多背一公斤的爱去旅行

什么是“多背一公斤”？它是一种轻松快乐的旅行方式，让旅行者在旅途中探访乡村学校，传递爱心和知识，同时也为自己的旅程增添不同的意义。如果你是一位旅游爱好者，如果你有一份爱心，快来http://www.1kg.org/报名参与吧，为我们农村的教育事业贡献自己的一份力量！

It was a nice sunny afternoon in Beijing. In a small cafe in the Houhai area, I met members of the noNPRofit group "1 More Kilogram." The grassroots organization now has about 20,000 registered members online and hundreds of active part-time volunteers, most of whom are young white-collar workers from around the country.

The organization doesn't have an office, and only seven full-time people keep it running smoothly. Each week they hold a meeting to discuss their progress.

Wang Qian was once an active volunteer of "1 More Kilogram." Last year, she quit her job and became a full-time employee of the organization. She tells us about the organization's mission.

"‘1 More Kilogram' is an organization that calls for public interest tours. We encourage travelers to carry one more kilogram of chess sets, ropes or after-school books and visit some rural elementary schools on the way to play with the kids there and give these books and other items to them as gifts. We focus more on interaction with the kids, not making it a formal charity ceremony."

Xu Zhihai or better known as Angel, a young man from Guangzhou, started "1 More Kilogram" in 2004. Before founding the group, he was an ordinary traveler and went to many places around the country. He found that "the real scenery is often in a dangerous place far away, but the children who live there don't always have a fair chance at a decent education because of impoverishment and communication difficulties with the outside."

Angel came up with the idea that when travelers visit various places in China, they could carry an extra kilogram of books in their backpacks and give them to rural children. If every tourist did this, then the education situation in many impoverished areas would improve.

This is why he started "1 More Kilogram." Later, Angel also realized that the same children needed not only books, but also clothing and other entertainment facilities. They also needed to communicate with people from the outside world.

Through simple activities and face-to-face communication, one kilogramers provide knowledge and needy materials for children in poor regions. But more importantly, they broaden their horizons about the outside world.

Wang Qian was once the same as Angel-a regular company employee. But she always wanted to help others and was fond of traveling. A few years ago, she joined "1 More Kilogram" and became involved in participating and organizing activities.

Unlike other public welfare organizations, "1 More Kilogram" offers more room for participants to do their own thing by selecting which items to take with them on their travels and where to go.

Wang says the organization has set up an internet platform to help coordinate volunteer activities.

"Now we are working on building an information-sharing platform for ‘1 More Kilogram.' Our goal is to rely on the public's support and power to help improve rural education in the country through goodwill traveling. Therefore, we seldom organize official activities but ask volunteers to carry the torch. They initiate activities through our platform and become the pillars of ‘1 More Kilogram.' We give them the necessary information and support. No matter the organizers or participants, everyone plays a vital role in the group."

You can find the organizations home page at "1kg.org." A photo of two plain but smiling rural girls will catch your eye. In the upper-left corner of the picture, two lines describe the organization's mission. They read: "‘Find out and satisfy rural schools' needs. Everyone can do their part to improve rural education."

After years of collecting on location information through thousands of volunteers, "1 More Kilogram" has built a database of about 1,000 schools. Volunteers can type in their travel destinations and find nearby schools and what kinds of materials they need.

The database also includes the addresses of the schools and their phone numbers. You can also type in which items you plan to donate and find out which schools need them.

Wang Qian describes the "1 More Kilogram" website as a forum for community exchange and a project incubation and sharing platform.

"When our volunteers visit the schools, they'll write down detailed information and contacts of the schools, such as their addresses and what materials they are short of. We then collect all this information to form our database, which will make things easier for our participants to find and search for schools. And we also encourage our volunteers to upload their diaries and photos about their activities, sharing them with other members. It's also a kind of update for other members."

Although "1 More Kilogram" is a relatively loose organization, all the participants have gotten together because of a common vision.

Wang says the organization's volunteers change frequently because of time limitations, but the team has gradually grown and nurtured a group of stable members. Now, on average, volunteers organize 40 to 50 activities around the country every month.

For you, it is only one more kilogram in your travel bag. But for the poor children in China's impoverished rural areas, it means the hope of study and the hope of a future.