“友善之墙”见证中国兴衰

Kindness Walls are beginning to become a familiar sight in the streets of cities around the world. These are places where people leave unwanted items of clothing for those in most need.

China is no exception, but as CRI's Li Jianhua reports, one example of this growing charity phenomenon has run into unexpected problems.

Walls of Kindness were first seen in Iran last year.

People leave spare warm clothes on walls in public places, and those in need are encouraged to take away what they really need, leaving the rest for others.

Such walls also began cropping up in more than a dozen Chinese cities, as the bitter winter temperatures took hold.

The first kindness wall in Xiamen went into operation just ahead of the Spring Festival in an underground passageway, but ran into problems within 24 hours.

Chen Jiangwei is among the program initiators. He says they received more than five thousand items of clothes, shoes and blankets in just one day, and the tunnel became overcrowded by the needy people busily choosing and trying on the donated clothes.

"The clothes we had prepared earlier had been taken away when we arrived for the second day. There were three or four new items of clothing hung up on each hook and even more donated items had been piled up on the floor. There wasn't even anywhere to put your feet."

The unexpected chaos triggered concerns from the local authorities.

City management officer Chen Jiaping said the operation of the wall was originally illegal.

"You should file an application before the operation and take necessary measures to prevent such potential safety hazards. We are supportive of anything that represents "positive energy," but it should operate in a legal and proper way."

Until a meeting with the program operators, the local authorities had planned to shut down the program completely.

Zhan Zhaowen is from the management of the sub-district where the underground tunnel is located.

He attended a meeting to discuss the problem, held right after the Spring Festival holiday.

"Law enforcement authorities had suggested the wall should be shut down. That's indeed the simplest and most efficient solution and would not have caused any trouble. But it's more important to show tolerance, encouragement and provide support and guidance when facing such emerging matters."

At the meeting, it was agreed that the wall operators would take charge of collecting and cleaning the donated clothing and make sure the supply at the wall was sufficient, while the sub-district administration would provide places to store the excess donations.

It's also hoped that providing alternative places for clothes donation and distribution will help prevent the passageway from being over-crowded again.

Ye Pingna is another initiator of the program. She is eager to solicit more support from members of the public.

"We hope people from every walk of the society can show support to ensure the wall can play its role as it anticipated."

In the latest development, the local authorities say they are planning to form a special team to help promote the program, and will open more kindness walls if this first one proves to be a success.