Youth Dialogue with "Old Friends", a Cross-generational "Cultural Feeding"

The "Old Friends Youth" public welfare team organized the theme activity of "Sangyu Jiujiu丨 People Who Wear Time", and young people and the elderly discussed topics such as "the appreciation or depreciation of time" and "the width and thickness of life". Chen Chen/photo

"Here, young people are not arrogant juniors, but juniors who humbly seek advice and respect their predecessors; old friends are not old-fashioned old men, but 'old naughty boys' who grow up with the new era. Guo Zhenyi commented on the "Old Friends Youth" public welfare team founded by herself.

Guo Zhenyi is a Ph.D. candidate at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the founding of the "Old Friends Youth" public welfare team originated from a research project she did when she applied for a PhD. At that time, she carried out some community activities to collect questionnaires from the elderly, and unexpectedly found that the elderly were interested in various activities, which led to the idea of devoting herself to the public welfare cause of "Youth and Elderly Dialogue".

Hao Keyu, who is from a clinical medicine major, saw the recruitment announcement of the "Old Friends Youth" public welfare team in his freshman year, and has formed an indissoluble bond with this team since then. "I usually communicate with my grandparents a lot at home, which is an important reason why I chose to join this team. Interestingly, when Hao Keyu was in charge of the follow-up interview for the team's recruitment, he found that some classmates had the same idea as him, and these classmates communicated more with the elderly at home, or they were brought up by the elderly since childhood. Zhang Hanjing, who is from the radio and television editing and directing major, was brought up by her grandparents since she was a child, and was closest to the two old people when she was a child, but when she grew up, she found that she gradually did not know how to communicate with the elderly, and unconsciously distanced herself from them. She laughed and said that she had some "selfishness" in joining the "Old Friends Youth" charity team: "I hope to understand how to better communicate with the elderly." ”

Since its establishment, the "Old Friends Youth" charity team has created a series of activities, such as indoor reading exchanges, outdoor City Walks, and social practices. With the event as the carrier, the young and the elderly carried out exchanges one after another, and the ideas of the two generations collided with a different kind of spark. In Zhang Hanjing's view, the "Old Friends Youth" public welfare team is not only a volunteer service for young people to help the elderly, but also a way for young people to solve their own confusion through the life experience of the elderly in the process of communicating with the elderly. As the instructor of the "Old Friends Youth" charity team, Xu Jian, deputy dean and distinguished professor of the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said: "We started with reading activities to help the elderly, and now we have come to two-way communication. The two generations exchange their knowledge of the world and their views on life. In the process of such exchanges, the life horizons of young people have been broadened, and some consensus has been reached between the two generations. ”

In the summer of 2023, the "Old Friends Youth" public welfare team went to Tibet to carry out practice and communicate with local elderly. This event has made some team members unforgettable, and it was at that time that Deng Wanle, who majored in materials science and engineering, became associated with the "Old Friends and Youth" public welfare team. During the event, Deng Wanle met the village director of Motuo Village, who introduced him to the local folk culture: "There is an important local festival called the 'Daqiang' Festival, which is said to be to celebrate the harvest. On the day of the festival, the villagers gather to shoot arrows and dance. In Deng's view, the appeal of these traditional programs to young people is limited at the moment, but to his surprise, the village director is not worried about this issue at all. "The village chief told us that as descendants of the Momba or Lhoba people, children are exposed to horseback riding and archery from an early age, and they don't need to be deliberately trained, and they will not forget it when they grow up. Deng Wanle recalled, "From the dialogue, I can feel the cultural confidence of the village director, even if he is now too old to shoot arrows himself, but he is very energetic when he talks about it, and this spirit is particularly infectious." ”

This trip to Tibet also left a deep impression on Zhang Hanjing. There is a local grandmother who makes traditional clothes of the Menba people, and her daughter told Zhang Hanjing that her grandmother gets up at 5 o'clock every day to weave cloth, and she sits for five or six hours at a time, even if her back hurts and her legs hurt. Zhang Hanjing also experienced this special technique - sitting on the ground, stretching her legs very straight, and wearing a cloth behind her waist. She found it difficult to sit up straight in this position, and it was undoubtedly hard to keep exerting force in her hands. However, it was such hard work that made this grandmother stick to it all her life. Her ingenuity is an inspiration to the young people present, and it will also make us think: how can we stay focused, do one line of love, and burn our love to the extreme. Zhang Hanjing sighed.

