Tag Archives: Pite Niuniu Family

The New Year Brings Hope for Pite Niuniu and His Family

Posted on by
0

The past three months, Pite Niuniu has continued to work in another city, away from his small farm in Zhaojue County in China’s Sichuan Province. Nonetheless, the family had a fairly-good harvest: 1000 kg of corn, 600 kg of wheat and 1500 kg of potatoes. The production of potatoes is of half of last year’s due to insufficient sunshine and too much rain.

The wife is peeling the corn.

Pite Niuniu's wife, Azhe Zuotu, shucks corn.

This past quarter new born piglets were sold, which gave the family RMB2400 Yuan (US $385). The price of this quarter is not so good, but the family needs the money to prepare for the Yi ethnic minority’s celebration of the New Year.

The wife is feeding the pigs

Azhe Zuotu feeds the family's pigs.

The weather has become quite cold at this time. People have begun use fire to keep warm.

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 previous posts about Pite Niuniu and his family here.

In China, Heifer International Gives Azhe Zuotu Confidence

Posted on by
0

This year, summer seemed to come slowly in China’s Sichuan Province. The weather remained like that of the early spring — more chilly rain and cloudy skies. After recently giving birth to a healthy baby girl, Pite Niuniu and Azhe Zuotu’s family has grown to six members now: the couple and their four children. This Heifer China Liangshang project family will rely on a sow, five fattened pigs, one horse and six geese; potatoes, buckwheat, corn, kidney beans and some rice grown in the family’s own paddy to support them with their day-to-day expenses as well as their children’s tuition.

She is feeding the geese

Azhe Zuotu feeds the family's geese

Pete Niuniu’s wife, Azhe Zuotu, is the Heifer project Self-Help Group (SHG) member. In the past three months, she participated in all the trainings and community events, which included one swine raising technology training, one grass planting training and one HIV prevention training; two Heifer 12 Cornerstones trainings; one community trees planting event, one dancing event and six community hygiene events. Azhe Zuotu is becoming more confident and likely to talk with others.

Azhe Zuotu feeds some of her family's pigs.

The happiest thing in the past months is the sow giving birth to nine piglets. The family will raise the piglets to 2-3 months of age, then sell them in the market in order to earn extra income. The family is expecting a good market price, although they still need to spend some money for the piglets’ feed.

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 previous posts about Pite Niuniu and his family here.

The Niuniu Family’s Hope in the New Spring

Posted on by
0

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.

A New Beginning for Pite and Azhe

Posted on by
2
Pite Niuniu and his wife, Azhe Zuotu, in Zhaojue County, Sichuan Province China

by Heifer China 

Pite Niuniu and his wife are living in Zhaojue County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The county is threatened by AIDS and abuse of drugs. The whole family is depending on farming potatoes, rice and buckwheat, plus pig breeding. They have three children who are all at school, a 15-year old daughter and 2 younger sons. The low production and larger expenditure lead the family to poverty.

After Heifer China came to the village, his wife Azhe Zuotu joined a Self-Help Group. Heifer China gave this family a sow, 4 pigs and some other resources. She learned the 12 Cornerstones, animal breeding management, disease prevention, prevention of AIDS and drugs, crop planting techniques, sapling planting techniques and principals of cooperatives. With the consultation of technicians, they built a new shelter with bricks and cement. In the past few months, the sow passed on 11 offspring, which made the family a 3,500 Yuan income. What’s more, thanks to the seeds provided by Heifer and the couple’s hard work, they had a great harvest consisting of 3,500 kg potatoes, 500 kg rice, 200 kg buckwheat and 1000 kg corns, plus some vegetables.

Azhe Zuotu has received a profound understanding about the mutual support offered in self-help groups; as a result, she started caring for people who need support and love. When the project began, the family received a donation of 4,200 Yuan; so far, they are going to pass 2,200 Yuan to the pass-on candidate family this month. They are planning to pass on an additional 2,000 Yuan in March of next year.

At present, with the help of the Heifer program and the family’s hard work, the household had more income, a better quality and a more harmonious life. They had a repaired shelter, a new biogas pit and a self-owned toilet. Speaking of the future, Pite Niuniu said, “Thanks to Heifer program, I could learn skills and be confident to our future. Thanks for the donors’ help. We are going to be all right.” He would like to redecorate the house; well breed the sow, and make his kids happy.

Editor’s note: This post is the first in a new series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Initially, this series will focus on our programs in Asia/South Pacific, where our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates. 

The newly-constructed animal shelter Pite Niuniu and his fmaily built with help from Heifer China.