环球英语20160908 The Giving Driver
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I'm Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
"Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can" [John Wesley]
Voice 4
"They who give have all things; they who do not give have nothing." [Hindu Proverb]
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"Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections. Some literally give their life's blood. But everyone has something to give." [Barbara Bush]
Voice 1
These are some famous sayings about giving. Many people know it is good to give. People often say that when a person gives, he also receives. But how many of us actually follow advice like this? How many of us live these ideas? We may think that we do not have enough to give. Or we may not know how or what to give.
Voice 2
When people think of extreme giving, they may think of people like Mother Teresa. This woman gave her whole life to helping people. But would you think of Mr. Bai Fang Li? Today's Spotlight is on Mr Bai. He changed the lives of many poor students in Tianjin.
Voice 1
Mr. Bai was a small old man from Tianjin in China. He earned money driving a pedicab. This is a form of local transport. A pedicab looks like a bicycle with a seating area behind it. People can sit in the covered area in back. Then a driver uses his legs to peddle, or move the bicycle. This work is very physically demanding.
Voice 2
Mr. Bai drove a pedicab for many years - even until he was an old man. But after 56 years he decided to retire. Mr. Bai was 74 years old. And he was ready to rest. But then, one incident changed his life.
Voice 1
Mr. Bai went back to his home to retire. He was prepared to say goodbye to his pedicab. But in his village, Mr. Bai noticed a group of children working in a field. He wondered why they were not in school. Finally, he discovered the reason. Were they badly behaved? No, they simply lacked money. They were not able to pay for school. Without money, the school could not pay teachers. Without teachers, the students could not learn. The school did not have resources to stay open for the children. After seeing these children, Mr. Bai was unable to sleep. He just kept thinking:
Voice 6
"Money is needed for students to go to school, money is needed for schools to maintain teachers and money is needed to rebuild old classrooms..."
Voice 2
Mr. Bai remembered when he was a child. He had left home because of poverty. But his home town was still poor. He wondered about the future of his town. He wondered about the future of these children who would not receive an education. How could things improve in his town if the children did not receive an education?
Voice 1
So Mr. Bai made a decision. He had received 5,000 RMB - about 750 US dollars - when he retired. He gave this money to aid in education of children. Then he returned to Tianjin to go back to work driving his pedicab.
Voice 2
Mr. Bai lived in a simple room by the Eastern Tianjin Railway Station. He spent very little money on his own needs. His clothes, shoes, and hat did not match. But Mr. Bai did not care. He said:
Voice 6
"The clothes that I wear are all picked up from the clothes people threw away. Look at my shoes, they are different. Even the socks inside are different! It is the same with my hat. It was also collected from dumpsites."
Voice 1
By wearing these old clothes, all the money Mr. Bai collected could go toward education. And even when his clothes got more and more holes, he still would not throw them away. In fact, he got some of his food this way too. Mr. Bai did not want to waste any food. When people tried to encourage him to stop doing this, he picked up a piece of bread. He said:
Voice 6
"This bread is the product of the farmers' hard work. People throw it away. I pick it up and eat it. Is this not a way to reduce waste?"
Voice 2
No one could change Mr. Bai. His daughter described her father this way:
Voice 7
"He suffers throughout his life, saving on food and drinks, fixing his torn trousers over and over again. When you throw away his old trousers and buy new ones for him, he does not want to wear them. But he also gets angry."
Voice 1
After Mr. Bai retired, he continued to drive a pedicab for 18 more years. Through this time he continued to give money to several schools and other education organizations. Finally, in the year 2000 Mr. Bai had to stop driving his pedicab. He fell and injured his arm. He continued to drive pedicab, but his arm became worse. Finally his daughter persuaded him to visit the hospital. After this, he was not permitted to move his arm, so he had to stop driving the pedicab. But he did not stop earning money to give away. Instead he looked after cars near the train station.
Voice 2
Mr. Bai donated his last small amount of money in 2001. He was over 90 years old. His body was weak, and he could not drive pedicabs anymore. Finally, when he gave away this last small amount of money he said:
Voice 6
"I cannot work anymore. I can no longer donate money to others."
Voice 1
His daughter could not believe it. That was the first time she had ever heard her father say something like that. Mr. Bai had given over 350,000 RMB to aid education to poor children. This is over 52,000 US dollars! He helped over 300 students to go to school. And what did he want for the students? Mr. Bai said:
Voice 6
"I only want them to study hard, get a good job, be a good person, and to give back to the country."
Voice 2
Mr. Bai did not just give so that the children could receive. He gave so that they could continue to give to others. Mr. Bai died in 2005. But the memory of his great giving still exists.
Voice 1
Have you seen or experienced giving like this? Tell us about it. Do you think you could ever give like Mr. Bai gave? Share your thoughts with us at radio@english.net. Or leave a comment on the script page of this program.
Voice 2
The writer and producer of this program was Liz Waid. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes have been adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. Computer users can hear our programs, read our scripts, and see our word list on our website at www.radioenglish.net. This program is called "The Giving Driver."
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!
