michael hellman

time：2022-11-27source：云南省科技厅browse：6,671

Yugong Yishan is a historical event in Chinese history A household story. Facing the barriers of the mountains, Yu Gong, with his optimistic and uplifting spirit, was not afraid of hardships, his descendants continued to dig mountains, knocked down the difficulties he faced with one hammer and one hammer, dug out the way forward with one hoe, and persevered for a long time For merit.

In Yunnan, China, there is also such a foreigner who is called the contemporary "charitable fool". Over the years, he has gone to villages and households to preach AIDS prevention knowledge to the masses; he has raised funds everywhere, trying to make more poor children in rural areas enjoy good preschool education; he has actively cooperated with environmental protection departments and schools, only to advocate green and low carbon. He is Michael Heilmann, a German man who devotes himself to charity and public welfare.

Michael Heilmann, who is 64 years old this year, left Germany at the age of 22 and has been to 45 countries around the world. If you add the two years of studying in Shanghai in the 1980s, Michael has stayed in China for a total of For 18 years, among them, Michael Hellman has worked and lived in Yunnan the longest time, and his footprints are all over 12 cities in Yunnan.


< p> Michael Heilmann is the member of the international non-profit organization "Human Love People and People International Sports Federation (Switzerland) Yunnan/Chongqing Representative Office" (hereinafter referred to as Human Love) (the Sichuan representative office was registered and established in 2017, and will be revoked in 2020, and its business will be merged into the Chongqing representative office). Headquartered in Zimbabwe, Mutual Love is a member of 29 independent national development aid organizations working in education, health and rural development in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. For a long time, "Humanai" has carried out projects in the fields of rural early childhood education, community development, health nutrition, comprehensive control of infectious diseases, and low-carbon schools in the central and western regions of China. At present, "Humanai" is carrying out 5 projects in Yunnan and Chongqing, including rural development, rural preschool education, and low-carbon schools.

In 2005, the former Yunnan Provincial Poverty Alleviation Office (now the Yunnan Provincial Rural Revitalization Bureau) cooperated with "Human Ai". As the representative in China, Michael came to Yunnan and began to grow with this land. 16 years of fate.

When he first arrived in Yunnan, Michael found out during his investigation that the border area of Yunnan is a high-incidence area of AIDS infection, and many people have returned to poverty due to AIDS infection. In 2007, "Full Love" launched their first project in Yunnan in Linxiang District, Lincang City: TCE, which means "Total Control of Infectious Diseases", which is the first project implemented by "Full Love" in African countries. As a model of "complete control of infectious diseases", Michael and his team implanted TCE as a new model of AIDS prevention and treatment in Yunnan. He recruited 60 local volunteers in Lincang, provided them with professional training and quantitative assessment, and went to villages and households every day to talk face-to-face with ordinary people about AIDS prevention and control knowledge, questionnaire surveys and psychological counseling. What to say, how long to say, how to say it? Michael and his team have a set of mature models and standards.


< p> In addition to door-to-door preaching, Michael also made improvements based on the local rural reality. Volunteers sometimes interspersed training courses in village group meetings, party members and cadre meetings, and women's associations. And in Jiezitian in each township, the volunteers of "Human Ai" will also set up quizzes with prizes in the cultural programs written and performed by themselves, so that villagers can actively accept the knowledge of AIDS prevention and control in a relaxed atmosphere.

Through the long-term "one-on-one" AIDS prevention and treatment, more and more people have a clearer understanding of the transmission of AIDS, from "talking about Ai color change" to learning to be more active in protection, love yourself. The publicity and prevention project of "Human Ai" has also been highly recognized by third-party evaluation agencies, as well as the health departments of Yunnan Province and the country, and has been replicated and promoted to Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan and other places. "I didn't expect a foreigner to make such an effective thing in such a remote place in Yunnan!" Michael said with a smile, and many people commented on himself at that time.

