Author Archives: Heifer China

Heifer China Empowers a Family and a Village

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We paid a visit to Wang Qinghua’s home earlier this year, and we saw that in the past three months, this family of Heifer China project participants has experienced some changes.  Wang Qinghua bought a seven-seat van for purchasing goods and ingredients for her restaurant. Meanwhile, it was used to send water to the Daxigou forest farm twice each day.

The family got 21,000 Yuan (about US $3,300) in income through cattle rearing, about $470 in income from their vegetable plantation, about $2,200 through running the restaurant, and roughly $1,400 from their corn, potato, hazelnut and mushroom crops. This year the family has spent more than $860 on elders’ medical care, $1,500 on their son’s tuition and boarding fees and $315 on a computer.

The whole family are having lunch.

Because of the success of the De’anzhuang Project, the television station in Weichang County broadcasted “Small Village, New Changes: Heifer Program in De’anzhuang” four times a day for two days in February in order to inform people about the big changes in this small village. Wang Qinghua, as one of the three project families, was interviewed by the journalists and appeared on the TV program. Other Heifer China self-help group members and Wang Qinghua also did participatory self-reviews and planning on project activities in 2011 and practiced their Yong Ko dance. They also received trainings on marketing, spring season cattle rearing technology and pole bean growing.

Wang Qinghua’s son, Mao Huanhuan, experienced a significant winter vacation by doing lots of activities such as feeding cattle, washing clothes, playing basketball and playing Chinese chess while completing his assignments. Moreover, he helped collect a special kind of plant especially for urinary tract infection treatment to help a member of their village who is suffering from this condition.

Mao Huanhuan is feeding cattle

Mao Huanhuan feeding one of the family's cows.

As to community development, the community facilitator organized a discussion on exploring markets and enlarging the sales of vegetables. They finally reached an agreement to establish a cooperative, and Deli Vegetable Plantation Cooperative has been officially registered. 208 families in this village bought a share, and more than $28,000 in start up funds was raised. The construction of the road and the De’anzhuang middle bridge have been completed. There are also plans for a 1000 square meter vegetable trade market, a 220 square meter office and a fresh-preserved storehouse with the capacity of storing 60 tons of vegetables. This cooperative will focus on conducting the trade near their village. They also plan to install a street lamp, dig 15 wells, construct six small bridges and pilot a wind power project.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Our team in China has chosen one family in each region where we work and is sharing quarterly updates as these families work to better their lives with Heifer’s help. You can read the first post about Wang Qinghua and her family here.

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Through Heifer China, a Thriving Business for Zhang Hui

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The freezing rain in GuiZhou Province has lasted for a long time from the days before Lunar New Year. But the weather didn’t change Zhang Hui and his wife’s resolve to make a difference in their lives.

In the past three months, there have been a lot of changes for Zhang Hui and his family. The 500 pheasants he raised were sold out during the Spring Festival. Demand exceeds supply. Zhang Hui regretted not raising more to earn more money — each pheasant sold at a price of RMB 70 Yuan (about US $11), which brought Zhang an income of 31,500 Yuan (nearly $5,000). After factoring in the costs for feed, corn, disease prevention and chicks, Zhang earned $3,470 of net income.

In addition, the natural-fed chickens Zhang raised were also sold for a very good price. During the past three months, he has sold 726 natural-fed chickens at a price of about $12 each, which brought him a profit of $6,944. With this income, Zhang Hui bought 24 breeding hens and four breeding cocks. Zhang has accumulated about 600 hatching eggs up to this point, and he plans to raise all of the hatched chicks. Zhang also bought a hatching machine at a cost of about $500.

“With the help of the hatching machine, I can hatch more chicks to raise, which saved me a lot of expenditures on purchasing chicks,” Zhang says. “And I can also sell chicks; it’s a win-win.”

As his business expanded, Zhang also enlarged his chicken house. He used wood and iron sheeting to build two new poultry houses with a fence surrounding them. With a key function of raising pheasants, each house covers nearly 60 square meters and a nearly 600 square meter open area is fenced for raising chickens. The building materials of the two poultry houses cost 6,500 Yuan, or about $1,025.

