Recently, the results of the selection of outstanding alumni of the Open University of China (OUC) were announced, recognising 328 alumni from various industries across the country.

These individuals, with accomplishments as their foundation and technology as their wings, demonstrate resilience, confidence, and a pragmatic, enterprising spirit, writing a unique chapter of progress of the OUC people. From today on, the stories of some alumni will be selected for sharing . By reviewing their outstanding deeds and listening to their life insights, the OUC’s achievements in talent development over the last 45 years are highlighted.

Tan Yanlin, a student majoring in Business Administration at Xiangxi Open University in 2019, continued to enrol in the undergraduate major of Administrative Management in the “One College Student Per Village Programme of the Ministry of Education” at the Open University of China (OUC) in the autumn of 2022. She has been awarded titles such as the “National Poverty Alleviation Striving Award”, “National Model Worker”, “National March 8th Red-flag Pacesetter”, and “Hunan Good Samaritan”.

For more than ten years, she has led disabled people and left-behind women to create their own happy lives and embark on a revitalisation path by making handmade textiles right at their doorsteps with their dexterous hands.

Insole “Transformed” into Artwork: Disabled Aunt Ignited Her Entrepreneurial Dream

At the age of 16, in order to let her younger brothers and sisters continue their studies, Tan Yanlin, who had excellent academic performance, reluctantly dropped out of school and followed her aunt to work in Guangdong in the south. The clever and capable Tan Yanlin grew from a supermarket stock clerk to the youngest sales manager in just two years. Later, through self-study, she became a product designer and served as a business manager in a foreign-funded enterprise. Just when Tan Yanlin's work was going smoothly, her aunt, who had already returned to her hometown, accidentally fell and became paralysed. After Tan Yanlin rushed back to her hometown, she saw her aunt, who had loved her the most, been the most capable and the most ambitious since she was a child, lying in bed with a face full of despair and still holding a half-finished handmade woven textile in her hand. Tan Yanlin was extremely sad.

Handmade woven textiles are a skill passed down from generation to generation among Tujia girls. Her aunt had been very good at weaving since she was a teenager. Every time she went out, her aunt would give Tan Yanlin sweaters, scarves and insoles she had knitted. So, Tan Yanlin told her aunt that doing handicrafts could also make money and foreigners liked them very much. After hearing this, her aunt embroidered another piece of work and sent it to Tan Yanlin. Soon, Tan Yanlin told her aunt that the embroidery had been sold for 800 yuan on the Internet.

In 2010, at the age of 24, Tan Yanlin returned to Longshan County and opened a boutique. She designed the drawings, let her aunt weave, and then sold them through the boutique. Unexpectedly, the textiles woven by her aunt were very popular. "Since pure handmade handicrafts have a large market, can we specialize in this?" Tan Yanlin's mind suddenly started working. "If the market can be opened, disabled people and left-behind women like my aunt can realise their own value with the traditional ethnic hand-knitting skills. In this way, everyone can not only get spiritual comfort, but also get employed and earn money at their doorstep and take better care of their families."

Skillful Hands Weave a Beautiful Life: Products Are Sold Far and Wide Around the World

In 2011, Tan Yanlin's Longshan County Rebamei Handmade Textiles Co., Ltd. was established, and her aunt was the first employee of the company. With the support and guidance of relevant departments in Longshan County, the company carried out a hand-knitting itinerant training activity in 21 townships (streets) throughout the county. On the first day of the training, the company recruited 89 employees. Tan Yanlin named the company "Rebamei" because "Reba" means "beautiful" in Tujia language. She hoped that more disabled people and left-behind women like her aunt could regain their confidence through knitting and make their lives more and more beautiful.

After the first batch of new employees came, due to their unfamiliar skills, their workmanship was unqualified, and many products could not be sold. However, Tan Yanlin retrieved the unqualified products without counting the losses. It was this move of hers that made everyone full of enthusiasm and actively participate in the training. Soon, these employees could produce independently, and those with excellent skills could also serve as "senior instructors".

