Digital Reach

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Remote village access
One village to benefit from the ‘Internet Charity Day’ donations was
Dashui Village, Dafang County of Guizhou province, where Xu
Benyu, honored as one of the ‘People Who Moved China, 2004’ by
CCTV, worked voluntarily to support IT education. Dafang County,
located in the northwest of Guizhou province, is one of the least
developed provinces in China. Dashui Village is in the east of the
County, about 65 kilometers fromDafang County. A lot of dropouts
could be seen everywhere in the village, due to extreme poverty
rather than to neglect of education. A university student with major
in agricultural economy, Xu Benyu came to the county to conduct
a general social survey in the summer of 2002. During his stay there,
Xu offered teaching assistance in local schools, helping to equip the
students with knowledge that they themselves were not given in
this remote mountain area. When Xu had to return to university for
the new semester, the students walked many miles to see him off.
After his return, Xu always remembered the children’s desire for
knowledge, and two years later, instead of continuing in postgrad-
uate study, he decided to go back to Dashui Village to support
education as a volunteer. News of Xu’s action spread through the
Internet and other media across the whole nation, and attracted
close attention from all parts of society.
Teaching conditions at Dashui Village Mid School were poor:
alhough a new teaching building had been built with social dona-
tions, its classrooms lacked necessary hard and soft facilities like
blackboards, school desks, chairs and electric lights, and the lab
equipment was barely usable. ISC was aware of this, and initi-
ated a proposal that the industry should support this area. In
August, donations of computers and stationery collected during
the ‘Internet Charity Day’ were sent to the County. Furthermore,
with the support of a local telecom company, ISC has provided
the Mid School with a multimedia classroom with Internet acces-
sibility, enabling this isolated mountainous area to share in the
world-wide information highway.
Special needs
Myasthenia is a fatal, incurable disease across the world.
Sufferers usually come down with the disease in childhood, and
gradually lose power in their muscles. Movement becomes more
difficult year by year, until the patient becomes devitalized. This
group of people was inspired by the power of the Internet to
improve their lives. A determined group of sufferers set up an
online Bulletin Board Service (BBS) called ‘Jing Cai Tong Xing’,
which means ‘go together on the brilliant trip’ in Chinese.
). The BBS enables users to reach a mutual
communication platform, learning resources including English
language, web technology, graphic design and animation. It has
enabled some users to try every means to earn their own living,
releasing the burden on their families.
But although the Internet helps myasthenia patients to access
the outside world and to build self-confidence, this closely linked
online community still faces difficulties due to the lack of finan-
cial resources. WSIS’ Declaration of Principles recognizes that
communication is a fundamental social process, a basic human
need, and the foundation of all social organization. It is therefore
central to the Information Society. Everyone, everywhere should
have the opportunity to participate, and nobody should be
excluded from the benefits the Information Society offers. ISC
has therefore co-launched a donation programme with Internet
enterprises, to provide the BBS with a community-maintaining
fund, free access to the Internet and network storage, to encour-
age their splendid creation and life online.
During this ongoing activity, ISC was informed that another
university student, Li Huafen, who used to offer support to the
Dashui County’s dropouts through waste recycling, had been
diagnosed with leukemia. Li was born into a peasant family of
Nanyang City, Henan province. Li herself was not so rich, but
exercised thrift in her own life so that she could make continu-
ous donations to the poor students. However, Li’s therapy had
used up all of her family’s money within only one month of her
diagnosis. To extend her life, which she had dedicated to helping
others, ISC immediately sent the money needed for Li’s treat-
ment. At present, Li is in the condition of recovery and her health
indexes have turned to normal.
The ‘5 . 18 Internet Charity Day’ this year is just the begin-
ning. ISC will continue with its activities with the aim of
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Volunteer Xu Benyu and the students of Dashui Villiage Students of Dashui Villiage