New Chicken House
A new poultry house

Because his pheasant business is off to such a great start, Zhang went back to his profession, which is making leather shoes. Shortly after his return from Guangzhou, Zhang started a small shoe business. But at that time, he had little start-up money, he was not skilled at manufacturing shoes and the market was not good. Those factors led to him running his shoe business in a deficit. With the money they earned from their livestock rearing, the couple has re-started their shoe business. Zhang bought a machine at a cost of about $4,100. Their work is mainly to process semi-finished products into final products.

“The main business for us is still the poultry rearing. My wife and I just do the manufacturing work for two hours at noon, and another two hours at night,” Zhang says. “When it rains, we also do the shoe processing. My wife is still a new-comer for this; she is very slow at this, but I will teach her. When we are old, we can use this craft to make a living. This doesn’t cost too much, we can pass this craft to our children if they are not good at study.”

Zhang and his wife have made 200 pairs of shoes together since January, with a profit of about $4.70 per pair. At this time, the predictable income is about $950. One of Zhang Hui’s older brothers runs a shoe store in Kaitang Township, and Zhang can have his shoes sold there. “Making shoes is a tough job, but every time when I look at the future of my family, I can hold it even if I feel alone,” Zhang says. “I want to drink wine every day, play Mahjong, watch the battle between the oxen, singing and dancing, just like everybody else did. But I take time to make shoes, if I can enlarge my business in the future, I will make leather bags. I can also use the leftover materials to make kids shoes, which can bring me about $3 each.”

Shoe making machine
Shoe making machine

Since Zhang’s income has increased, he purchased a stereo. When he stays at home, he can listen to some music to make his life happier.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Our team in China has chosen one family in each region where we work and is sharing quarterly updates as these families work to better their lives with Heifer’s help. You can read their earlier posts about Zhang Hui and his family here.

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Heifer China Eases a Mother’s Burden

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When we visited Zhang Min’s home again, she looked very unhappy because her husband’s illness continues to worsen. Wang Chunqiang has AIDS, and he has no appetite and feels sick all the time. This also means that he is unable to work. He told us his family sold two goats this year and bought another female one, who had delivered two goat babies already. “Thanks for Heifer’s help! ” he says. Zhang Min added, “We raise goats so that we could get money by selling them in an emergency. Heifer really helps us in this way. Now we bought another goat again; she had babies as well. The hope is endless.”

Heifer China: A woman cooks in a household affected by AIDS in Anhui Province

Zhang Min cooks at her home in Wangzhuyuan Village, Anhui Province, China.

As for the last Chinese New Year, it was good that they got RMB 200 (about US $31), as well as two bags of flour from the government. Zhang Min’s sister also gave them two fish, two ducks and 5kg of meat — meat is not something this family usually has available to them. Their son, Wang Haoran, has studied hard, and his final exam scores were good. This brings great pleasure to Zhang Min.

There’s another happy event in this unlucky family. We heard Zhang Min has been elected as National People’s Congress deputy of the town. “Thanks to Heifer, I enjoy this honor.” Zhang Min smiled. There are a lot of weddings or birthday invitations in this village, and Zhang Min had to give gifts to them according to local custom, which is a burden to this family. But for future, Zhang Min is still optimistic and confident because of Heifer.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Our colleagues in the field have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. You can read the first post about Zhang Min and her family here.

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Heifer China Restores Hope in an Earthquake-Ravaged Village

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Three months have passed since our last update on Heifer China project participant Chang Julan and her family. They live in Fuxing Village — one of the Sichuan earthquake disaster areas. Since our last post, two of her sows got pregnant and one of which gave birth to four piglets in the first half of February 2012 and another 12 piglets in the second half. In these months, she planted cabbages, garlic, scallions and radishes, and she now raises chicken as well.

