Ivan is about to leave.
These days, many people have approached him, hoping he can leave something behind before he goes. For instance, share why, during his two years in Wenzhou as a foreign teacher from Australia, he insisted on picking up trash on Daluo Mountain every Sunday? What exactly does he want to express or hope to “change”?
Facing these questions, Ivan always mentions that he never intended to change anyone’s way of thinking by doing this—he just wanted to change the environment. “I believe the Earth is home to all of us. Although I am a foreigner, I love Wenzhou, and for me, it is my home. I am willing to do this for her.”
A foreigner who picks up trash on the mountain
In just two days, 59-year-old Ivan Davis will be returning to his home country.
As a foreign teacher at Wenzhou Vocational and Technical College, what Ivan is like in the classroom is perhaps only known to his students.
However, when he is seen walking on Daluo Mountain with a backpack and a woven bag, bending down to pick up litter along the path, many people in Wenzhou know it’s Ivan.
It all goes back to the first weekend after he arrived in Wenzhou two years ago.
Ivan loves hiking. That weekend, while climbing Daluo Mountain, the litter he saw along the way made him think, “Maybe I can do something about it.”
So, from then on, every Sunday morning, he would set out from the school, walk up the mountain, walk down again, and pick up the trash scattered along the way. He has kept it up until now.
Gradually, more and more students joined him on these treks up the mountain…
Ivan’s story is actually that simple.
He has always had his own reasons for persisting
The question is, why does he do this? And how can he keep it up?
Ivan once told the media that many people see him (picking up trash) and say, “You’re so selfless.” But actually, it’s not like that—he always has his own reasons:
First, picking up trash, doing it once is not enough, nor is doing it twice. Only by continuously making the effort, going up again and again, carrying down bag after bag of trash, can change happen.
“Just like when I was learning Chinese—it’s really hard. There is a Chinese word ‘man man,’ which means you do things little by little, and that you are putting in effort.”
Second, he believes that hiking makes him stronger, and during the hikes, many people start talking to him, which gives him a chance to practice his Chinese listening skills.
Third, he feels that in the classroom, he is actually quite a strict teacher, often telling students things like “No talking in class,” but after many students learned that he picks up trash and joined him, their relationship changed from teacher-student to companions. So, every weekend has become a great opportunity to improve that relationship.
These seemingly plain statements make one realize that simply following your heart in doing something can make it all feel so simple.
Small actions can lead to big changes
This point becomes clear again when Ivan explains that he doesn’t aim to “change” anything through his actions.
Ivan says that the so-called “change” is not what he thinks of. He never intended to change the mindset of the people in Wenzhou—he just wanted to change the environment. By doing these small things, he hopes to contribute something, even if it’s just a little, to protecting the environment. Of course, through these small actions, “they seem to have really changed.”
For example, in terms of attitude, at first when people saw him picking up trash, they would usually give a thumbs-up and say, “That’s great!” or “Thank you.”
Now, those who often see him picking up trash no longer litter, and some are even willing to bend down and pick up litter around them, just like he does.
As for the environment, in the beginning, when he went up the mountain with 20 students, they would carry down 15 bags of trash in one trip. But by last Sunday, he and just one student searched the mountain and only managed to carry down two bags. Trash bins have also appeared along the mountain paths, and there are now friendly reminder signs by the river, asking people not to litter.
Isn’t that change?
A tree can move another tree
At the "Top Ten Most Touching People in Wenzhou 2012" awards ceremony, Ivan was introduced as follows: "A foreign teacher who does small things unrelated to teaching. Picking up trash may seem trivial, but when one person persists in doing it, it becomes commendable. Day after day, you remove the garbage from the mountain, and you also clear away social vices; you teach with words, but you lead by example with a culture of cleanliness."
Someone once asked those around Ivan, "Don't you always feel moved when you're with him on a daily basis?"
The response they got was, "We feel more ashamed. Because we also exercise on the mountain every week, but we've never thought of doing something like this."
Perhaps, it is quite fitting to summarize it with this sentence: Education is something that happens between people, and also between oneself and oneself—it never stops. Just like one tree shaking another, one cloud touching another, one soul awakening another. As long as this kind of transmission and awakening doesn’t stop, we will never part with it—just like Ivan before us.