On June 1, 2006, Children's Day, the Messer Group CEO and his wife paid a visit to the Yunnan Messer Hope Primary School, in the village of Jiang Po in Deqin County, Yunnan Province, China. During the trip, they visited another local primary school, the Ethnic Primary School in Deqin County. The scene impressed the visitors deeply. At lunchtime all the children gathered on the school playground and separated themselves into groups of seven or eight with each group forming a circle. Then they squatted down on the ground, holding rice-filled mugs. In the middle of each circle was a washbasin containing a simple lunch of potatoes sautéed with hot peppers. The children remained very orderly. Obviously, they routinely had lunch in this way. The children were chatting and laughing.  What appeared to be unimaginable privation to us, the newcomers from a large city, was a part of their daily life.

After a year of construction work, in 2010 a brand new school cafeteria, named "Messer Hope Building", was officially opened in the Ethnic Primary School of Deqin County. Finally the sight of squatting children having to eat lunch on the playground became history. With the help of Yunnan Youth Development Foundation, Messer Group made a donation of 380,000 Rmb, in which Dr. Hans Messer Foundation donated 25,000 Euros and Yunnan Messer donated a sum of 140,000 Rmb. The newly built cafeteria, a one story structure and covering an area of 277.76 square meters, can accommodate around 160 students at one time.

The Ethnic Primary School of Deqin County, a county-level boarding school, occupies an area of 5,600 square meters and accommodates 309 students and 30 full-time teachers. The completion of the primary school cafeteria greatly improved the living conditions of both teachers and students, and shows Messer's commitment to help the local communities.