Right now, people throughout China are united as one in the all-out fight against the epidemic. Among them are a group of people who are the key to fighting the epidemic in China’s vast rural areas, “the most vulnerable spot for epidemic prevention and control.” These people are acting steadily and carefully based on the general requirement for “duty-bound conscientiousness, responsibility, and accountability.” They are taking pains to safeguard their communities and serve rural revitalisation.

Their moving contributions to the battle against the epidemic are warming people’s hearts. But who are they? They are the OUC rural college students.

Wuhan Branch

Wei Jianying, a graduate of the Wuhan Branch’s “One College Student per Village Programme” and secretary of the CPC Weiju Village Branch, Wangji Street, Xinzhou District, is leading the village cadres in the fight against the epidemic. Since the eve of Spring Festival, they have been performing their duties at 11 major entrances to the village. They stringently check the vehicles and people coming and going, persuade people not to go to pay visits to each other, and organise people to disinfect their houses. Their unswerving efforts have greatly enhanced the villagers’ awareness of epidemic prevention and have been recognised by the masses. One of the villagers, Wei Hong, said, “The leaders of the villagers’ committee are doing good deeds for the people at the risk of their own lives. We have seen and kept all this in mind!”

Shanxi Branch

Zhang Wenfeng, a student of the Administration Management programme (village and township management) at the Shanxi Branch, apportioned the CNY 500 he contributed among his family so that the village leaders and other villagers did not find out that he donated it all by himself. CNY 500 may not seem like much, but it is a large sum for an ordinary migrant worker in a small county. As a Party member, Zhang Wenfeng has been fighting on the frontlines for days on end. As he says, “Our motherland is in need and every one of us should be expect to do our duty. The Party has cultivated us and it is necessary for us to run to the front line and make our contribution to the country.”

Inner Mongolia Branch

In Molidawa Daur Autonomous Banner (Molidawa Banner for short) of the Inner Mongolia Branch, Zhao Jing, Liu Dechen, Wang Lingling, and An Baiping, who major in Facility Agriculture and Equipment, and Cheng Zhiyong and Chen Yanqiu, who major in animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, organised the 478 other new-type professional migrant workers to make donations to people working on the frontline of epidemic prevention and land control. A total of CNY 60,000 has been donated to the Red Cross Society of Molidawa Banner. A number of students majoring in Administration Management (village and township management), including Yang Taimei, Kang Huilong, Zhang Yanqing, Shi Qiaoling, and Liu Ruiling, are organising and participating in the prevention and control of Covid-19 in their own villages.

Liaoning Branch

Zheng Tingting, a student of aAgricultural Economy management in the class of 2017 at the Liaoning Branch and secretary of Taiping Village Party Branch of Xifeng County, Tieling City, is performing her duties as part of the prevention and control of the outbreak. Since there are confirmed cases in Xifeng County, it is all the more necessary to guard against the outbreak. Taiping village has five villagers’ production teams in three villages with a population of over 1,600 people under its jurisdiction and epidemic prevention is daunting. Every day, Zheng Tingting goes to each village to see if the radio broadcast is on time, to explain information about the epidemic, to persuade people not to conduct gatherings, to remind people of the necessity of wearing masks outside, and to hand out free masks to the villagers. WeChat groups for epidemic prevention and control have been established for people who have returned from other cities and provinces, providing information about epidemic prevention and convenient services to the townships and villages every day. Zheng Tingting has also been trying to guide positive public opinions to spark people’s enthusiasm for the fight against the epidemic. She said, “In the face of great disaster, what are individual gains worth? As long as the people are healthy and safe, aren’t our hard work and tiredness paying off? Communist Party members will not merely shout slogans. Instead, we will run to the front and take the lead in times of danger and difficulty.”

Zhejiang Branch

Tong Bo, a student of Forestry Technology at the Zhejiang Branch, volunteered to join the temporary Party Branch at the traffic check point. He is on duty doing inspections at the expressway toll gates. He said, “Epidemic prevention and control are now in a critical period, and it is time for me to shoulder my responsibility and mission as a Party member.”

Jiangxi Branch

Huang Jinzhu, a student of Administration Management (village and township management) in the class of 2017 Grade at the Jiangxi Branch, serves as Party branch secretary of Dongnan Neighbourhood Committee in Shicheng County, Ganzhou City. She is also a mother to be. Since the start of outbreak, she has had little time for rest. Every day, she does door-to-door checks, conducting investigations and handing out information. Every day, her intensive work schedule keeps her busy late into the night.

Shandong Branch

Bi Yuanxin, a student of Administration Management (for village and township management) in the class of 2019 at the Shandong Branch and a “guardian” of the community, has been fighting on the front line of epidemic prevention and control since the eve of Spring Festival. With no police uniform or protective gear, every day she has to be on duty with just a mask. She registers vehicles and outsiders at the community check point, disinfects and monitors the temperatures of people going in and out, discourages people from entering and exiting the community, and make investigates the residents’ movements. She reminds people to wear masks when leaving the house, to pay attention to fitness and building immunity, to wash their hands and face frequently, and to disinfect their houses frequently. Wind or rain, she has remained at her post day and night at the risk of infection while caring for the safety of the entire community.

Hunan Branch

Chen Li from the Hunan Branch, who made the pledge “we are on call, please feel free to phone us if we are needed,” volunteered to contact the Party branch of his village and established a vanguard of Party members to fight against the disease. The group went from door to door in the village to pass on information about epidemic prevention to the villages, and to put up slogans about epidemic prevention and control. Furthermore, they contributed 1,000 masks to Changsha Lukou Hospital and 500 masks to the villagers, and contributed a vehicle of fresh cole sprouts produced from Chen Li’s own cole sprout field to the medical workers in the No. 8 Hospital of Changsha County.

Hainan Branch

Leading the fight against the epidemic are Chen Yanxia, a student of Administration Management (for village and township management) in the class of 2013 Grade at Hainan Branch, and her son Zhu Yihuang, and Gao Yulong, an administration management (for village and township management) major in the class of 2017, and his son. These mother and son and father and son teams have gone to the frontline together to fight against the epidemic. They are on duty fighting side by side. They hand out masks, monitor temperatures, register vehicles, conduct investigations, and pass out information about epidemic prevention.

These people are all “fighters” on the rural battlefront of epidemic prevention. They are rural college students from the “One College Student Per Village” programme of the OUC, as well as work teams cultivated by the OUC for local rural communities, who “know agriculture and love rural areas and farmers”! They are role models for the nearly 700,000 rural college students trained by the OUC, and they are available and reliable local talents who are really rooted in rural areas serving farmers.

By OUC News Network