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Having retired from his post as a senior instructor at a naval submarine academy at the age of 65 in 2002, Li Changhe decided to lead an active retired life. He rejected all the well-paid consulting jobs his former colleagues referred him to, saying that a handsome retirement package left him with no financial worries.
When he announced his decision to become a volunteer, his family and friends voiced their objections to his plan. They argued that volunteer work might be too physically challenging for a senior. “I just want to do more for society when I am still physically capable,” Li told his family.
Between 2002 and 2011, Li worked two days a week as a volunteer at a public library in his home city of Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province, and was mainly responsible for helping disabled readers. His duties included helping them get onto and off buses and taking them to the lavatory.
Besides helping disabled readers, he also tried to help any reader he could by lending his own reading glasses to senior readers who forgot to bring theirs, giving away pens and paper to those who wanted to take notes and paying the photocopy fees for readers without change.
Li had very limited knowledge of using a personal computer before retirement. At the age of 70, by teaching himself and attending classes he started to learn how to use computers to write, edit photos, chat, transmit files and send e-mails.
Li has put his newly acquired IT skills into use during his volunteer work. At the request of a reader living in another city, Li took photos of some rare copies of books and documents collected by the library and sent them to the reader through the Internet.
Li’s 10,272 hours of volunteer service from August 2002 to July 2011 means that he has given up more hours of his time for volunteer work than any other elderly volunteer in the world, a record recognized by the Hong Kong-based World Record Association. He received his certificate in January.
“By participating in volunteer service, I have contributed to society, made new friends and led a more colorful life,” Li said.
Working with disabled people made Li an advocate for their rights. When helping a man in a wheelchair along a pedestrian walkway linking two city squares one day in 2006, Li found a flight of steps without a ramp or lift. He immediately started to write letters to the local government and suggested upgrading the facility to be wheelchair-friendly. After two years of efforts, a wheelchair ramp was built next to the steps in 2008.
In 2011, Li resigned from his volunteer post at the library as he found a volunteer opportunity that interested him even more. At the age of 75, he is volunteering with a local NGO dedicated to helping “empty nesters” and offers a free barber service to the elderly and gives lectures on how to use computers at a community center every day. In his spare time, he reads profusely on mastering the skills of social workers.
“I thought about giving up volunteering when I found myself torn apart by the guilt of not helping my wife with the housework, especially after we had our grandchildren. I solved the problem by doing everything I can to help at home when I don’t work as volunteer,” Li told Qingdao Morning News. “I owe the recognition of my work to the understanding and support of my wife and children.”
According to a 2011 report on the state of volunteerism in China written by the UN Volunteers program, volunteerism is based on the core values of family and community cohesion in China. “Such a solid foundation provides the perfect environment for volunteerism to thrive in China and becomes one of the vehicles for achieving the government’s vision of a prosperous society,” says the report.
Li’s experience of devoting himself to helping the community epitomizes a rise of senior volunteers and non-governmental volunteer organizations in China and has also kept him happily occupied.