Lin Bo is the Secretary-General of Guangdong Blue Happiness Culture Public Welfare Foundation. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1995, and was a student of the 20th session of the Blue State Happiness Culture Classroom in 2011, the initiator of the Beijing Blue State Home Reading Club, the promoter of the Beijing Blue State Happiness Culture Class, the founding director of the Blue State Public Welfare Foundation, and the external tutor of the MBA of Guangdong University of Technology.
Image courtesy of Lin Bo interviewee
"Come on, is the road still easy?" On the afternoon of April 22, the reporter met Lin Bo at the Guangdong Blue Happiness Culture Public Welfare Foundation. As soon as he entered the door, he nodded and smiled at the reporter, and there were clear teas and refreshments on the table. Lin Bo in front of me, wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans, speaks Mandarin with a northern accent.
This year marks The 11th year that Limbo has been engaged in public welfare. Striving for public welfare is a seeming accident for Lin Bo, "just like the process of streams merging into rivers." In the two-hour dialogue, "altruism", "good service", "unconditional, no expectation" are the words he has been repeating, in his view, the so-called "volunteer" is "someone who serves others with an altruistic heart." ”
Supplies were scarce at the beginning of the outbreak, and flights from northern Europe were tearful
At the end of 2019, a COVID-19 pandemic changed people's lives. Under the epidemic, a group of volunteers joined the team to support the fight against the epidemic, and at that time, there was a shortage of anti-epidemic materials in China, so they contacted overseas Chinese and collected materials from various countries and shipped them back to China. Limbo and his volunteer team are among the active practitioners.
Lin Bo recalled, "The biggest feeling at that time was the unknown. "He had originally returned to his hometown of Shaoguan for the Chinese New Year, but he returned to Guangzhou on the second day of the Chinese New Year." At that time, the situation in Wuhan was not very good, and we thought about what we should do. So on the occasion of the Spring Festival in 2020, Blue State Public Welfare threw itself into the work of supporting the fight against the epidemic.
The first thing that comes to mind is to use the platform advantages of blue public welfare to raise donations. During the Spring Festival holiday alone, the charity foundation launched three donations, raising a total of more than 700,000 yuan. But soon, everyone found that due to the shortage of domestic "materials, people could not buy anything if they had money." "Fortunately, many of the companies cooperating with Blue Charity are from the medical device production industry. Among them, there is a caring entrepreneur engaged in the export of first-aid medical equipment. Through this entrepreneur, Lin Bo and his team contacted overseas Chinese to buy anti-epidemic materials.
"At that time, many overseas flights had been suspended and did not dare to fly to China. Only Finnair and flights to China are the only ones in Northern Europe. What impressed him was that "there was a Chinese single mother in Finland, with her two-year-old child, driving around in the ice and snow to help find protective clothing, masks and other supplies." "The materials have been found, and how to smoothly transport them back to China is another big problem." The woman came up with the idea of commissioning Chinese tourists who were traveling in Northern Europe at the time to bring them back. In terms of freight, "our volunteer team contacted a caring person, who happened to be the president of the travel agency, and after some twists and turns, transported the supplies back to China for free." ”
Speaking of this, Lin Bo's eyes were moist: "At that time, I went to the airport to pick up these tourists who were traveling to Northern Europe. The moment they walked out, my eyes instantly turned red. These travelers had gone on a trip and brought gifts for themselves and others, but they didn't want them, and they carried the least amount of carry-on luggage themselves. But everyone was pushing a big bag full of anti-epidemic supplies that we had brought back to them, and the bags were piled high to cover everyone. This relay of love made Lin Bo feel a deep sense of national identity: "Everyone wears masks, they can't see what they look like, they don't know who is who." Throwing yourself into this relay of love is entirely out of patriotism and a precious altruistic mentality. ”
"Unconditional, not expectant", be mentally prepared for volunteer service
Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has been around for more than two years. How have the requirements for volunteers changed during this period? In Lin Bo's view, at the beginning of the epidemic, everything was unknown: "In the face of the unknown, what volunteers need most is 'wisdom'. Have the ability to protect yourself. "He explained to reporters that in the early days of the new crown epidemic, one of the tenets of the volunteer team was to let as many fixed personnel as possible to support." The original volunteers are already familiar with the epidemic prevention rules and know how to protect themselves. Even if something goes wrong, the danger can be minimized. ”
At the moment of normalization of the epidemic, with the deepening of people's understanding of the new crown virus, the operating standards of volunteers have become increasingly clear and perfect. At this stage, there are new requirements for volunteers and even volunteer platforms. Lin Bo believes that as a volunteer, in addition to providing health and epidemic prevention volunteer services, the psychological problems of service recipients cannot be ignored. "Do you have the wisdom to comfort him?" Can he get long-term support? For the volunteer platform, you need to consider "Is there any wisdom to focus more resources where they are needed?" How to get the most out of the material? ”
Lin Bo believes that under the background of the normalization of the epidemic, public welfare platforms should provide long-term support. In March 2022, the epidemic broke out in Quanzhou, Fujian Province. Subsequently, Blue State Public Welfare rushed to Quanzhou and donated a total of 88 boxes of anti-epidemic materials, including epidemic prevention masks and isolation gowns. It is worth noting that a caring entrepreneur funded the transportation cost. Lin Bo told reporters that the blue public welfare anti-epidemic action has been insisting: "As a volunteer, we should appear where we are needed." ”
Lin Bo transporting anti-epidemic materials Courtesy of the interviewee
And whenever you want to be a qualified volunteer, the most important thing is to be mentally prepared. "We have always stressed that volunteering requires 'unconditional, not expecting'. Volunteering is not a superficial one, nor is it for anyone to show. In the process of volunteering, you should pay attention to your inner growth experience and experience the joy brought by giving. ”
Not only that, he stressed to reporters that volunteer service should not be stuck in public welfare organizations, but also the spirit of volunteer service should be integrated into daily life: "The definition of volunteer service is very broad, and providing unconditional altruistic services for family members is also a volunteer in the broad sense. Family is precisely the person who needs our service the most, but also the most easily overlooked. Volunteers, to put it bluntly, are altruistic in the service of those around them. Serving others with an altruistic heart is the most profound truth that Lin Bo has realized in the past 11 years of engaging in public welfare and charity.