On the eve of the 2023 August 1st Army Day, the "Old Friends Youth" public welfare team visited the bereaved family of martyr Yang Xin, Yang Haiyuan's grandmother. In May 1948, when Shanghai was about to be liberated, martyr Yang Xin was unfortunately arrested and died while collecting intelligence, and Yang Haiyuan's grandmother told her memories related to her father in an interview, and these revolutionary stories deeply moved Hao Keyu, "Compared with watching revolutionary stories on the Internet, this kind of face-to-face communication on the spot is more infectious, and I think this is also the charm of offline exchange activities." As a medical student, Hao Keyu will use his professional knowledge to popularize health science for the elderly in the event, "The elderly listen to me very carefully, and the feedback is very good, which gives me a great sense of gain and achievement."

For Deng Wanle, every conversation with the elderly is a learning and growth. "There is an old man named Yang Shengmei, who is the non-genetic inheritor of the ship model, and will often post the exquisite ship model he made in the circle of friends. Under his explanation, I had a deeper understanding of China's long history of ships. Deng Wanle recalled, "Grandpa Yang is over 70 years old, and he still insists on running 5 kilometers every morning, and he will check in on the circle of friends." In all fairness, I can't do that. Grandpa Yang is also very kind and sincere, every time I like his circle of friends, he will send me a message and say, 'Thank you for your attention and support to me'. Whether it is the spirit of craftsmanship or the way to deal with the world, I have learned a lot from Grandpa Yang. ”

"Old Friends and Youth" is a two-way run, which not only inspires young students, but also brings a lot of fun and spiritual enjoyment to the elderly. After a visit to the botanical garden, Wei Qin, an elderly person who participated in the activity, thanked the students for their company in a message, "I also carefully designed the game link, which is really more caring, patient and enthusiastic than our own children and grandchildren." The times have nurtured you, filled you with sunshine, energy and love, and you have sent us warmth. ”

Deng Wanle hopes that through the activities and publicity of the "Old Friends Youth" public welfare team, more people will change their perception of "old": "'Old' is not terrible, what is terrible is that there is no spirit. As long as there is a positive attitude, any age can actually live a brilliant life. ”

In Guo Zhenyi's view, all interpersonal interactions need equality, patience and mutual understanding, and the elderly need more respect, and they should not be treated specially. "They used to be young people too, and we will get old one day, and the attitude you have towards the elderly now, that is, the attitude of the future generations towards you. ”

The "Old Friends Youth" charity team has gone through three years and has developed more than 3,000 volunteers across the country, which is far faster and larger than Guo Zhenyi originally envisioned. "I didn't think about forming such a big team, but the volunteers flocked to me and they came here sincerely, which made me feel responsible not only for the elderly, but also for these enthusiastic volunteers, and that's what keeps us going," she admits. ”

Zhang Hanjing, who is in charge of team publicity, hopes to attract more people's attention and call on more people to participate in the "Dialogue between Young and Old" through the power of the Internet and new media. Xu Jian believes that the "Old Friends Youth" public welfare team should be an open team, "We are creating a 'Old Friends Youth' dialogue program, so that the link between young people and the elderly can become a social consensus, and attract more people to join this public welfare action." ”

"There are only seven pieces of tangram, but there are more than 1,600 kinds of puzzles. What kind of story can 100 old people and young people create when they come together? I don't know the answer, but I'm looking forward to it. This may have just begun, and this may be our golden age. This is the vision that Guo Zhenyi made in the first year of the establishment of the public welfare team, and it is also a long poem being written by "Old Friends and Youth".

　　Source: Central Committee of the Communist Youth League