An Zhu (Andrew Yu): Travel Can Change The World

An Zhu (安猪) is something of a nickname for Andrew Yu, who gave a presentation at TEDxShanghai 2009 introducing his NGO 1kg More and how travelers like himself can “change the world”, you guessed it, 1kg at a time.

An Zhu is a travel lover who has been through most of China’s southwestern provinces. In 2004, having seen many rural schools, he founded 1KG MOre to encourage everyone to help these schools with their travel. The concept is simple. 1KG more encourages travelers to bring 1 kg of books or supplies to schools on their travels. To date 1KG More has helped more than 700 rural schools. An Zhu believes in “participatory democracy”, and adds that charity should not be by a small number of experts or beholden to great philanthropists; the world’s progress must be driven by the countless ordinary people.

An Zhu started his talk by sharing pictures of rural Chinese children in China he has met in his travels. There are 66 million impoverished children in China, prompting him to ask himself how people like himself can help them and make a difference. There are 300 million people who travel (for leisure) in China, and 300 million > than 66 million.

But how do you mobilize these 300 million people? How do you make it easier for them to act, to contribute, without the act itself discouraging them before they get started? Hence, the simple idea of merely bringing 1kg extra worth of luggage as they travel, with that luggage being books or materials they can drop off and donate to the poor schools these travelers encounter at their destinations and in their travels.

Going further, Andrew’s 1kg More utilizes the internet to organize all the schools participating in their program, what they need (so travelers aren’t always bringing the same thing over and over again, like “pencils”), and where they are, to efficiently guide travelers with the heart to do their bit.

1kg More now has over 700 participating schools, up from 120+ last April, and 98 in 2007. 50+ events happen each month.

We’ve written about Andrew and 1kg More before. Be sure to read our past posts, Grass-roots NGO in China: 1kg More 多背一公斤 and Belated Happy Birthday to “1kg More” and Updates, for much more information on how they do what they do, and how you can help. More TEDxShanghai 2009 coverage here.