CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Over the past 11 years, Zeng Fanbin has set up a volunteer service team consisting of more than 600 motorcyclists. They have been to 30 schools in the poverty-stricken areas in Chongqing, Sichuan, and Guizhou, funded more than 3,500 students and 450 elderly persons of no family, and donated goods valued at more than CNY500,000 in total.

55-year-old Zeng Fanbing is now working at Chongqing Tiandi Renhejie Primary School. He says that he is not far from retirement, but there is still a long way to go in volunteer service.

He saw his childhood by chance

It was difficult for Zeng Fanbin to ride over the mountain road from Chongqing to Guizhou in the winter of 2013, as the weather was extremely cold and the ground there was very rough. At that time, Zeng had little experience in riding a motorcycle. His hands were numbed with the cold, so he had no choice but to stop and ask for some warm water from the people living nearby. An old man said to him, “Oh! I’m afraid it’s going to snow.”

“Have you seen those children?” asked his motorcycle friend. Zeng Fanbin raised his eyes and saw that not far away from the hillside stood five or six children inadequately dressed for the weather.

At that moment, Zeng Fanbin seemed to have seen his childhood: A little boy, with his lips purple with the cold, picked up the paper discarded by others and wrote with a pencil stub on a stool in a rudimentary farmhouse in Guandu, Hechuan.

The smiles of the children recalled Zeng from his reflections cut him to the heart.

“Where is this? Why don’t the children wear thinly clad?” asked Zeng Fanbin.

"This is Huanglian Township. Those children have a poor family, and they can’t afford heavy clothes,” the old man answered.

Located on a mountain more than 1,800 meters above sea level, Huanglian Township was once a severely impoverished area in Guizhou Province.

Zeng Fanbin was unable to sleep well when he returned home and he had been thinking about the children living in Huanglian Township.

“When our family was too poor to buy food, other people sent us rice and clothes. Now, it’s my turn to help others,” said Zeng Fanbin. Therefore, he raised 3,000 yuan from his team to buy clothes, shoes, and stationery for the children.

“How to send these goods to the children?” The motorcycle team didn’t know how to deliver the supplies to the children in Huanglian Township.

Zeng Fanbin replied resolutely: “We can make it by ourselves. If we can't deliver the supplies all in one trip, let's take a few more trips.”

A firm determination to deliver the supplies

The hills in Guizhou are a wilderness of grass and weeds, making it difficult for walkers or drivers to pass through.

When the motorcycle team started their trip to Huanglian Township, it rained heavily, causing the wheels to skid and making it difficult for the motorcycles to walk up and down the slope.

Zeng Fanbin wiped the water drops on his face and shouted, “Let’s get off to push the motorcycle!” They pulled and pushed motorcycles and the supplies all the way, and finally reached Anxing Primary School in Huanglian Township.

They were covered with mud and wounds upon arrival.

“But we feel warm,” Zeng Fanbin said with a smile.

That evening, Zeng Fanbin and his team members slept on a bed formed by desks in the classroom. They felt eased, with a sense of sorrow. Zeng said, “At that moment, I was determined to keep on helping those children.”

Since then, Zeng Fanbin and his team members have gone further with heavier goods. His motorcycles have been mended over 20 times, and he has also become a frequent visitor to hospitals.

Love never ends

“Good morning, Mr. Zeng.” Zeng Fanbin is greeted by students all the way to Chongqing Tiandi Renhejie Primary School. Why do so many students know Zeng Fanbin who works as a firefighter?

As Zeng’s motorcycle team grows, he often holds volunteer service activities at school, saying that these activities will be a rare educational experience for children.

“Are there children in need of financial assistance?” When asked by the reporter, Zeng Fanbin’s eyes grew wide. “Yes! Let me show you our display board.”

The small square was filled with red display boards. Zeng Fanbin patiently explained the situation of the children displayed on the boards one by one. When he reached the last board, he said, "If you're willing to help these children, I'll give you the contact information of the village cadre. You can contact him."

"Why can't we hand over the living expenses to the children’s parents?” The reporter wondered. Zeng Fanbin hesitated for a long time before answering the question euphemistically: "Some parents may not spend the funds on their children because they have some bad habits or difficulties. Therefore, we have to hand over the funds to reliable village cadres to ensure that the money can benefit children.”

Zeng Fanbin said all this calmly, but his words were filled with his care for the children. He hopes that the children can continue their education.

All the people around Zeng Fanbin think he is always helping people without expecting anything in return.

Led by Mr. Zeng, more than 600 people have joined this not-for-profit volunteer service team. The team has been officially renamed as Chongqing Public Welfare Devotion Team, with the purpose of helping more people in need.

At the end of the interview, Zeng Fanbin said again, “Our life is short, so we have to do what we love and leave no regrets.” (Translated by Yuki, Fathom Language Limited)