True Change Makers – Bai Fang Li

[Edel O'Mahony]

In true acts of kindness that come through pure love, they do not require being published, broadcast or catalogued. This expression of unconditional love is the mark of true change makers as the purity of the act amplifies energetically and reflects the individuals self realization of true awareness.
So I have created a series of short articles in my mission of truth, knowledge and awareness to support, remember and amplify the kindness and love

Let me introduce you to Bai Fang Li, who had been a rickshaw pedicab driver most of his life in China and one event led to an extraordinary act of love and devotion that would span 20 years and help over 300 orphans have decent education and a better chance in life, all without anything in return.
About to retire at the age of 74 from days that started at 6am and finished no earlier than 8pm, Bai witnessed something that touched his very heart. One day as he rested in-between customers, he noticed a skinny little boy around 6 years old, dashing between rickshaws looking to help passengers with their bags for a few coins. The boy struggled with the heavy bags, though always with a smile on his face and always so grateful for the tips. Bai observed the boy rummaging in the local bins, finding stale bread and eating it, so he approached the boy and enquired why he was scavenging and where his parents were. The boy explained that he was working to make money to buy his siblings food, that the parents, who would work separating rubbish locally had gone out one day a month earlier and had not returned, so it fell on him to be responsible for his family.
Bai asked to be taken to his siblings and when he saw the condition of these starving children, he knew what he had to do. Bai Fang Li took the three children to an orphanage in Tianjin. He told the manager of the orphanage that he would bring the money he made and give it to the orphanage to help the children there to get food, care and education.

Bai Fang Li lived in a rusty hut in a slum area of the city where many rickshaw operators and garbage collectors live. He rented a portion of the hut and paid daily for a place to sleep. He had next to no furniture in the hut, except for an old rug to sleep on after very long days and there was only one room under the roof that he shared with several other people. In this room, there is also an old cardboard box where he stored an old, badly torn and stitched blanket, a tin plate, which he probably found in the pile of garbage around the hut, for him to eat off, and a tin can to drink from. At the corner of the hut, there is an oil lamp to give light to the room at night.

Bai Fang Li started early and finished late to get the extra money and all his earnings everyday were put aside. All he kept back as some money to pay the rent for his living space in the hut, to buy two raisin breads for his lunch and a small piece of meat and egg for his dinner. The rest of the income was donated to the orphanage to help them feed and care for the children.

Bai Fang Li worked as a rickshaw operator 365 days a year, regardless of the weather. He started donating to the orphanage in 1986, never asking anything in return. For the next 20 years, Bai Fang Li operated his rickshaw for one purpose: to be able to give donations to the orphanage in Tianjin, he did not even know which children benefited from his donations. At the age of 90, Bai brought the last of his savings, around RMB500 (about 80USD) for the  school named Yao Hua,  run by the orphanage.

 

All the teachers in the school were touched and cried at the tireless generosity of this extraordinary man. When Bai Fang Li died at the age of 93, he died in poverty. Over the 20 years he had donated RMB 350,000 (about 53,000USD) to the orphanage and the school.