As planned, Chang Julan built her kitchen with the help of Heifer China self-help group (SHG) members. Now she can cook inside, though the cooking facilities are not yet fully equipped. In this spring festival of 2012, she and other SHG members conducted celebration activities and they also participated in the activity organized by the local township government. Their dance performance was highly complimented. In addition, Chang Julan spent about RMB 2000 Yuan buying a new refrigerator from Longtan Township and she said it would make it a lot easier to preserve food.

The New Kitchen

The New Kitchen

In February, her son Yang Jiusong transferred to a vocational school in Guangyuan city and studies computers; it will take him three years to graduate. This school will help him get a job if he successfully graduates.

Chang Julan and her parents

Chang Julan and her parents

When it comes to the plan of 2012, Chang Julan said she would decorate the kitchen and purchase some cooking equipment. And soon enough, she will be busy as the season of planting and harvesting is approaching.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Our colleagues in the field have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. You can read the first post about Chang Julan and her family here.

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Pheasants Mean Business is Good for Zhang Hui

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Guizhou Province endured a long stretch of heavy rain, creating problems for many travelers. But for Zhang Hui’s family and for all of Baishui Village this was a joyful occurance: last year’s severe drought was fresh in everyone’s minds, leaving a lingering fear for the year ahead. But with this bountiful amount of rainwater the villagers were assured of a good harvest.

This inundation left everyone very busy, especially considering the season, and Zhang Hui was no exception. Although during this period he had only sold 78 pheasants (for a total of RMB6240 or US $981, and a profit of RMB3100 or US $487), Zhang Hui’s main concern at the moment was the successful incubation, hatching, and nurturing of his chicks.

“Don’t think that because these chicks are small they won’t be able to fetch a good price. My incubator can hold more than 600 eggs at a time with a successful hatching rate of over 80%. So I’ll sell this batch of 1,120 birds for a profit of RMB11,800 (US $1854),” Zhang says. “Then I’ll buy more chicks from elsewhere at RMB 3.5 (US $0.55) each and incubate them for 20 days before selling them off again at a price of RMB 15 (US $2.36) each, making a profit of over RMB 10 on each bird.”

Zhang Hui managing the incubator

Zhang Hui managing the incubator

Zhang Hui plans to sell all his pheasants at the Lunar New Year, so at present he still has all his current chicks. This year Zhang Hui has decided to raise 4,000 chickens before the Lunar New Year, so that by Lunar New Year next year he will have made a small fortune. Going along with this scale of expansion, this year Zhang also planted 20 mu of corn. He said, “This year the corn I plant will have 2 days of after-manuring, when I’ll ask friends to come help out. Everything else can be done by the children and their mother, so I won’t need to do anything at all.”

Studying Mom's technique for making leather shoes

Studying Mom's technique for making leather shoes

Zhang Hui feels very satisfied because not only are his two daughters both obedient, they are also talented: the elder daughter is top in her class, and the younger daughter is a talented painter, getting second prize in a contest held on Children’s Day (June 1st).

“Usually I have so many things to do, making my time at home limited. It’s difficult to help look after the children,” Zhang said. “So I bought and brought home an electric rice cooker and a microwave to give them, to make it easier for them to cook for themselves.”

 

The younger daughter cleaning the pen

Zhang Hui’s family is getting on better and better. Recently Zhang applied for building an operational base to better raise his pheasants, and has already heard that his application has been approved. Zhang’s wife is a skilled artisan in every aspect of making leather shoes, and is happy to help shoulder responsibility for her family. The children, too, are growing up peacefully and happily. All in all, we can see a family that has a bright future ahead of them!

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Our team in China has chosen one family in each region where we work and is sharing quarterly updates as these families work to better their lives with Heifer’s help. You can read our first post about Zhang Hui and his family here.

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The New Year Brings Joy in Tibet

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For Quzong, it is a long and difficult process to get help from Heifer, for there are a lot of needy families who need Heifer’s help in Zhegu Village. As part of the first batch of recipients, Quzong is lucky to reap the best opportunity to improve her family’s life.

