Small Gift Makes Big Change

XIPO, China—My name is Hu Deyi, and I live in Xipo village with my husband and two kids. Our village lies on the south side of Huangshan Mountain. Land is limited here. We were very poor. I never would have thought that our life could be changed by the small gift from Heifer.

In the autumn of 2006, we received a breeding pig sent by Heifer. After the series of trainings, I understood that the pig should be taken care of carefully. I never raised pigs before. I built a pigpen with wood. The project staff came to teach me how to feed it and the methods of disease prevention. Soon it gave birth.

In less than two years, I was able to sell 20 piglets and made an income of $730 from that. It is really far beyond my imagination. Our life has been hard for many years, and we tried hard to make changes. All before now had failed. Now we really made changes starting from this gift.

I know what we have achieved is not only from the pigs. Technical training ensures that the pig is healthy enough. The biogas system helped solve the problem of the manure. We also can use the energy to cook and for light. Exchange visits allow me to learn a lot of new things from other communities.

I never thought that a pig could make big changes to our family. Now it became the truth. This month, I will pass my pig to other family. We will all have a brilliant future.

Translated by Heifer China Staff