Armless teacher is inspiring next generation and educating poor kids in rural China
- At his lowest point, the man had to beg in big cities to survive
- But a recommendation from his brother turned his life around, and he has not looked back since
In the depths of the mountains in southwestern China, one teacher is educating the next generation while being inspirational proof that no obstacle is too much to overcome.
Jiang lost both his arms in 1996 when he was trying to repair an electrical cable in Anle village, in Yunnan province, where he was born and raised. After the accident, his wife left him and took their baby boy. His mother passed away several years later.
In his darkest moments, Jiang begged on the streets of several big cities to survive.
His life turned around when his older brother retired from a local school and recommended him for a substitute teaching job. He is one of the few people in the village who had finished high school.
“I worried that I might not be a good teacher because I had no teaching experience. But if I did not do it, the kids would need to travel further for their studies,” Jiang told Thepaper.cn.