"I have only one hand. I'm afraid that others will look down on me if I go to work." Xiang Guihua, 43 years old, had to live on the few acres of land at home and take care of her two children because of her disability in her early years. When Tan Yanlin found her, she had never thought that there would be a day when a job would "come to her". Now, Xiang Guihua's monthly income from knitting has reached more than 3,000 yuan, and she has also become a "senior instructor" in the knitting class. Her family has not only built a new house, but she has also become more optimistic. While women like Xiang Guihua regained their confidence through knitting, Tan Yanlin began to find a way for hand-knitted products to get out of the mountains and reach the outside world.

Once, Tan Yanlin saw a foreign purchase-seeking message on Alibaba. Although she didn't understand English and couldn’t understand the message, she found through the purchase-seeking pictures that it was exactly their textiles. She directly called Alibaba customer service and asked them to help translate and reply. In this way, Tan Yanlin established contact with this foreign customer, and her products also went abroad. As the orders gradually increased, Tan Yanlin also continuously developed new product categories, including hats, shoes, clothing, creative gifts, and various ornaments with strong ethnic characteristics.

At the 22nd Milan International Handicraft Fair in Italy, the handmade textiles brought by "Rebamei" were deeply favoured by consumers and were quickly sold out. At the same time, "Rebamei" reached a cooperation intention with an Italian animation company, signed a contract with the agent of Amazon Europe Station, and hired two Italian overseas student designers as the company's R & D and design chief engineers. Longshan County Rebamei Handmade Textiles Co., Ltd. has achieved the transformation from "Made in China" to "Created in China".

In 2019, the sales volume of Longshan County Rebamei Handmade Textiles Co., Ltd. reached 40 million yuan. At present, more than 20 poverty alleviation workshops have been opened in 8 counties and cities in Xiangxi Prefecture, helping 1,475 people get employed at their doorstep. More than 98% of the company's employees are women, including 226 disabled people and 910 registered poor households, with an annual per-capita income increase of more than 20,000 yuan. More than 80% of the hand-knitted products are sold to nearly ten countries such as the United States, Italy, and France.

Realising the University Dream: Persistent Efforts Finally Bear Fruit

In order to better operate the company, in 2019, Tan Yanlin enrolled in Xiangxi Branch School of Hunan Branch of the OUC, majoring in Business Administration. The flexible learning form of the OUC fulfilled her university dream.

Tan Yanlin has a clear purpose of study. Therefore, during her study, she was diligent, hard-working, and positive. She strictly abided by all the rules and regulations of the school, strived to overcome the contradiction between work and study, completed all kinds of homework and learning tasks on time, and actively participated in all kinds of activities organised by the school and the class. In November 2021, the OUC launched the “Tell Stories of Party History and Be Progressive Youth” youth joint learning activity, part of the campaign on Party history learning and education within the OUC educational system. Tan Yanlin told the story of "Working Together to Win the Battle Against Poverty" and it was broadcast live in the OUC system. As an excellent student representative, Tan Yanlin was the first to appear in the short-video recording for the OUC to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Tan Yanlin, who graduated from the junior college in spring 2022, enrolled in the Administrative Management undergraduate major of the "One College Student Per Village Programme of the Ministry of Education" of Xiangxi Branch School of Hunan Branch of the OUC in September of the same year, choosing to continue her further studies.

Tan Yanlin actively applied the knowledge she had learned to practice. After unremitting efforts, she also achieved remarkable results - her company has been successively rated as a national employment poverty alleviation base, an excellent innovation and entrepreneurship enterprise in Hunan Province, a demonstration enterprise for innovation and entrepreneurship driving employment in Xiangxi prefecture, and an exemplary enterprise in the construction of the “Ten-Hundred-Thousand Creation Project”. After winning the "National Poverty Alleviation Striving Award " in 2018, Tan Yanlin won the "National Model Worker" title in November 2020.

Nowadays, the poverty alleviation workshops of "Rebamei" are all over every county and city in Xiangxi. While Tan Yanlin is busy researching and developing new teaching products, she is also preparing to establish the Rebamei Import and Export Trade Centre. More and more disabled people and left-behind women, full of longing and expectation for a better life, are joining the knitting team of "Rebamei". Tan Yanlin of "Rebamei" will continue to radiate light and heat. It is believed that under her leadership, more "Rebamei" can weave a road to prosperity with their skillful hands.

By OUC News Network