The Flowing Red Ribbon (Excerpt)
已更新：2019年10月18日
The Flowing Red Ribbon
By Yong Jun
On the morning of November 19, a special charity auction was attracting many people in front of the main building of China Agricultural University.
The auction articles were seen on the stand including the colourful cloth-made tigers, insoles and some tiger-shaped shoes. Beside the stand sat Lao Ji, the owner of these articles who was a HIV/AIDS patient from the countryside in Shanxi Province.
A few years ago, Lao Ji was diagnosed with contracting HIV/AIDS, which made his life sink into great difficulty. None of his family members could do the farming work. He was refused by potential employers in cities. Even his family would not accept him. So Lao Ji had to ask for help from the Red Ribbon Home in Beijing Ditan Hospital. Encouraged by the doctors and nurses in the Hospital, Lao Ji, together with other HIV/AIDS patients, established a self-help team to make handicrafts such as cloth-made tiger toys.
Last month, Director Sha Bihong of CCTV Charity Campaign Column came to Lao Ji, saying that they would make a documentary about the life of HIV/AIDS patients. Bravely, Lao Ji stood in front of the filming camera. This time, Lao Ji brought some handicrafts made by his team members to Beijing, hoping to auction them for some money. However, many shops refused to accept their handicrafts after hearing these articles were made by HIV/AIDS patients. Knowing this, Sha Bihong immediately decided to collaborate with China Agricultural University to organized this charity auction for Lao Ji. “By doing this, we can encourage their self-help spirit and confidence and give them warmth from the society”, said Sha Bihong.
The students in Charity Society of China Agricultural University help him install a stand for this charity auction. Sha Bihong and the famous singer Guo Feng stayed in company with Lao Ji and introduced his handicrafts to the students. The Attending Doctor Lu Lianhe and Head Nurse Wang Kerong of Red Ribbon Home also came to the site to promote knowledge about HIV/AIDS to the students. The charity auction lasted for nearly 2 hours. Lao Ji was quite moved when holding the auction income of more than RMB 2,200 in his hand.
People’s Daily Overseas Edition (Page 4, November 24, 2004)