Editor's note: General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out; " To end poverty, the first step is to end ignorance and illiteracy, also, enriching people’s knowledge must be highlighted in poverty alleviation.
Education is a fundamental solution to the intergenerational transmission of poverty." The Open University of China (OUC) is always committed to leveraging the advantages of its educational system, persistently striving to achieve final success. Through practical exploration, it has forged a path to contribute to rural revitalisation and the development of a leading country in education, creating "an OUC story" in the fight against poverty.
Lou Ganqiang, a graduate with an associate degree from a three-year programme in Administration at OUC in 2019. A student of a four-year programme in Rural Regional Development in 2022. The secretary of the general Party branch of Lianfeng Village, Huzhen Township, Jinyun County, Zhejiang Province. Chairman of the Villagers’ Committee. Recipient of honours and titles such as Leader in Rural Revitalisation of the Most Beautiful Villages in China. Responsible Secretary of the Party Branch. An outstanding Party Member of Zhejiang Province. Recipient of an OUC Scholarship, and OUC Outstanding Graduate. Lianfeng Village has also won honours such as A-Class Tourist Attraction Village in Zhejiang Province, and New Times Beautiful Village with Characteristics.
Removal of the image of an“unclean, messy and dreadful” environment to create a new look for the rural village
When Lou Ganqiang was elected as the secretary of Lianfeng Village in 2017, the village was in a state of disarray, dirty, messy and dreadful, within the Huzhen Township. In particular, there were barely any decent cement roads, the village was covered in litter and waste, and flooded by wastewater. Worse still, the collective economy of the village had amassed a debt of over 1 million RMB. Actually, Lianfeng Village possessed natural geographic advantages. For example, adjacent to the town, the village has access to convenient transport. It barely takes a 5-minute drive from the village, to the industrial park. Lou Ganqiang made up his mind to change the dire situation and never let his folk people “Live in poverty, yet holding a golden rice bowl.”
Lou Ganqing was aware that in order to make a substantial change, he should start with constructing the Party properly at the grassroots level. First, he urged that any activities by the Party organisation should be standardized. Lou Ganqiang tried to improve on the monthly themed Party organisation, and took it upon himself to supervise and test the improvement process. Secondly, by fixing the Party flags, painting Party building slogans on the walls and demonstrating achievements of Party member models, he made the villagers actually feel a sense of atmosphere and a space for new ideas to bloom. Lastly, he promoted routinisation of volunteer services. First, he took measures to deal with the dreadful environment which had been the greatest concern to the people, by carrying out volunteer services activities regularly such as cleaning-up, and greening the areas, he designated several specific responsibilities to Party members. The people gradually felt changes in the village, and joined in to improve on the village in even greater ways.
After a year’s worth of effort, there was a clear enhancement in life quality of the Party members as well as the common people. Phenomena such as “being indifferent to issues if they do not concern my interests” were prevalent as they had always been. “Follow the instructions and guidance of the Party” was no longer just a slogan, but revealed itself in the people’s actual actions.
By “taking baby steps”, the village has transformed into a“green, rich and beautiful” home
The transformation from “unclean, messy and dreadful” to “green, rich and beautiful” for Lianfeng Village
Lou Ganqiang has always held on to the key of solving the problem, namely, the leadership of the Party. To lead the villagers by example, the two model teams, one of the rural Party members and the other of entrepreneurial individuals, have been continuously motivated. On one hand, the members of the leadership team should take the lead in initiatives. Officials from the two committees of the village, the Party branch committee and the villagers committee, as leaders, should spark the enthusiasm of the Party members and commoners to play an active part in improving the overall look of the village. Secondly, on the other hand, the Party members and commoners should become involved as followers. To mobilise support from the Party members and commoners, several activities have been carried out. Such as, selected individuals recommended as candidates, to join the Party, and the addition of competitions. The general village population is guided by role models within the community, and peer pressure is used as an advantage. In particular, illegal structures and buildings occupying a 4000-square meter area were demolished, more than 1200 tons of waste was cleared out, the area of over 20 thousand square meters has been greened and beautified. Through the initiative called “Cleanup in 100 Days”, it took the villagers 126 days of hard work to achieve the improved look of the village.
Building a home of common prosperity, advancing new developments for the village
“The Lotus Sea & Go-kart Fun Park ” project in Lianfeng Village
With the village beautified and distinctive, many tourists were attracted to visit. Then a new challenge was raised to Lou Ganqiang, how to monetise the beautiful view of the village and achieve sustainable economic growth? Concurrently Lou Ganqiang joined a programme provided by Lishui Open University for leaders in the rural areas, and became a registered student at OUC, where he learned theories and methods on scientific governance from experts and teachers. He was keen to participate in the activity of presentations organized by Lishui Open University for rural university students. Meanwhile, inspired by exchanges with classmates and alumni, Lou Ganqiang figured out his new approach to common prosperity of the whole community, and Lianfeng village was about to embrace even greater development. According to the actual local circumstances, Lou Ganqiang launched the project called “The Lotus Sea & Go-kart Fun Park”. It only took 5 months to turn a 40-square meter muddy pond into a lotus pool surrounded by an 800m go-kart track. Since its opening in the August of 2020, the project has attracted over 1,000,000 visitors and produced earnings worth more than RMB 2 million for the enterprise collectively owned by Lianfeng villagers. At the same time, it provided 36 job positions for the villagers, helping them get employed locally. Drawing on its beautiful environment, Lianfeng Village has attracted business investors as well as public attention. New-style businesses such as farm family resorts, B&B’s and coffee shops, have been introduced successively. These have not only increased local villagers’ income, but further improved planning for more village tourism. In 2022, the collective enterprise of Lianfeng Village produced the operating earnings of 1.58 million RMB with a growth of 33.9 percent, and the per capita disposal income of the villagers reached 80 thousand RMB, 3 times more than the average level across the county.
Lou Ganqiang making a keynote speech on the 17th ASEAN-China Social Development and Poverty Alleviation Forum
In June of 2023, as an only representative of secretaries of Village Party Branch across the country, Lou Ganqiang made a keynote speech on the 17th ASEAN-China Social Development and Poverty Alleviation Forum, telling a story about metamorphosis of the Chinese rural areas driven by the strategy of rural revitalisation and the Green Rural Revival Programme, and contributing China’s solution to facilitating poverty alleviation and rural development all over the world.
By OUC News Network