Gauden Galea, the World Health Organization's representative in China, wrote a letter replying to students in a middle school in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, on May 8.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a heartwarming four-page handwritten letter to students from a Wuhan middle school. 

The letter, titled "To the generation of hope - a reply from uncle Gao Li," came after WHO's China office received a surprise donation from the Wuhan students, who raised the money by collecting recycable waste. 

"Gao Li" is the transliterated Chinese name of Gauden Galea, the WHO's representative in China. 

Galea received a letter from a 7th grade student in Wuhan Xuguang School, in which the student shared her feelings about the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed the wish that all teenagers around the globe would join hands to help those in need and protect the future world. 

In addition to the letter, the WHO also received a donation of 700 yuan ($100) that the student's entire class raised through an environmental campaign by collecting and selling recyclable waste. 

"The money is usually used to support class activities, but we would love to donate it to the WHO and we will keep doing so in the following years," said the student in the letter. 

The letter deeply touched everyone at the WHO, according to a post from the organization on Sina Weibo, China's social media platform.  "Through the letter, we can feel the students' love for life and their concern for the global pandemic and all humans in the world," it said.

Galea replied in Chinese under the name "Uncle Gao Li" to the student's letter, which, he noted, is a symbol of hope and unity that is urgently needed in the current global fight against the pandemic. 

"Although the fight is challenging the world, it also showed more sides of the Chinese people - tenacity, love, and willingness to help others," he wrote, noting that the WHO has felt friendship and love from people across China since the pandemic outbreak.

China donated $50 million to the WHO after the US announced on April 14 that it was cutting off funding to the organization. 

He noted that the WHO is working hard with the aim of building a better new normality of life, and the student's letter has brought hope to the organization. 

Jia Qingguo, a former dean of the school of international studies of Peking University, told the Global Times on Thursday that WHO's letter is a good way to promote unity the current global pandemic battle, which is to gather the strength of all people to fight the virus.


Newspaper headline: Wuhan children receive WHO's 4-page handwritten letter after donation