Fu’s spirit and mind. In real life, this old man also practices the moral principal implied in those historic sentences with his own practical action.
Born in Shanxi, Cheng joined the army in Tianjin and worked at GDUFS. “GDUFS is a fictitious land of peace.” When referring to GDUFS, he always smiles from ear to ear. “If I something was unclear, I would go to the entrance of the library and ask students coming and going”said Cheng. Thoughtful answers and warm greeting made Cheng feel the joys of helping each other. Maybe it is an unexpected thing for him to become attached to GDUFS, but it is destined for him to form ties of affection with volunteers and he gained much happiness from it.
His volunteering work started in 1992, when the association of retired staff was established. He was recommended as the first president of the association. “It is beneficial to the construction of the university and the health of old people, so I did it.” Cheng said with smile. Then, he served as the director of the committee of the family members. Cheng put these two responsibilities on his shoulder for six years.
When it comes to his solicitude for the retired man, we have to talk about his care for Wu Shuhua, who is a Chinese Indonesian. Because there were no relatives in China and coupled with diabetes and regular fractures due to wrestling, it is difficult for Wu to take care of herself-even though she got a salary of 4000 yuan every month after her retirement. ” She said nothing and others took less care of her”, “I should look after her for she seems so poor”, Cheng sighed and looked into the distance. It seems that he was thinking back to past things with his old friends. He often helps Wu do some housekeeping. For example, calling upon some workers to help her to make a move, repairing windows and doors, installing a door bell in case of an emergency and talking with her regularly to stave off her loneliness. Once, Wu telephoned him and complained that she didn’t have money to eat and had to earn money by selling newspapers. Cheng immediately boiled 16 dumplings, cooked a dish of scrambled eggs and tomato and sent it to her. Even though Professor Wu has gone home and been reunioned with her sisters and brothers, Cheng still helps to clean her room at intervals and also sends needed things to Wu, who is in distant Indonesia.
In his later life, Cheng Fuan actively participated in activities especially for the retired man
When he served as the secretary of the retired branch, Cheng not only led other veteran cadres of the branch to excel in competitions, but also put all he had learnt during his later life into practice, such as singing, reciting poems and calligraphy. With Wang Zitian and He Zheng, Cheng funded an advocacy group, in which Wang is responsible for reciting, He singing and Cheng telling stories. They specifically went to people’s home to show their kindness. “We are singing and reciting and they are happily taking photos”, when saying this, Cheng was very happy and his affections were huge.
The most virtuous volunteer of GDUFS----spending all his life helping others
In 2010, the worldly grand gathering for the Asian Games was held in Guangzhou, which gave Cheng Fuan an opportunity to utilise his remaining energy. When the energetic young all joined the volunteer teams to give full play of their strengths, Cheng, always enthusiastic about public undertakings, undoubtedly hoped to make some contributions. Actually, he set a good example for the young volunteers and helped them a lot. Before the opening of the Asian Games, he tried to get more knowledge of the history of the Asian Games and learned its whole anthem. Besides, although almost unable to read the letter “A”, he finally remembered 900 useful English sentences which could be helpful during his volunteer work. More admirably, considering the health conditions of the elderly volunteers, the relevant person in charge distributed less and easier work to them. But Cheng still kept getting up early at 5am and staying until 11pm every day, in order to offer spiritual support to the young volunteers.
Cheng also came up with lots of ideas to help the volunteers. First, he encouraged them through various ways. He held up signs saying “the volunteers are excellent” or “never give up”. He paid out of his own pocket to print and distribute leaflets with the Asian Games anthem and recitations on and sang and recited them in the car. He told and spread stories of those advanced volunteers. He even specially wrote a poem for Peng Shuyu, a volunteer responsible for the traffic lines. Second, during the Asian Games, as the weather got colder at night, he and his wife decided to send free ginger soup and eggs to the volunteers.
Cheng Fuan encourages young volunteers
Cheng Fuan holds up a sign made by himself to encourage volunteers
It is rare to see the elderly volunteering, let alone to be volunteers of the Asian Games. Cheng once quoted a poetic sentence from a famous Chinese Song poet and scholar Sushi: “to travel in the rain with just a straw rain cape” to indicate his determination to be a volunteer. He said “being a volunteer is a good thing and if one wishes to do good, he will always find a way.”
Since he made a lot of contributions to the Asian Games, he obtained the honor of “one of the most influential people” and a certificate awarded by the Guangzhou municipal government. Among his valuable collections of the Asian Games was a photo in which he stood with other volunteers, a poster held in his hand. In this photo, he wears the volunteer’s clothes and hat. During our interview, he still wore the hat. Clean and neat, it almost left no trace of time, just like his never-changing benevolent heart.
Spare every effort to put forward good deeds and endure friendliness in the world
Now Cheng has left from his post for a practical cause. Though being unable to take care of the old comrades, he insists on being the volunteer. He had invited the son of his nursery-maid to his home, gave him stationary and told him that knowledge changes fate. He also taught his nursery-maid how to write poems and give her red envelopes on holidays or special occasions. ” Though I cannot go out working now, I can contribute within my home, instructing the nursery-maid and her son. I still need to do something!”
All this good deeds were observed by his neighbor: Mr.Bai Yuxian. During our interview, Mr. Bai had been emphasizing the point that very few people were like him nowadays, and he is deeply concerned about social works and is devoted to contributing to the society.
Cheng’s grandson has also been influenced by him. Majoring in Medical Science, he intends to be a volunteer in Africa after his graduation. Good deeds are never confined to single individuals. Cheng’s friendliness moistens people around him and they had gradually been touched and influenced by his good deeds.
“To be a volunteer shouldn't be restrained by circumstances and physical conditions”, “One good word can make people feel warm even on the coldest winter days”, which Cheng said to us. The saying that “The hair is gray but the heart is always royal” may be the best description of Cheng. His journey as a volunteer would never stop and his friendliness and spirit will continue to be carried forward by people who know him and are deeply influenced by him.