Last December, Quzong received money to purchase two yaks from a neighboring village; the yaks are expected to be pregnant and deliver this year. It was on the 26th of the twelfth lunar month of the Tibetan calendar when we visited Quzong’s home, and all the villagers were busy cleaning the yard or preparing food for the festival. This made Zhegu Village more lively than usual.

Quzong’s two children were also at home for the winter vacation. She bought a set of cedar furniture, which is a symbol of a happy life, from Zedang Town several days ago. “Although I had wanted to buy it for a long time, I could not spend all income of last year to do that. I was not sure we can get money in the coming year, for our animal quality was poor so that some may die in spring or die off when suffered from snowstorm,” Quzong said. “But I feel confident this year because the yaks we bought are good and I believe they could deliver the babies in the coming year. Therefore, I purchased this furniture as the greatest gift of this New Year!”

According to Tibetan custom, people treat each other in the village and visit house to house during the New Year period; hence people will feel proud if they bought something new this year. Because of this new set of furniture, Quzong’s family is filled with joy and anticipation to this New Year of Tibetan the calendar.

It is really a special New Year for Quzong’s family. We hope she can be better off in the future and wish them a happy New Year.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. You can read the first post about Quzong and her family here. 

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Spring Brings Surprises in Yarkant Village

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When we visited Tuerdi and his family again, we were in for a surprise. With the coming of the spring cultivation here in Yarkant Village in the Xinjiang region of China, the family is getting busier. Tuerdi needs to get up earlier to take care of the pregnant cattle that were provided by Heifer China and to make the breakfast for his children. Then he will ride his recently-purchased motorcycle to the field for working on his land. He bought the motorcycle two weeks before our visit in order to save his time and energy when making the trip between the fields and his home.

And during our visit, we learned that Hasanjan, the family’s son, now eats more nutritious lunches through a local government program (he used to eat only a pancake as his lunch). Although we don’t know how long the lunch support will last, we are happy to see Hasanjan’s face is getting red and rounder. When we ask about his studies in school, the little boy is quite excited in telling us he could count the numbers from 1 to 10 in Han-Chinese!

As we were leaving, Tuerdi phoned the the next families we would visit to inform them of our arrival and to check on their cattle. Through his enthusiasm for joining all the Heifer program trainings, he has become an expert in cattle rearing, and he serves as an instructor of the subject in his village. Spring is the best season of the year, and we wish Tuerdi and his family will have a busy and prosperous year.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. You can read the first post about Tuerdi and his family here.

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The Niuniu Family’s Hope in the New Spring

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Three months have passed by and there is great news to Pite Niuniu’s family that his wife, Azhe Zuotu, has given birth to a healthy baby girl!

After Chinese Lunar New Year, the eldest child, who is 16 years old, went to Guangdong trying to find a job. The two sons have begun their new semester. They go to school in the day time and after school both of them need to help the family with chores. And, now they have a new job: looking after their baby sister who is now just less than two months old.

Every March is the time for spring plowing, and that also means it’s a time of great expense. The family spent 1500 RMB (about US $230) for animal feeding, $30 for grass seed, $80 for fertilizer, and bought 200 kg of potatoes. Another big cost is for the new Yi village, a housing project supported by the local government, which will provide about $3,140 for each family. The rest of the construction cost for each family home (about $6,300) needs to be supplied by the family. More than 70 families will join in the construction here in Zhaojue County, Sichuan Province.

Pete's wife is paring potatoes

Azhe Zuotu paring potatoes.

Azhe Zuotu, a self help group member, participated in the trainings of grass planting, animal rearing, drug prevention and the 12 Cornerstones. She also took part in the community events of art performance and tree planting, and she did all these things while in the final three months of her pregnancy.

Spring is the beginning of the new year, and we Chinese have a saying: “Plan your year in Spring.” Pite Niuniu and his family hope the rain will come early to end the drought and the pregnant sow will give birth smoothly and bring them as many piglets as possible. They also hope the construction of the new Yi village will be done soon so they can move into their new house. All of these are giving them some excitement and happiness.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Read the first post about Pite Niuniu and his family here.

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