Recently, the targeted poverty alleviation work of Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) has achieved good results: Aba County has successfully passed the Sichuan provincial inspection and acceptance of poverty alleviation and removed the “hat of poverty”. As a provincial direct assistance unit, SWJTU achieved full marks in the assessment of the effectiveness of poverty alleviation assistance. Among the poverty alleviation cadres sent by the school, Comrade Cai Bo and Comrade Wang Wenbin were awarded the title of advanced individual for their poverty alleviation work in Sichuan Province in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

For a long time, the school leaders have attached great importance to the targeted poverty alleviation work, made overall plans, and visited the poor households many times. In the past year, Party Secretary Wang Shunhong, President Yang Dan and other school leaders led teams to Aba County, Maerkang City and Ebian County to carry out supervision and investigation on poverty alleviation 14 times with a total of 194 visits to poor households. The school leaders purchased agricultural and sideline products to help the paired poor households and solved practical problems of life and production for poor households, amounting to RMB 22,000. The Office for External Cooperation and Liaison, Party and Executive Office, Logistics and Infrastructure Management Office, Youth League Committee, Academic Affairs Office, Affiliated Middle School, Strategy and Discipline Office, International Cooperation and Exchange Office, Distance and Continuing Education College, Information and Network Management Office, Assets and Laboratory Management Office, Party Committee Propaganda Department, and Catering Service Center, etc. went to relevant poverty-stricken counties to support poverty alleviation work. The school also purchased agricultural and sideline products from Maerkang City and Ebian County totaling 193,600 yuan.

(The Party secretary Wang Shunhong is inspecting the kiwi base of Shuangfeng Village )

The president Yang Dan is inspecting the SWJTU-funded air-dried yak beef production and processing plant of Abuluo Village.

(Oxtail bamboo shoots product)

Over the past year, SWJSU has invested a total of 1.575 million yuan in poverty alleviation, among which 300,000 yuan has been invested to optimize the overall traffic road planning in Aba County. With the efforts of experts from the school's design institute, the road planning has passed the project acceptance. A fund of 250,000 yuan was allocated for the training of cadres at all levels in Aba County. An investment of 150,000 yuan was made to buy TV sets for the villagers of Abuluo Village; Another 150,000 yuan was allocated to build steel plate bridges for the convenience of the people in Hapiao Village of Maerkang City.

All-round support on talents training, education, culture, health care, and industries.

The foundation of the future is talent-oriented. Therefore, the school is committed to building a targeted assistance system for cadres, holding two training classes for Aba County totaling 98 trainees to improve the leadership and governing capacity of the county and township cadres. Furthermore, SWJTU invited party members, cadres, and representatives of villagers from Maierma Township to visit SWJTU in two batches totaling more than 120 persons. Through the display of scientific and technological achievements of SWJTU, the introduction of history and culture, the psychological counseling of grassroots cadres, and field visits, the theoretical knowledge level of cadres and villagers was greatly improved.

In order to block intergenerational passage of poverty, Southwest Jiaotong University also actively promotes its poverty alleviation assistance in education, culture and medical care. Over the past year, the school has continued to send five teachers and students to teach in Maerkang City, and the educational assistance group has carried out eight thematic activities. In the "Warm Winter Action" to send love and warm water cups to poor students, President Yang Dan took the lead in making donations, and the activity raised 20,000 yuan. In June, 32 teachers and students from Abuluo Village of Maierma Town were invited to Chengdu for a five-day study tour. Children studied in the affiliated primary school, experienced the simulated driving of motor trains in the National Laboratory of Rail Transit, visited Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Museum, Sichuan Provincial Library, Chengdu Zoo, and the Polar Haichang Ocean Park. The school invested 49,000 yuan to upgrade and maintain the facilities of Abuluo Village Sports Square, enriching the cultural and sports activities of the villagers. In September, the first yak milking competition in Maierma Town was sponsored by the school, which made herdsmen feel the joy of harvest, and at the same time promoted national unity and integration, and upgraded both animal husbandry and tourism. The school also organized the General Hospital of Western Theater and the Third People's Hospital of Chengdu to offer two free clinic activities in Aba County and Maerkang City, where they carried out respiratory medical checkup and eye examination for nearly 200 villagers.

 “To shake off poverty and get rich, we must pay attention to children's mental health”

"Through the grassroots support activities, I deeply felt the urgent need of grassroots mental health education. Left-behind children, children from single-parent families and divorced families need warm education." Professor Ning Weiwei, secretary of the Party branch of the Psychological Research and Counseling Center, said that the lack of care in childhood will continue to affect children's future. Rural schools lack not only hardware, but also "software", namely the advanced concept. Old and backward ideas restrict the healthy development of education. Psychological problems of college students often traces back to primary and secondary schools and families. The mental health education in primary and secondary schools is the basic, long-term and systematic work, which needs to be strengthened urgently.

In April, Professor Ning Weiwei took part in the intellectual service activity of Sichuan Expert Service Group and went to Zigong City to support the development of grassroots education. Altogether, forty-one experts from 10 fields, including health, ecological environment, and education in Sichuan Province conducted a five-day intelligence support, in which Professor Ning Weiwei undertook the work of mental health education. Professor Ning Weiwei conducted field investigations, answered questions, and offered on-site guidance at some schools of Zigong City. The Education and Sports Bureau of Da'an District arranged symposiums and special lectures on mental health education, and 35 school-level cadres attended the training.

In August, the psychological service team of Psychological Research and Counseling Center of Southwest Jiaotong University visited the Central Primary School of Dazang Township in Maerkang City. A six-person psychological service team led by Professor Ning Weiwei, consisting of 3 teachers (Zhang Xuewei, Feng Jin and Huang Xiang) and two graduate students (Wu Dan and Li Siqi) carried out mental health education activities for teachers and students of the Central Primary School of Dazang Township.

"The expectation of poor households is the direction of the endeavor of teachers and students from SWJTU." Wang Shunhong, the secretary of the Party Committee of SWJTU continued to say: “Although the road is long, SWJTU will mobilize all forces to do a good job in poverty alleviation with solid work, dedication, and passion. We will remain true to our mission, fulfill our social responsibility of higher education institutions, and embody the responsibilities of Jiaotong University with actions."