The so-called "highlight moment" is worthy of the inner light
Lin Bo's 11-year public welfare road originated from a public welfare class in 2011. Before doing public welfare, Lin Bo worked as an executive in a company in Beijing, his work was very busy, almost every day there were "four or five social gatherings, and his feelings for himself were also very blunt." Speaking of this, he paused: "You just asked me what I liked, in fact, when I was young, I liked rock and roll, I liked football, but at that time, because I was busy, I put it on hold." At that time, he was confused and received an invitation from Zhang Hua, the founder of Blue State Public Welfare, to participate in blue state public welfare class.
"Before coming to the classroom, I always felt that I was the most worry-free child in my family, I came out of a small place, came to Beijing to work hard, had my own career, and my family did not have to worry." Moreover, I consider myself a filial piety. At that time, the "typical" of filial piety in Lin Bo's eyes was: "Every time I return to my hometown in Shaoguan from Beijing, I will definitely get up early in the morning and buy freshly baked Daoxiangcun pastries to take home." But in the sharing session of the class, when he recalled the "filial piety behavior" he often made, he suddenly realized: "For so many years, in fact, my old father has not eaten a bite." The old man is seventy or eighty years old, his teeth are not good, his eyes are not good, he can't eat what I bought. It was the reflection on this matter that made Lin Bo clearly realize: "Originally, I thought that filial piety in my heart was to meet my own psychological needs, and I brought back a lot of things to prove that I was filial piety, but I did not pay attention to the feelings of the other party." ”
It was this classroom experience that gave him a clearer understanding of himself and a better understanding of what he needed. Subsequently, he decided to hold a similar public welfare class in Beijing to help more people. As time passed, he gradually and more shifted the focus of his life from the workplace to public welfare. In 2017, Lin Bo joined Blue State Public Welfare full-time. Looking back at his life trajectory, he believes that the choice to "join full-time" is a matter of course: "It's like the process of a stream merging into a river. ”
"But I was a little uncomfortable when I first started participating in the organization of public welfare activities." He admitted that as a corporate executive, "KPI" and "efficiency" were the most important indicators. However, on nonprofit platforms, these indicators do not apply. "The volunteers come from all walks of life and have different personalities. Their original intention is to serve the public, but some people may lack skills. The original measurement system has failed, and the new measurement system has not yet taken shape, which makes Lin Bo fall into anxiety.
Participated in the organization of public welfare activities Provided by the interviewee
How to solve this puzzle? Looking back on this experience, he believes that the original sincere communication and mechanism exploration played a role. "In volunteering with team members, I've found that measuring the value of a volunteer project is not necessarily the number or speed." Today, he prefers to think of the organization and operation of different public welfare projects as planting different tree species: "Whether a tree grows or not depends on its variety." Some of them grow slowly from the attribute, and they take it slowly and consolidate it from multiple dimensions. Earthquake relief and support for projects that require urgent help, such as earthquake relief and support, must be fast, and the strongest and most efficient people must be sent. The key is to provision the right resources to the right projects. After stepping out of this anxious time, he suddenly felt enlightened.
So, on the road ahead, are there unforgettable highlight moments? In the face of this reporter's question, he smiled: "I feel that as an individual, I do not have such a highlight moment, or in other words, the 'highlight moment' as I understand it is a moment of doing things 'unconditionally and without expectation' and worthy of the light in my heart." We need to keep wiping our heart lamps so that they keep coming on. ”
Producer: Liu Lijun
Planner: Xie Jiangtao, Zuo Zhihong, Gao Chunming
Coordinator: Lin Shaojuan Liu Jie
Written by: Aoyi news reporter Zhang Jieying Lin Sisi
Design: Zheng Baiqi