Huge mushroom clouds rose over the sea and the Tonga volcano erupted. At 4:00 p.m. on January 15, Zhang Leilei, a teacher at Liaocheng University in Shandong Province, sent an inquiring message to her colleague Ren Aizhi in Tonga: How are you doing there? She was a little anxious until 4:04 a.m. on the 16th, when the embassy in Tonga called Liaocheng University through a satellite phone to inform Ren Aizhi and that the three foreign aid teachers were safe. Zhang Leilei's hanging heart, Fang settled down slightly.
Zhang Leilei went to Tonga in 2019, which is an island country in Oceania, the summer is extremely hot, the local people staple starch, meat, and grow vegetables less, so most of the country is obese. From 2019 to 2022, Liaocheng University has 7 teachers who went to Tonga College in two batches to teach vegetable cultivation techniques. In three years, some of the children have grown taller than their teachers, they look strong and strong, and some students have opened their own small vegetable gardens and sowed the seeds of vegetables they want to eat.
In 2019, Zhang Leilei, Qi Hui, and Tongan students were on the ground. Courtesy of respondents
Teachers and students work together to farm
In Tonga under the scorching sun, the ground temperature exceeded 40 ° C, the body was instantly overwhelmed by the heat wave, almost breathless, Zhang Leilei, who was born in central Shandong in 1985, felt the unprecedented heat. Maybe it's hot and dry, vegetables and fruits are not easy to grow, the vegetables here, rarely scarce, strangely expensive, the four tomatoes sold on the stalls, each small, adding up to less than a pound, but sold for 5 soup coins (about 15 yuan).
The lack of green foods containing vitamins and high fiber has made this country with a total population of about 110,000 people a high number of coronary heart disease and diabetes. The World Health Organization has reported that 90% of Tongan nationals are classified as obese, and more than 20% of Tongans suffer from obesity-related diseases. Maybe there are too many people who are fat, and the aesthetic concept of Tongans is fat.
In 2018, when the King of Tonga visited China, he clearly put forward the requirements for education and agricultural technical assistance, and planned to improve the diet structure and health of the country's residents through the learning and promotion of vegetable cultivation techniques. So in January 2019, it was the summer of the southern hemisphere, four teachers of Liaocheng University, Zhang Leilei, Qi Hui, Kang Jianjun, and Cui Yanyan, formed the first batch of "advance teams" and took more than 30 hours of flights to Tonga.
Although surrounded by the sea, the Kingdom of Tonga is unusually arid. The sandy soil on the islands, lack of rivers and lakes, and few natural means of storing fresh water on the ground, locals will place containers on the roofs to receive rainwater as a freshwater reserve resource. "For example, in the morning there was a torrential rain for several hours, and in the afternoon, there was no water on the ground, and it all leaked." Zhang Leilei said that the reason why there are fewer people growing vegetables and eating vegetables in Tonga is that the geographical conditions account for a large part.
There were no vegetable seeds, no agricultural tools to take advantage of, the "post-60s" female teachers Qi Hui and Zhang Leilei decided to do it themselves, to the Hunan Agricultural Group and Chinese vegetable merchants who arrived in Tonga earlier, through help, rent and self-payment, to gather seeds and agricultural tools; the two female teachers used their hands to remove the barren grass that was more than one person tall, and then used iron hammers and picks to reclaim and level them out one by one. "The deepest impression is the kind of prickly mimosa that bleeds when you put your hand on it, and the palm of your hand is a blood bubble." Zhang Leilei said.
Qi Hui is demonstrating land preparation techniques to students. Courtesy of respondents
The first residence was a simple tin house, lacking furniture and no air conditioning, because there were many mosquitoes outdoors, and it was hotter in the house at night and did not dare to open the window. "The most feared thing is the ant, sometimes as soon as you step on the ant nest, countless ants crawl along the shoes and climb on people's legs, at that time, people can only throw the shoes far away and run away."
Among the first batch of farmers, there was an interesting story that was widely known by the masters and students: Kang Jianjun, a Chinese teacher, inadvertently trampled on the ant nest, and the queen led dozens of ants to frantically attack his feet, and he jumped to the side of the water pipe in pain to wash his feet, but it didn't take long for his two feet to change color and swollen, bulging up more than a dozen large bags. After returning to the station, dermatitis, vestina, and iodophor took turns to fight, and it was difficult to stop itching and pain. The next morning, the teachers comforted him, and he laughed and said that he fell asleep at night with an itch, "If you want to sleep well, ten ants bite." ”
"Children have teachers who are taller"
Teachers set up small classes at the Tonga College, allowing students to voluntarily sign up and listen to Chinese vegetable cultivation technology and Chinese culture every day after 3 pm. Zhang Leilei recalled that at the beginning, there were more than 20 students in the class, and by the time she finished a year of agricultural assistance and was ready to return to China, there were already more than 50 students in the class.
