Retired Teacher Donates 300,000 Yuan to Help Poor Students

A retired school teacher in south China has donated 300 thousand yuan (almost $47,000) during the past 25 years to help poor students in his town.

Chen Qixian is 88 years old and lives in the town of Dapo in Hainan Province. He retired from teaching 25 years ago and has been donating money to help students ever since, keeping only 50 yuan a month - less than $8 - for his own expenses.

According to his daughter, Chen has been living off rice and carrots for decades, rather than spending his money on more nutritious food.

Chen Qixian wanted to donate his last 100,000 yuan to the Dapo Education Promotion Association to help poor students.

[Wu Duoyin, Headmaster, Dapo Middle School]:
"We didn't want him to donate the money, but he insisted. Finally we accepted 50,000 yuan from him. He was very happy, but we felt a little uneasy."

Last year, Chen donated 100,000 yuan to establish the Dapo Education Promotion Association. He also contributed money toward building a library for Dapo Middle School last year.