Kind-hearted villagers in Gaisupo Village, Qingxian County, build a "Filial Piety Home for the Elderly"
June 9 was an activity day at the "Filial Piety Home for the Elderly" in Gaisupo Village, Liuhe Town, Qingxian County. That day, as soon as this writer stepped into the "Filial Piety Home for the Elderly," the sound of opera singing came from inside the house. "Home owner" Yao Junlin was busy alongside other volunteers, serving the elderly.
??? Yao Junlin, 49, is a villager of Gaisupo Village and currently runs a shop in the village. Seeing the loneliness and helplessness of elderly people who are widowed or have no children at home, Yao Junlin began preparing to build the "Filial Piety Home for the Elderly" in May last year. He designed the blueprints himself, bought materials, then hired a construction team, tore down a house of his own that stood empty, and built a new house on the homestead plot. Five months later, the "Filial Piety Home for the Elderly," with a total investment of more than 300,000 yuan and covering 240 sq m, was completed and officially put into use. He set the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month as activity days for the "Filial Piety Home for the Elderly." On each activity day, he invites elderly people aged 60 and above from the village and nearby villages to gather at the "Filial Piety Home for the Elderly," where he and volunteers make steamed buns with fillings, steam plain buns, and cook large-pot stews for them...
??? To enrich the lives of the elderly, the "Filial Piety Home for the Elderly" also arranged a rich variety of cultural activities, organizing the elderly to sing Hebei Bangzi, Peking opera, and more. "They also cut our hair, check our health, and chat with us, which makes us feel very warm inside," said Uncle Zhao, an elderly man with no family in Ershililun Village, Machang Town, Qingxian County, gratefully.
??? Today, the number of elderly people who regularly come to the "Filial Piety Home for the Elderly" for activities has grown from more than ten at the beginning to more than 300, and the number of caring volunteers from the village and elsewhere who provide volunteer services for the elderly has also reached more than 300. Yao Junlin said they are currently planning to build dormitories for elderly people who are widowed or have no children, intending to take in a group of such elderly people for long-term residence so they can enjoy their later years in comfort.