Wang Lanhua

Wang Lanhua, 71, leader of a community-based volunteer group and an exemplary CPC (Communist Party of China) member in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, has remained committed to helping residents resolve both trivial and major problems in their lives since her retirement in 2004.

Devoted to Serving

Wang had served residents of Yuxi residential community, in Litong, a district in Wuzhong, a city in Ningxia, for nearly 20 years before she retired as the director of the neighborhood committee in 2004.

Bored with retirement, though, Wang decided to set up a community volunteer group, under her own name, Wang Lanhua Volunteer Group, in early 2005 to serve residents. The group's headquarters was initially located in Wang's home.

With six teammates, all about her age, Wang has made her way through the community, taking care of elderly residents, living alone, and children whose parents have been working in far-off places. The team has also offered assistance to their neighbors, to help them cope with difficulties in their personal lives and/or resolve disputes with others.

It didn't take Wang long to win over the hearts of the residents, or to become the first person they seek for assistance.

One day, Guo Shuling, a laid-off worker, visited Wang and said she wanted to join the team. Instead of immediately agreeing, Wang took Guo to the home of Ma Xiuying, an elderly woman, who lived alone, and who suffered from numerous diseases.

Wang cleaned Ma's house, helped Ma wash her clothes, changed her sheets, prepared a meal for Ma, and then helped Ma take a shower.

After all of that, Wang trimmed Ma's toenails. Guo had tears in her eyes, and she reiterated her desire to join the team. Wang finally agreed.

For the past 16 years, Wang and her teammates have been shuttling between the homes of their clients, who need assistance ranging from fixing their heating and drainpipes to mediating intra-family quarrels. The volunteers have become reliable helpers to their fellow residents.

Wang Lanhua with her teammates

Spreading Warmth, Love

In March 2008, Wang received a call from Ha Xiaolan, a rural woman from Jinyintan, a township in Litong District. Ha's then-five -year-old son, Tianle, had been diagnosed with leukemia. Ha called Wang for assistance after she learned about Wang's group while watching a TV program.

With tears in her eyes, Ha said her family did not have enough money to pay for her son's medical bills, and added the family had borrowed what it could from friends and relatives.

After learning of the plight of Ha's son, Wang and her teammates dug into their pockets and then took the boy to a hospital in Yinchuan, capital of the autonomous region. In addition, the volunteers did their best to raise public awareness of the boy's situation, to raise funds through donations from the public.

The group eventually raised 131,200 yuan (US $20,185), enough to cover the boy's medical bills.

The boy no longer suffers from leukemia, and he has grown into a handsome young man. He often talks with Wang about his academic studies, and interesting things in his life, during phone calls.

Liu Fengmei also received assistance from Wang and her teammates. A doctor had told Liu she had three months to live in 2013, when he diagnosed her with gastric cancer.

Wang or her teammates visited Liu each day because her son was working in another city. The team helped Liu clean the house, wash her clothes and prepare her meals.

During the last two months of her life, in 2020, Liu was bedridden due to the progression of her illness. Wang continued to take care of Liu.

Wang and the other members of the community volunteer group have provided care to hundreds of vulnerable children or elderly people since 2005.

Rallying Support

Wang's decades-long commitment to volunteering and helping others has inspired many other residents to become volunteers.

Zhang Jinxia is a single parent and a former laid-off employee. Wang and her teammates bought food and medicine for Zhang's elderly mother and teenage child, and they helped the pair apply for their monthly minimum subsistence allowances, from the local government. Also, they provided the pair with basic living necessities when Zhang left the community to seek better employment opportunities.

The community volunteer group helped Zhang obtain a public-service job after she returned to the community.

Shu Hongyong and his younger brother led miserable lives as children. They lived with their father after he divorced their mother. Their father died a few years after his divorce.

Learning of the children's plight, Wang often sent food to them, and she washed their clothes and helped them obtain a special bonus, for their tuition fees, and their monthly minimum subsistence allowances.

Both Zhang and Shu have become staunch followers of Wang and the community volunteer group, and, inspired by the volunteers, they have taken the time to help vulnerable people.

Inspired by Wang, an increasing number of people in Litong have begun to volunteer their time. Statistics show the district has 65,000 registered volunteers, and that 28 residential communities have set up their own volunteer groups under Wang's name.

Wang Lanhua participates in a volunteer service.

The brand, Lanhua, has become a flagship of volunteer services in Wuzhong, and even in other areas of the autonomous region.

Wang and her group have helped residents resolve more than 7,000 problems, settled more than 600 civil disputes and organized about 7,000 charity activities during the past 16 years.

Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presented the July 1 Medal, the highest honor for a CPC member, to Wang during a ceremony in Beijing in June. She was also awarded the title of National March 8th Red-Banner Pacesetter, in February, by the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), in recognition of her tremendous contributions to society.

During an interview, on the sidelines of the July 1 Medal award ceremony, Wang said the medal was both the embodiment of honor and a declaration of responsibility for her. She added she would earnestly study and implement the spirit of the keynote speech, by Xi during the ceremony, and that she would make the policies and care of the Party known by more people, unite and lead others to volunteer, and try her utmost to bring more tangible benefits to vulnerable people in the future.

Wang Lanhua receives the July 1 Medal certificate.

Photos by Ma Zhaogang/Source: Ningxia Women's Federation and Ningxia Daily

(Women of China English Monthly October 2021 issue)