On one of my first projects with GIFT (my employer in HK), no amount of preparation would have prepared me for the experience that I had. We flew from Hong Kong, a bustling over commercialized city, to Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province to change flights to Enshi and then took a 2.5 hour shuttle bus ride to the county of Jianshi – our destination.
The journey itself made me understand exactly how isolated these people are. On the shuttle bus ride out, it was explained to us that the roads we were travelling on had only just been built last year. Before that, travel time to get out to the nearest airport would take up to 6 hours! I was well tucked away into the rural parts of China were access to the ‘outside world’ was logistically difficult.
The purpose of our trip was to write a business plan around forming an integrated farmer’s association. I met with the farmers and the township mayor and learnt that the government allocates very small plots of land to each family to satisfy the Millennium Goal requirements. As numbers and data, these people had technically been lifted out of poverty. They had land to farm and houses to live in.
I did home visits while I was there and as I walked up to one of their homes, all their neighbours up and down the street peered out of their doors to get a look at the foreigners. I smiled at them and waved then went into one of the houses to have a chat with the farmer. Once inside, I noticed that the lighting was very poor and there was a lack of furniture – not so much a home as just a house.
The house was made up of 3 rooms divided with concrete/mud walls. There was the living room that had only a cupboard and some wooden stools that he had hand carved themselves – he offered these to me to sit on for our chat. The farmer was a very nice man, quite old and had his grandchild in his lap. He spoke with excitement because he wanted to have a voice and be heard. He spoke about how they are able to work the fields but just need some help to self-organize themselves to be able to negotiate better rates for the sale of their produce.
As we chatted, I noticed that his courtyard was filling up with his neighbours who got curious and came over to find out what was going on. I looked at all of them, wrapped up in very brightly coloured coats (I was there in late February), all with bright red cheeks - their skin damaged by always working outside in the cold winds. Even in my technologically advanced insulated jacket, I felt the biting wind and could only wonder how they work through the winters and sleep in their homes without heat and without insulation.
I also noticed that they were all either very old or young infants and children. There were no adults in the village. When I asked the farmer about it, he said that all the adults had all gone out to the cities to work in factories and they only come home about once or twice a year. It was so sad to hear him say this and I saw the pain of being separated from his children in his eyes.
After some additional discussions, I noticed that despite the bleakness of our surrounding, the farmer and other villagers were full of energy and optimism. They did not need or want any charity, they only wanted for me to listen, understand and help them in a dignified way. And it was this sense of pride in what they have made for themselves with what they have been given that motivated me and my team to buckle down and write them an amazing business plan.
And side note: At one point, I had to use the facilities and the farmer pointed out that I should go through their kitchen into the back area. When I got there, I was quite shocked. There was nothing but a hole in the ground. Literally. And beside it was a pen with a couple of pigs. I’m not going to lie, it was gross and smelled badly. The thought of just holding it until we got back to the hotel crossed my mind, but then thought – I’m here to understand their lives and their situation, I mind as well live as they live. It’s not every day you get that kind of opportunity (if you can call it that). And so I sucked it up and did it. I’ve never felt so thankful to live in North America as I did after that point. I’ve become so much more appreciative of everything that I have in my life. It’s when your basic needs of sanitation becomes unattainable, that you really can’t complain about anything else.
No comments:
Post a Comment