In the city of Nanchang, in an alleyway near a cancer hospital, two senior citizens run a “community cancer kitchen” to support those caring for their loved ones.
Earning the gratitude and goodwill of their nation now that they’ve made national headlines behind the confines of their alley, Wan Zuocheng and Hong Gengxiang have been doing this charity work for two decades.
“No matter what life throws at you, you must eat good food,” Mr. Wan told South China Morning Post.
For just 3 RMB, the equivalent of around $0.32, anyone can use the kitchen spaces they’ve set up in the alleyway to cook meals. Sometimes it’s for the patients so they can eat something familiar rather than hospital food, while sometimes it’s for the people who care for the patients.
In 1993, Wan and Hong ran a restaurant in a building next to the Jiangxi Cancer Hospital, but after it was demolished, they opened a breakfast stall in front of the site.
“There was a couple who came to us with their child,” Wan said, talking about the day in 2003 they decided to start their charity kitchen.
“They said he didn’t want treatment, he just wanted a meal cooked by his mom. So we let them use our kitchen.”
As time passed they added more utensils, appliances, stoves, and ovens to their stall. This came with gradually increasing use of water, electricity, and coal, but as the costs rose, so too did the community, supporting the couple and their efforts to provide the invaluable service they relied on.
Donations began to outpace expenditures, and now nearly 10,000 people come to cook in the cancer kitchen.
“We and the patients are inseparable now. For us, without the patients, we would feel lonely, and for the patients, they would encounter difficulties without us,” Wan told China Daily. “Many of those coming here are cancer patients and their families who are going through tough times.”
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“I will help them as long as I am able to,” said Wan.
Food is incredibly important in Chinese culture, as is the case in most places on Earth. Rather than asking how things are going, in parts of China it’s a common greeting to instead ask someone if they’ve eaten yet.
It’s been thoroughly observed in medicine that the odds of beating cancer can be improved with positivity, and what could be more positive than a loved one bringing you a home-cooked meal?
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In 2019, the local government funded a renovation of the cancer kitchen, moving it indoors and equipping it with more than 20 cooking positions and ventilators. In 2020, they were accorded the honor of being named first among the “People Who Move China,” a popular television recognition similar to CNN Heroes.
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