FIVE years ago, kind-hearted Hangzhou people raised money to establish the first elementary school in a remote area of Yunnan Province. Today Forty Flowers Primary School is calling for more staff and volunteers. Xu Wenwen reports.

More than 2,000 kilometers away from Hangzhou in a rugged spot in Yunnan Province, the free Forty Flowers Primary School is flourishing thanks to the kindness of 18 people in a tour group from Hangzhou.

Six years ago the tourists were so struck by the poverty and need in China's poor areas that they decided to build the first primary school in Weixi Lisu Autonomous County. Over the years they raised funds again and again - more than 1 million yuan (US$146,478) to date.

The school has earned an impressive reputation, and original team has expanded and turned into a professional civil volunteer organization.

Today it has 200 students in six grades in two campuses. It has also become a base to train local teachers, headmasters and volunteers in western China.

Caring people in Hangzhou are putting out the call for teaching and other volunteers who are willing to spend as long as a year at the school.

Weixi County is 3,000 meters above sea level and inhabited by people of the Lisu ethnic minority. The spectacular geography of three rivers and mountains has made the place inaccessible, safeguarding culture, but isolating it from the rest of the world.

The school, which opened in 2006, is tuition-free and open to all school-age children; there are no extra charges for books and other requirements.

It is maintained by donations only, collected by various activities, special fund raisers and bazaars.

Since it opened, around 20 volunteer teachers have lived and worked there.

They teach basic modern subjects, manners and hygiene, and bring the world's knowledge to the isolated hamlet.

Their backup is the core of 18 Hangzhou people from all walks of life who raise funds and train volunteers. Some have stayed in Weixi for years.

They call the children "our flowers" and "our children," saying they have grown spiritually by being with the children.

They do not consider their work almsgiving, but giving back to society and helping to preserve traditional culture.

The travelers from Hangzhou had visited many poor mountainous areas in Yunnan and seen many children growing up without education. They were determined to help.

One 'teacher'

In 2003 they started to look for a location and to raise funds.

In 2004, Shou Shanshan, one of them, passed through Weixi and dropped in on Sishituo Elementary School. She was shocked - and sent a call for help to her traveling pals back in Hangzhou.

With only one teacher who used to be a veterinarian, 30 kids were crammed into a shabby, one-room adobe structure. Some had to walk three or four hours to get to school, but they were seldom late or absent. They loved learning.

The old school is officially a teaching site, but because of poverty there was only one teacher.

"Maybe we cannot do much to improve their lives, but at least we can figure out some way to make study easier," says Shou.

So those 18 people raised 80,000 yuan and started a welfare operation. They contacted the local government, held charity bazaars, developed rules for operations, recruited and trained volunteers.

They also recruited children.

They rebuilt the schoolhouse, now a white structure with a black tile roof.

The volunteers had never undertaken anything so vast and demanding as this, but they learned to do the best they could, move steadily and gradually, and realize that nothing was beyond them.

Among their rules, the most important is that ensuring every cent is used on children. Many things have changed since the school started, but that rule is unchanged and strictly enforced.

Local people are overwhelmed by the seeming miracle.

"Our children can go to school because of kind-hearted people from Hangzhou" is a typical statement.

In March 2006, Forty Flowers formally opened with 70 pupils, including around 30 from the original school.

Today the students number more than 200 and are of Lisu, Naxi, Yi and Han ethnic minorities; around 80 percent of the students board.

Shou became the first headmaster. Along with two other female volunteers they stayed on to teach and did many other things - they offered moral guidance, they cooked, did chores and even bathed some little kids.

Persistence

Shou, the No.1 volunteer, remained for three years.

Now back in Hangzhou, she remembers the first day.

It was sunny and the local teacher cut a pine tree, making it into a flagstaff and raising the Chinese national flag under a clear blue sky. Children stood in rows and saluted - common in schools around China, but the first time in that original school's 60 years. And it was the first time those children saw the flag raised at school.

At the quiet solemn moment, Sou almost wept.

"I knew I did the right thing," she recalls.

However, running a school is demanding, and passion and ideals won't keep it.

"Persistence is power, inexhaustible power," says one of the 18 founders, Ji Zhengrao.

Problems inevitably emerged.

At first, to ensure food supply, the school tried to charge 2 yuan a week for board but few farmers could afford even that. Average per capita income is only around 200 yuan a year.

So instead students contributed some farm produce or firewood. Problem solved.

Then there were problems with some volunteers. Some were negligent and irresponsible, smoking in front of children and creating a bad image and mode. Some took leave without asking.

The team decided to get rid of the irresponsible volunteers. They also retrained staff on how to be a qualified teacher, personal behavior and respect for ethnic minority customs.

They decided that volunteers must be carefully selected - they only wanted those who genuinely wanted to help - not those who wanted to improve their resume or get credit for a government job.

In the following years, the Hangzhou team twice renovated the school, added a dormitory building, library and computer classroom.

Donations are used to employ local teachers and handymen, operate and renovate as needed, buy books and supplies. Each volunteer teacher gets a subsidy of 500 yuan a month.

Chicken or meat is served at every lunch and dinner.

Retaining the best teachers and weeding out the others has produced good results. Among the first batch of graduates, four of the ninth graders were admitted to the best local middle school - it hadn't received students from Weixi for four years.

In 2008, the school received a donation of 20 brand-new computers and opened a computer class. Most adults had no idea what a computer was like, so teachers had to be taught first.

To help overcome children's shyness, the teachers started a performance class. Students choose story in any book they like and perform it as a short play. The teachers help make props.

"Things are improving, not as fast as we expected, but we're pleased to see the changes," says Ji. "We never expect our children to grow up to be scientists, we only hope they have more vision and information than their parents, giving them a better life.

"That's the reason we decided not only to build a school but also to continue to run it - we want to do real things for them."

As the school has expanded to serve more children, more volunteers are needed.

"We desperately hope someone can replicate our school model to help more kids," says Ji.

Volunteers should spend at least a year in Yunnan.

Those who wish to be volunteer teachers, help in other ways or donate can check www.kyzf.net.