Heifer

Gao Wanxue, a teenage girl born in a small county, Qingchuan in Sichuan, had never imagined such great changes in her life until the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.

Wanxue's grandmother died in the disaster. They lost everything including their house. Five days after the earthquake, Wanxue returned home from college and she could hardly recognize her house which has been completely damaged in the quake. Since her home town was no longer safe for living, her family migrated to Jiange County under the government's arrangements. They bought a slightly damaged mud house with the rehabilitation subsidy from the government and were given a plot of land to start a new life there.

However, life was not easier at all for Wanxue's family. They used to live in the mountainous area and never grew rice or used chemicals in their farmland before. However, in order to ensure a good harvest, they had to learn about it. Due to the lack of skills and experience, their harvest was just half of other people's. Her sister therefore had to go to the city for some short-term labor work to support the family.

"I could hardly see any hope when we first moved here. Life seemed so difficult for us. We were not even able to feed ourselves. Then Heifer started a project in our village and tried to understand our needs," said Wanxue.

Heifer started "earthquake rehabilitation project" in Wanxue's village in November 2009. When setting up the self-help group and the community development plan there, the community found that the crucial problem there was the lack of a sustainable livelihood. Goat raising was found to be the best solution for villagers to earn a living. Wanxue's family got 14 goats. "We can rely on them to increase our income. My father can use the manure to fertilize the land. We can also sell some goats next year for an income." Besides, Heifer gave a series of training on animal management, grass planting, disease prevention to make sure that the project families acquired the capability for sustainable development.

Wanxue's life is full of hope now. She is studying agriculture in a vocational school. "My family has been relying on agriculture for a living for many years. I believe that agricultural knowledge can help me develop a sustainable solution to lift ourselves out of poverty, instead of resorting to labour work in the city which is not a viable solution at all. "

Meet the Project Families Gathering

Gao Wanxue and two teenagers from Heifer project families will visit Hong Kong to share their stories with donors in early March, 2010. If you are interested in joining the sharing session, please email your name and telephone no. to stella.cheung@heiferhk.org with the subject being "Meeting the Project Families Gathering". Children are welcome.

Date: March 6, 2010 (Sat)
Time: 3:00- 4:00pm
Venue: 1307, HSH Mongkok Plaza, 800 Nathan Road, Kln, HK