Liu Tuchi, an 87yearold man, has given away thousands of books to kids in five villages in Southwest China and built some reading rooms in the past 13 years by collecting and selling rubbish.
"After selling the rubbish, I go to bookstores to search for good books," Liu said. When he has enough books, he sends them to the kids in the villages.
Liu was an officer in Sichuan Province before retiring (退休) in 1993. "I passed by a primary school in Qilong Village in 2005 and was shocked by the poor conditions," he said. With old classrooms and broken desks, the students hardly had any books. So Liu took out more than 5, 000 yuan and raised more than 8, 000 yuan from his family and friends to give away books to the school. Since then, he has kept on giving away books to rural (农村的) kids.
Liu's work has opened his new lifestyle (生活方式). He collects and sells waste, such as bottles and old newspapers. In 2008, Liu started building reading rooms. So far he has built more than 15 reading rooms. Liu always says, "Children in rural areas should not be left behind, especially in education."
