Not One Less

Not One Less reminded me of America and its No Child Left Behind Act. The only difference is the idea of not one less actually showed a sense of caring for the child as opposed to only caring about passing standardized test. There’s a big difference in a child’s progression when a/the teacher is involved in a matter that shows they truly care as opposed to them only being there for a paycheck or merely only responsible for a set amount of hours. 

Wei Minzhi, a thirteen year old girl who clearly had a lot in general to learn hers, was brought in my the mayor of poor mountain village to substitute for the town’s school teacher who had to take a month long leave of absence. For some un-given reason before Wei Minzhi’s arrival several of the students had stopped attending school. The teacher who was leaving promised Teacher Wei, as she was respectfully called, an extra 10 yuan on top of the 50 yuan that was promised by the mayor if not one less child was missing upon his return. It only took a matter of days for one of the students attendance to cease due to the poverty that they abided in.

When observing Teacher Wei, it took me sometime to decide if I felt as if she was  dedicated to her job because of the money that she was promised or because she actually cared about the students. If the actual teacher came back and there was less children that she started with she would be out of 10 yuan but at the same time she knew that the reason her pupil had left school was to go to the city and find a job, in order to help his family who was in financial debt which was unfortunate seeing as how he was only in the fourth grade. This circumstance that fell upon this one students house most likely was only one out of all of the other villagers who struggled day to day. Before many children in this community had a chance to actually learn about and live life they had to support their families and leave school. For many go to and finishing school was a potential out. 

Now, Teacher Wei made her mind up and refused any answer that worked against her and her mission to find and bring her student home and back to school.  Her determination was most likely what saved her students and their village from financial ruin allowing the villagers to have and accept more options. When communities outside of the mountain village heard of their daily conditions they made a move to donate and make is so that some stress be removed from the village. 

The depth of “It takes a village to raise a child” reaches so much further beyond a child. Not one less demonstrated that it takes a neighbor to hold a community together.