“It was Friday, and classes were over. While many of his classmates were ready to hang out, Feng Molin made his way to the headmaster’s office, to collect the donations from some good Samaritans who were helping him out.
“The boy then rushed to the grocery store to purchase a large package of dried noodles and Chinese cabbage. Carrying the heavy sac of food and other donations, as well as his schoolbag, Feng went home in a hurry, where he had two hungry mouths to feed.” — CCTV News
As you have probably gathered, Feng Molin is not your average 13-year-old boy.
For the past nine years, this young lad from northwest China’s Shaanxi Province has been selflessly taking care of his blind parents, according to Shanghaiist and CCTV News reports.
With all the work he does, Feng still manages to squeeze in time for his studies.
Feng’s father became blind in 2006 after getting acute meningitis, and his mother has been blind since she was a child. From the time he was just four years old, Feng has been looking after his parents like they were his own children.
He cooks, cleans, chops firewood and attends to farm work, and in the midst of all this also attends to his schoolwork.
The boy’s story has melted the hearts of kind netizens everywhere, who are sending Feng and his family financial donations. One man even offering to adopt him and send a nanny to care for his parents.
This young boy’s dedication to looking after his parents is truly admirable.
But filial piety is more important to Feng than any worldly luxuries others can offer, and he has rejected the adoption offer.
“Staying with my parents is my greatest joy,” he said, “I will work hard to create a better future with my own hands.”
The plight of Feng and parents highlights a larger social issue in China.
A 2013 Xinhua News Agency study shows that “there is a shortage of professionally qualified caregivers across the country with approximately 10 million people needed to provide care for the ageing population.”
Only 300,000 people work as caregivers in China currently, with less than a third of them trained properly.
We wish Feng and his parents all the best and hope this family continues to get the help and support they need and deserve.
*This article is from our archives.