Winning Photo at China Charity Fair Stirs Up Controversy Among Netizens

The photo above, entitled Hand in Hand, won a prize at the China Charity Fair, which was closed last week on July 14. On the blackboard, it reads “Hand in Hand Helping Schooling”.  The picture was suspected to be taken at a charity ceremony where poor kids in rural areas were handed free school supplies, a school bag in this picture.

Just one day after the China Charity Fair was closed, netizen 近不可及 posted this photo on her WeiBo, with a comment, “I saw this picture at the Charity Fair yesterday. If this is what they call “charity”, if I were asked to educate children with this sort of “charity”, I would say ‘Fxxx the charity.'”  This weibo went viral immediately — it was reweibed ( I coin this word after retweet ) over 2,000 times and got nearly 900 replies within 36 hours after the original post.

An overwhelmingly majority of the replies is criticism, on charity projects, on the judging committee of photography contest, on the photographer, on the school, and even on the complacent posture of the girl on the right in the picture. You may have a taste of the controversy this winning photo has stirred up from a few Weibo:

王小石头儿: It’s really disgusting to showcase mercy with arrogance and superiority at the cost of hurting the self-esteem of poor children.  If such window dressing charity and cold hearted charity were not eliminated, those who really put all their heart into charity would get hurt.

No2Escape: It’s a heart breaking picture. The triumphant girl on the right, the dejected girl on the left, what a huge gap between the two of them!  The touch of the tip of their fingers, what a weak connection! Caring people also means being aware of their dignity and helping them develop self-confidence and self-improvement. Such a charity project [as shown in the picture ] is actually a blow [on poor kids].”

真名相国良: I was asked whether to donate 1 Yuan at KFC today. I decided not to after some thought. I only want to participate in charity over which I have control.  It’s not a matter of the amount of money.  [I will make ] no donation to institutions.

Julia_Cui: What has made all these people, the organizer of the fair, the photographer, the judge of the contest, blind without realizing this photo shows hurt, not compassion?

Some people working in the social sector take a deeper look at the photo,

顾远_AHA: I was reviewing some projects designed by college students in Beijing and WuHan a couple of weeks ago, and found many projects aimed at “helping rural children learn more about city life”, so I asked “Why wouldn’t you help city children learn more about rural life?” We should double check what assumptions have been made behind the design of such projects.

贺丽狮姐爱生活-D385: Yesterday I participated in a training program for volunteers by Lions Club on how to do charity more professionally, in terms of both psychology and skill.  [ Such training ] is just a start.

Despite the lopsided criticism, some people remain sober:

吕侯：I’m wondering whether the picture has been misinterpreted. Maybe it was taken when the girl [on the left] happened to drop her head. We probably should have a little more background information before commenting.

浪人一挥：We should not blame the kid who is trying to help. Those adults yelling around with no consideration on how these kids would feel should take the blame. Bad mentality. The judges who offer the prize really suck and are absolutely on glue. Charity has a long way to go. We can question ill behaviors, but should always be aware of our approaches. We should not let our irritation frighten off those on the way [of doing good], especially kids.

This discussion reminded me of  a visit to a nonprofit organization serving youth with special needs here in Boston.  Before we met the youth, the program director kindly reminded us, ” The youth are all very sensitive, so please don’t give them special attention.  Just treat them like any other youth.”

So, how have you or your organization made sure your good-intentioned charity efforts/programs don’t backfire? Please tell us in the comment. 

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