Infinitus (China) Company Ltd., one of the leading direct selling companies in the world, is providing poverty alleviation to four areas of China.
The cities of Kashgar, Hotan and Aksu, together with Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture in the southern part of China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region, are part of the Three Regions and Three Prefectures (“TRTP”) defined as areas of extreme poverty in China. The regions and prefectures cover almost one third of the country’s land surface.
In 2014, an audio-visual classroom was built to open a window to the world.
Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture is known as the Prefecture of Mountains as mountains make up over 95 percent of the region’s geography. The transportation condition limits local residents to travel, even to the nearest city, Kashgar, despite the distance between the two cities being only a dozen kilometers.
Infinitus has achieved initial success in building a precision-focused customized model for charity programs with over 160 local volunteers contributing 4,100 service hours in Xinjiang.
Tijian Village Primary School, situated in Azhake Township, Atushi, Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, is a relatively well-equipped school where over 600 Uyghur and Kyrgyz students receive education. With a mission to reduce poverty, the local education authority mobilized resources to build a multimedia classroom in the school to help children know the world better.
Audio-visual education means that multimedia equipment, including computers, slides and projectors as well as audio and video recorders, has been incorporated into the classroom instruction. Multimedia equipment is standard in classrooms in developed areas. However, a classroom equipped with audio-visual aids was a distant dream for the students at Tijian Village Primary School.
Infinitus helped accelerate the availability of a modern classroom by donating computers to the school via the Si Li Ji Ren Foundation. On September 16, 2014, 36 computers and 18 computer desks were installed in the audio-visual classroom at the school.
Taking into account that both the students and teachers in the school are from minority ethnic groups, Infinitus assigned bilingual Chinese-Uighur speaking volunteers to educate students on computer basics. The school was connected with Infinitus’ Guangzhou headquarters, located over 5,000 kilometers away, via a remote video call.
The Infinitus volunteers also ran a campaign on their own and raised 30,000 yuan (approx. US$4,197) in donations to fund the equipment updates and facility maintenance. They took a one-on-one approach to address children’s needs and visited them regularly, enhancing the impact of the charity drive.
In 2016, a charity video helped to strengthen the impact of efforts for the public good.
Sayi Village in Atushi, situated some 40 kilometers away from Tijian Village, is another village in the region populated by members of China’s minorities. Over 200 Uyghur children aged 4-6 received preschool education in four classrooms at Sayi Primary School.
Children take turns playing in the crowded schoolyard, whether it be some scattered leaves or pieces of paper that had been folded and unfolded many times. Teachers make use of materials to fashion hand-made dolls for the children as well as cut and paste colored paper to decorate the classroom.
Under the leadership of the local government and other responsible authorities, Infinitus proactively reached out to the school. With the experience accumulated from the earlier project, Infinitus understood that upgrading the teaching equipment available at a school can only meet the most urgent needs. The long-term plan for poverty alleviation is to encourage more people to pay attention to the growth of the children in southern Xinjiang.
In June 2016, Infinitus joined with Si Li Ji Ren Foundation again to amplify the stories of the children by new media. The stories from Sayi Primary School were filmed as charity videos with titles such as “About Children in Xinjiang” and “Find the Most Beautiful You in Xinjiang,” and uploaded to Tencent, Youku and other video media platforms. The videos have now been viewed some 1.76 million times.
With the idea of enhancing the impact of charity effort with small activities, Infinitus invited volunteers to Sayi Primary School on June 1, the International Children’s Day, and brought new desks and chairs for the children, built new amusement facilities and established “one-to-one” individual support plans for 22 impoverished students.
Sayi Primary School said that Infinitus had ushered in a series of good things. For example, a video studio promised to take graduation photos for the students. Several firms reached out to the school, expressing their willingness to do something for the children. In the 8th Online School Contest of Primary and Secondary Schools, Sayi Primary School was named one of the three finalists for the first time.
In 2017, an artificial lawn created a happier childhood.
In Saikezi Adaimu Village, Ha’awati, Jiashi County, Kashgar Prefecture, a kindergarten had just been built with a goal of enrolling children of school age in the neighborhood for free. In May 2017, during the visit to Jiashi County, volunteers from Infinitus found out the situation of backward local infrastructure and insufficient early childhood education facilities. With Si Li Ji Ren Foundation, they jointly built an artificial lawn covering an area of more than 400 square meters for all the teachers and students in this kindergarten.
Before the new term started, the Infinitus volunteers collected the children’s micro-wishes in advance and helped achieve their desires at the event. The volunteers also drew colorful pictures on the walls together with the children, wishing them a beautiful and colorful childhood.
In 2019, a public welfare model helped the children of southern Xinjiang.
In 2019, in TRTP, three more projects were implemented at Akeqiale Village Primary School and two other schools in Awati Township, Hetian District, benefiting more than 710 students directly.
To empower the children to become self-reliant and transform them from “receiving help” to :providing help,” these projects also added social practice elements. With the help of Infinitus volunteers, the children cleaned streets with sanitation workers, helped the lonely elders in the villages clean up, acted as traffic safety propagandists and learned hygienic knowledge in local hospitals.
Since 2014, Infinitus has actively participated in local poverty alleviation through the company’s 30 branches across the country based on customized precision-focused poverty alleviation models. The company hopes that more social forces will join in the fight against poverty.
