Reporter Dou Wenjie, Intern Wang Ninghui
Daily Gansu Net-Western Business News — He has hiked 80,000 kilometers and taken over 30,000 photos. He is a middle-aged farmer who has used unique methods to advocate for impoverished and out-of-school children as well as substitute teachers in western China. He is Wang Bo, a farmer photographer from Ganquan Town, Tianshui City. Over the years, through firsthand visits and on-site photography, Wang Bo has collected first-hand materials and organized self-funded photo exhibitions in various cities and universities to find sponsors for impoverished children in the west. This effort has benefited many underprivileged individuals.
Wang Bo, born in 1964 in Ganquan Town, Tianshui City, dropped out of school and returned home to farm after graduating from junior high in 1981 due to family poverty. In 1990, he began self-funded documentary photography and interviews with impoverished children. Starting in 1997, he organized multiple “Love in Action – Sponsorship of Impoverished Children in the West Photography Exhibition to Promote Love and Support” events at universities across the country. In 2005, he was listed as a candidate for the 2005 China Poverty Alleviation Award for Dedication by the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.
According to reports, from the end of November 2005 to the present, Wang Bo has traveled to Gansu, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, Sichuan, Ningxia, and other regions to interview and photograph thousands of substitute teachers and impoverished children. By organizing photo exhibitions in major cities, he has helped find sponsors for these individuals on-site. Each time Wang Bo holds an exhibition, sponsors come forward. Behind every photo full of longing lies the contact information of those in need, and Wang Bo signs agreements with each sponsor to encourage them to reach out directly to those requiring help. To date, over 20,000 children and more than 700 substitute teachers have received “one-on-one sponsorship support.”
“Walking from one village to another, stepping into one family after another. I cry and laugh with the children, all hoping together for the arrival of hope. These impoverished children captivate you the moment you see them, and you always feel you should carry them out of the mountains and give them hope,” said Wang Bo. With every photo he takes, he embarks on a journey filled with longing. Each heavy expectation stirs unease within him. Though poor, they are very hospitable — if they take a liking to you, they are willing to offer their most precious gifts. The people living in impoverished mountainous areas deeply move him.
“In the spring of 1998, I held an outdoor photo exhibition in Dongfanghong Square, Lanzhou. That day, 25 agreements were signed, and 25 families received support. That day, I didn’t bow my head because I was afraid that if I did, tears would stream down,” Wang Bo told reporters. Over the years, the happiest thing for him has been hearing that the children in his photos had received support.
Due to deteriorating health, starting in 2002, Wang Bo gradually shifted his charitable efforts online. In 2005, his first website helped over 300 people receive support. In September 2007, building on existing projects, the Love・Wang Bo Plan merged and reorganized with the Peking University Love Society Children’s Group’s Hebei Fengning Impoverished Student Sponsorship Project to establish the Peking University Love Society Sponsorship Department. This aimed to carry out activities such as student and teacher assistance, book donation drives, material aid, and psychological counseling more extensively and efficiently.
“I want to keep going. I couldn’t forgive myself for stopping under any circumstances,” said Wang Bo, who has always been unwilling to halt his steps...