"Love Squad" reach out to left-behind kids in SW China

While kids around us are pursuing their dreams in “ivory towers”, a group of left-behind children have been trapped in a dire predicament due to insufficient food supply, ragged clothes and backward education in outlying mountainous areas of southwest China’s Guizhou Province.

Guizhou is a relatively poor and economically undeveloped province, but rich in natural, cultural and environmental resources. Demographically it is one of China's most diverse provinces.

When designers from the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Zhejiang University (UAD) inadvertently noticed a special group – kids in a primary school in Jiangxian County, Guizhou - an idea popped into their mind that they should bring love and care to these kids.

Every member of the UAD community made concerted efforts to put this idea into practice. They raised a total of CNY 33,282 (US$ 5,034) and dispatched a “love squad” to establish a close relationship with the kids there.

This squad prepared a series of entertaining and rewarding activities for kids. For example, they gave lessons about roads, bridges, transportation and landscape, shared with kids their life stories and organized a funny sports meeting to boost the teamwork spirit among kids.

The squad members believe that responsibility and love can be small streams flowing into rivers and the sea. Ultimately, their efforts will be transformed into an ocean of love, they said.

The UAD squad is just one of many volunteer teams at ZJU that seek to benefit the society through their active engagement and services. The University itself has a close historical bond with the underdeveloped regions in southwest China.