Michael Heilman also applied this model to the publicity of malaria prevention and control. In the past five years, the TCE project has covered 3.5 million people in 12 border counties in five prefectures of Yunnan, contributing to local health Great contributions have been made to poverty alleviation.

"Three-year-old judges people, seven-year-old judges old", this is a saying that Michael Heilman often talks about. He believes that poverty alleviation must first support intelligence, and preschool education is the key to eliminating intergenerational transmission of poverty Fundamental means, and 1 to 7 years old is a critical time period that determines a person's life. This stage affects a person's personality, communication skills, imagination, etc.

Michael and his colleagues found that many villages in the mountainous area of Yunnan are small and widely distributed, and government education resources are limited. 70% of rural children cannot receive preschool education, and many parents choose to stay at home to take care of their children. Migrant workers have lost a large part of family income, and these families have also entered a vicious cycle of poverty.

Michael decided to break this vicious cycle. In 2008, "Full of Love" officially launched the "Future Hope Kindergarten Project" in Taozizhai Village, Nansan Town, Zhenkang County, Lincang City. By recruiting teachers with a junior high school degree or above, and conducting more than 600 hours of training Comprehensive training to improve their management, parenting, psychological education and game abilities, and establish a village-level early childhood education and day care system for local preschool children, so that the parents of the children can concentrate on going out to work to increase family income and get rid of poverty.

“We do not want to be the boss of the kindergarten class, but to let caring, tolerant and responsible teachers accompany the children to grow up and cultivate their comprehensive abilities. Children and parents can be happy, It’s what I want to see most!” In Michael’s opinion, the “Future Hope Kindergarten Project” not only solves the problem of increasing the employment income of laborers from poor families, but also has great significance for the preschool education of children from poor families. So far, Michael and his team's "Future Hope Kindergarten Project" has covered more than 400 village-level kindergarten classes in 17 counties in Yunnan, solving the preschool care and education problems of more than 30,000 children. In recognition of Michael's outstanding contribution to the development of Yunnan, he was awarded the "Caiyun Award" for Foreign Experts in Yunnan Province and obtained a permanent residence permit in China.


< p> Over the years, Michael Hellman's charity has never stopped. He has worked in schools and rural areas for a long time. Michael Hellman found that:People's awareness of environmental protection is not strong enough. “We must act with urgency to train and increase awareness and knowledge about climate change.” said Michael Heilman.

In 2020, "Human Ai" launched the "Yunnan Low Carbon School Pilot Project", which Michael called "Houyi Action". "The ancient Hou Yi had to shoot down 9 suns, but our present Hou Yi must shoot down the carbon dioxide"! Michael and his team plan to raise the awareness of low-carbon and climate action in 600 schools and 70,000 students and teachers in Yunnan in 4 years starting from 2020. At present, more than 200 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and colleges and universities of various types in the province have participated in the "Houyi Action" to promote the transformation of green campuses into low-carbon and carbon-neutral schools through low-carbon games, demonstration class activities, and expert training. transition. "We live in the same global village, and human beings are a community of destiny. We must implement carbon reduction in every detail of our daily life in terms of energy conservation and water conservation. I hope that the 'Houyi Action' can start a prairie fire like a single spark!" Michael said.

Now, Michael has lived in Yunnan for 16 years. He said that Yunnan is one of the best places in China with beautiful mountains, rivers, beautiful people, rich biodiversity and diverse cultures. Michael was also impressed by the huge economic and social development achievements in Yunnan. "Yunnan has eliminated absolute poverty, the China-Laos Railway has opened, and infrastructure has been continuously improved. Such development achievements cannot be seen in other countries in the world except China!"He said.

When asked how long he planned to stay in Yunnan, the German "Foolish Old Man" said that he felt that he was already half Chinese and would continue to do charity work in Yunnan in the future.

“As for how long? Let’s wait for another 40 years, like the old man who moved mountains, step by step. I hope to see the day when China achieves the goal of carbon neutrality in 2060.” Michael said.