Events
The Events page showcases the timeline of activities undertaken by the Sunflower team, highlighting their efforts in fundraising, raising awareness, conducting fieldwork, and more.
Our First Trip to Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, Mutoko, where 32 villages share 7 wells, bear out-of-pocket electricity bills, rely on firewood for energy, and have poor industry levels, Thomas and I have designed a wooden parabolic solar cooker that concentrates light to a single focal point, heating water to its boiling point within 10 minutes.
In August, we travelled to Zimbabwe, Mutoko, and met the councillor of city councilor. This week, we showcased our models to 112 villagers, selected resources in the local market, worked with local carpenters, and finally assembled the final model today.
The localized model can boil 1 liter of water in 10 minutes, and will be distributed as a public good, providing renewable energy for a 50-person football academy to cook and pasteurize water.
Councillor Robert Mabvuta of Mutoko noted that the cost of municipal electricity supply and photovoltaic equipment is prohibitively high, so villagers typically cook using firewood. Under environmental protection policies that restrict indiscriminate logging, the expense of buying firewood represents a substantial burden for rural families whose annual income is only around 600 USD.
Engineering isn’t only about calculations and optimizations, but it’s the art of healing, helping people who are in trouble, and providing better living conditions for ones who also have great potential and big dreams.
Fundraising: Online Notes Sale & Tutoring
During the summer vacation, our team designed and built two solar cookers, which we brought to Zimbabwe. These cookers now provide affordable energy and safe drinking water for around 50 coaches and students.
Building on this success, our next goal is to mass-produce 100 solar cookers and deliver them to Zimbabwe next summer. This project will benefit five public institutions, including schools and hospitals.
To raise funds, we sold high-quality study notes created by students who achieved top marks (A*) in their courses and provided online tutoring sessions with G11 student volunteers across 2 schools in Shanghai (SUIS Gubei and YKPS).
Available subjects include:
1. IGCSE CIE Physics
2. IGCSE CIE Chemistry
3. IGCSE CIE Biology
4. IGCSE AQA English Literature
5. IGCSE CIE Economics
6. Humanities
Credit goes to Feihan Li and Luofan Niu for organizing, coordinating, and promoting this fundraising event.
Special thanks to Chenglin Yu, Tianyi Li, Yanhan Zhang, Naomi Kong, Fangzi Liu, Junheng Chen, Junqi Sheng, and Lidong He for their generous donations and dedicated service as volunteer tutors.
2025 Infinite visionaries award finals
The Infinite Visionaries Award empowers youth aged 12–18 to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through innovative philanthropic projects. Since its introduction to China by the Fosun Foundation in 2012, the award has engaged over 6,600 students nationwide, with selected “Charity Ambassadors” invited to the United States for international exchange, making it a prominent platform for showcasing and fostering youth-driven sustainable development.
At the 2025 edition of the award, which concluded on April 25, Feihan Li represented Program Sunflower and distinguished himself among 208 outstanding projects nationwide. After three rounds of rigorous evaluation, he secured the title of “Charity Ambassador” with a decisive nine-vote lead. In this pinnacle contest, the offline judging panel scrutinized every project detail with exacting standards, while in the online defense round, Feihan captivated the judges with his clear project logic, robust data support, and confident delivery, ultimately emerging as the champion in the final round of the Top 12. As the award’s champion, he and his team received strong support from the Fosun Foundation, including resources and the opportunity for Feihan to participate in the 2025 UNITAR Global Diplomacy Bootcamp in New York.
J&E Sharing for Tomorrow Public Charity Exhibition @Shanghai
Program Sunflower was featured at the 4th J&E Sharing for Tomorrow Public Charity Exhibition, held at the Shanghai Children’s Art Theater. Organized by J&E Sharing for Tomorrow, the event highlighted youth-led initiatives around themes of environmental protection, cultural exchange, and social responsibility, bringing together performances, exhibitions, and creative displays from students across China.
As the president of Program Sunflower, Feihan Li was invited to speak at the event. He introduced the story of Sunflower and shared his experience of presenting sustainable solutions in Zimbabwe, helping raise awareness of global challenges and the importance of youth-driven action.
United Nations Presentation @NYC
At the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Feihan Li was invited to the opening ceremony of the UNITAR Global Diplomacy Bootcamp, held in collaboration with the Fosun Foundation. The programme, which marked the UN’s 80th anniversary, gathered young leaders from around the world for training on diplomacy, multilateral negotiation, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
During the ceremony, Feihan presented his award-winning solar cooker project, an affordable, eco-friendly solution designed to expand access to clean energy and sustainable cooking technologies in Zimbabwe. His work was commended as an example of youth-led innovation aligned with the SDGs, highlighting how practical initiatives can address global challenges at the community level.
OUR Second Trip to Zimbabwe
In July 2025, one hundred solar cookers successfully arrived in Harare, Zimbabwe. The following month, Feihan Li, Junwei Hu, and Bingwen Yang traveled to Zimbabwe to begin distribution and program implementation.
Within just one week, we donated 25 solar cookers to the National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDPZ) and another 25 units to three hospitals and two schools in Mutoko. The remaining 50 cookers are being incorporated into a “business-for-philanthropy” framework, through which we are partnering with local leaders and government officials to retail the cookers within Zimbabwe. The revenue generated will sustain the program long-term while expanding community access.
As part of this initiative, we also trained NCDPZ members to become future retailers. This approach empowers them with a new source of income and creates meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, reinforcing our commitment to both sustainability and inclusivity.
Beyond distribution, we were honored to meet with the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, where we drafted plans to supply solar cookers to safe houses in Zimbabwe. We also held discussions with the Counselor of the Chinese Embassy, exploring opportunities for deeper bilateral cooperation and pathways to scale the program’s impact across the country.
Looking forward, our vision is to partner with more entrepreneurs in solar-rich regions worldwide, extending this model internationally to deliver sustainable and affordable energy to vulnerable communities.
This achievement would not have been possible without the dedication of many. Heartfelt thanks go to Thomas Hu and William Yang for their outstanding teamwork and documentary filming, and to our parents for their steadfast support. We are especially grateful to the Fosun Foundation for providing the platform and coordination, and to Touchroad International Holdings Group for liaising with local governments and facilitating the order of 50 solar cookers.
Infinite Visionaries National Summit and Ceremony @Shanghai
Feihan Li, as the representative of Sunflower, was invited to attend the Infinite Visionaries National Summit and Award Ceremony at Shanghai High School International Division. During the event, Feihan delivered a pitch for Program Sunflower on stage in the main auditorium and was interviewed by several major news outlets, including Shanghai Morning, Shanghai Eye, and Wenhui Daily, helping to share the project’s mission with a broader audience.
The program received high recognition from the President and Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), who commended its vision and impact. In addition, Professor Changjian Jiang, who served as the host of the ceremony, expressed a strong interest in investing in the initiative.
We extend our deepest gratitude to the Fosun Foundation, the CPAFFC, the Xiehe Education Foundation, and Professor Changjian Jiang for their invaluable encouragement and support in driving Program Sunflower forward.