When typing ‘Sri Lanka’ in the search box of China’s social media Weibo, you’d see hashtags such as “The Sri Lanka boy who sells flowers” dominating the top-recommended results, raking up more than 30 million views.
This wasn’the case before a video went viral in April, with the most popular topic on Douyin (Chinese TikTok) reaching 300 million views so far.
But the figure in the video runs on the hill all year round.
The boy wearing the ceaseless smile was recognized as Dilip Madushanka, who, according to “Sri Lanka National Pavilion”, has been selling flowers as the main livelihood for his family of six for ten years.
Bare-foot, slender, and with a bittersweet smile have been iconic ever since.
Little did we know how his day revolves: sourcing flowers, bundling the blossoms and venturing out to sell them by chasing every passing bus along the roadside on the hill, which oftentimes fails to catch the attention of tourists.
Nevertheless, he runs up and down the bushes for shortcuts to meet them at the next turn, trying twice in hope for winning over potential buyers.
The chance for a bus stopping and opening the door for him is slim; most attempts end up in disappointment despite running up several tiers of the hill. Yet, the smile on his face never diminishes, nor does his effort running after buses for miles to seize every opportunity.
He never gets in the way of any car, nor would he compel anyone to buy his flowers. Each day, he makes ends meet by chance, by his non-intruding struggle.
The video wasn’t intentionally emotional, but it sparked widespread discussion among Chinese netizens, mostly touched by his striving spirit and uplifting smile, exclaimng how heartfelt it is to see assiduity and kindness intertwined.
There’s even a hand-drawn picture of that scene — the boy standing by the road holding the flower with his arms wide open — being shared multiple times, demonstrating “It seems like he carries a love for life that I thought I’d never rediscover.”
Main spark
His enchanting smile was the main spark, leading people to philosophize his story as “the little prince born of adversity”.
The woman wiping her tears in the video said what she couldn’t help herself was noticing “he wasn’t even wearing shoes on his feet,and he was so skinny”.
This might not be about extolling hardship, but the spirit and optimism he embodied have struck with people innately, especially those still recovering from the stroke of the pandemic and lost the way of finding the meaning of life.
It was more than his smile that was contagious, but his attitude and belief of treating every single “customer” with sincerity and zeal wholeheartedly, and the resilience that transmitted to each flower he sold brought pleasure to others.
“The harder you stick on the more blessings you’d get”
“I always tear up every time I saw this post and I’m so proud of the Chinese tourist who exchanged kindness with his hard work.”
“It’s not flowers that he sells, but the way he works hard in life; it’s not flowers you are buying, but your kind attitude towards others.”
The first video was released on Douyin (Tiktok) on April 20,with the cover of “The Sri Lanka flower boy who shaped my life”, sharing what he and his team encountered during their scouting trip in Sri Lanka.
The man filming this video is a member of a Chinese company called “Wilderness SCIENCE”, which tells what brought them there: to excavate the path for educational tour abroad.
Behind this dream-come-true story lies another reciprocal tale. Tracing back to the very source, we’d arrive at the educational company “Wilderness SCIENCE” founded by Ke Zhou in 2017.
Ke Zhou is one of the entrepreneurs who devoted to education, but in his own way. Seeking out a way to foster the internalization and contextualization of applied knowledge, he came up with the idea of combining knowledge acquisition with experiential application,which turned into the organization nowadays with diverse courses oriented towards nature education and PBL STEM.
Now that he and his team is empowering systematical courses with three sectors of “Inside school” “Outside school” and “Naturalist expeditions”, branching out the territory for more suitable contexts of merging nature and learning has been his next-step priority.
Zhou’s Sri Lanka visit
This took Zhou to Sri Lanka, boasting a wealth of pristine natural resources and cultural heritage, it seems like a perfect place for kids to experience cross-cultural exploration.
Having organized educational tours to Sri Lanka, his team re-embarked on the field trip to Sri Lanka in April.
While the spotlight of the trickle-down effect was mostly visible on the boy, the initial video and influencers who later followed steps have received exponential likes and attention as well, as return, Wilderness SCIENCE’s organizations and projects also opened a window for themselves.
“We would stick to this cause and promote our Sri Lanka project. I’m expecting to see continuous innovation from other peers in this field, and I heartily wish this boy and his country remain as pure as they always have been,” says Ke Zhou.
The exposure on social media has indeed shed light on his plight and invited solicitude that later turned into actions. When people in China are concerned over this boy from thousands of miles away,more Chinese organizations have traversed mountain villages attempting to probe into his life, invited him to guest on livestream,and supplied him with subsistence not only shirts and shoes, but also covering a whole-year flower selling’s income.
In the latest video on Instagram released by Sri Lanka National Pavilion, Dilip Madushanka is seen taking selfies with his first and new phone given by Oppo Realme.
Support
The Government is also supporting him, along with Chinese institutions now planning to provide him with language classes and education opportunities.
He is still one of the lucky ones who were sent to the “lost and found”, whose plight of facing poverty and education scarcity has been exposed to the world for the gap to be mended.