The "Chinese Teacher's Vegetable Garden" attracts more and more Tongan students to join, and also witnesses the growth of children. "I remember there was a child in the class, it looked very small, not as tall as me, some time ago, the second batch of teachers sent photos, I looked, they are taller than the teachers." Zhang Leilei said that the children in the class are mostly thirteen or fourteen years old, which is when they have a very strong curiosity about nature and a strong learning ability, "Some children have learned to screen seeds and take care of vegetables, and they will open a small vegetable garden in their yard and grow the vegetables they want to eat." ”
Aided teachers and Tongan students pose for a group photo at the agricultural test base. Courtesy of respondents
The teachers divided the vegetable field into two pieces, one is a demonstration field, planted by themselves, except for some of the vegetables they eat, most of them are given to the relevant departments and schools in Tonga; one is a practice field, which is used for teaching, the teacher takes the students to plant together, and the harvested vegetables are taken home for the family to eat. "When it rains, we take the children around the house to read theories and do activities, and when it doesn't rain, we lead them into the fields and take care of the crops on the soil."
"The crops are to be taken care of, and some Locals in Tonga don't know how to pinch and beat the branches." Seeing us sharpening, picking hearts, and beatings, some locals have tried to do so. Over time, the tended vegetables are definitely better than the untended ones. In this way, a technology is popularized. ”
Liaocheng University often receives photos from Tonga College, pictured of Tonga teenagers wearing white shirts and gray shorts, their skin darkened, their shoulders strong, and several boys standing in a row, stepping on the soil, posing and laughing. "Liaocheng University's more than two years of agricultural assistance activities in Tonga, I dare not say how many people can be changed, but at least some children have begun to understand the technology of vegetable cultivation and the importance of a reasonable diet." Zhang Leilei said.
His third year at Tonga
Zhao Peibao, Ren Aizhi and Zhang Jianfeng, three liaocheng university teachers who are still in Tonga, should have been able to go home in 2020. They were originally tasked with staying there for a year, but they will be there for their third year because of the covid-19 pandemic around the world and the lack of international flights.
On January 14, the official micro of Liaocheng University released the news: Our embassy in Tonga issued a safety reminder to the three teachers in advance, asking the teachers to make various emergency preparations in advance. At 12:27 Beijing time on the 15th, after the eruption of the volcano on Hunga Island in the Tonga sea, the school attached great importance to the safety of the three teachers and asked the functional departments to contact the Chinese Embassy and the three teachers in Tang to inform the teachers' families in a timely manner. Due to the interruption of Tonga's external communications, at 4:04 a.m. on January 16, the Embassy in Tonga called our school through a satellite phone to inform the three foreign aid teachers that they were safe. The responsible comrade of the International Department of the Ministry of Education also informed our school of the safety information of the three teachers in a timely manner, and our school has timely informed the families and done a good job of condolence work.
Shan Shidong, deputy director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Office of Liaocheng University, told reporters that the three teachers have completed two years of foreign aid work, and also plan to continue to implement the task in 2022, before the eruption of the Tonga volcano, the three teachers will often feedback their work status to the school, and the feedback from the teachers is mostly the suggestions in teaching: the number of students learning Chinese in Tonga College is growing, and a large number of Chinese teaching materials are needed; the farm area has increased, and more insect-proof, drip irrigation, and pollution-free pesticides need to be purchased It is necessary to discuss with the Tonga College school to incorporate the agricultural curriculum into the credit system management to enhance the enthusiasm of students.
From February 28 to March 8, 2018, King Tupou VI of the Kingdom of Tonga paid a state visit to the mainland, and under the joint witness of the two heads of state, the two sides signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Tonga on Educational Exchanges and Cooperation, which opened up a new situation of educational exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. "This is the starting point for Liaocheng University to go to Tonga to help farmers. The reason why the teachers were able to stay in Tonga for so long is that they have never forgotten the original intention of cooperation between the two countries, and they have always implemented the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. Shan Shidong said.
According to the staff of the Propaganda Department of the Party Committee of the University, Liaocheng University has the country's first Pacific Island Countries Research Center, which successfully held China's first, second and third "Pacific Island Countries Research High-level Forum" in April 2014, September 2016 and August 2018; and created the most complete database of Pacific Island Research Data in China. (Third Edition) Compilation of all Pacific Island entries.
"They went safely, and I hope they come back safely." The message sent by Zhang Leilei has not yet received a reply, but she believes that her colleagues will return safely.
Beijing News reporter Zhao Lixin
Edited by Zhang Shujing Proofread by Liu Baoqing