Blind ambition

After facing his own hardships because of blindness, Mu Mengjie has dedicated the last 20 years to improving opportunities for others with impaired sight

"If you have a sunny heart, there is no fear of darkness." This motto is posted on the wall of a classroom at the Mengjie School for the Blind in Pingxiang county, Xingtai, Hebei province. For the students here - whose degree of sight varies from the partial, to complete loss - it is the right kind of motivation required to confront life's challenges.

In the third grade classroom, Zhang Zhibo, who has finished his last lesson, is still "reading" the book. His hand touches the raised Braille dots and his face carries a happy expression. On the blackboard, four large Chinese characters "Longing for the light" are written in chalk. Reading makes him happy, and also fills him with positivity. Apart from the textbooks, Zhang also likes to do extracurricular reading. Reading - as the motto above suggests - is like a beam of light, giving him the power to overcome the darkness.