A Sustainable Small Business Solution for a Single Mom

Baiyuhua is a 48-year-old single mother of three who lives in a village in remote Qinghai. With no husband to support her, she finds herself carrying the difficult task of caring for her children as well as meeting the family’s financial needs. They are a farming family, whose main source of income depends on the harvest, which is often not enough to live on. Due to her declining health, she can no longer perform much of the heavy work that farming requires.

Baiyuhua herself never attended school, and though she longs to give her children the opportunity she never had, their situation has forced her eldest to seek employment at a young age to help support them. The financial burden of education, alongside the need for income, creates an almost impossible situation. Yet this is the hard decision that many single mothers in Qinghai face every day: a choice between the education of their children and survival.

Baiyuhua’s two breeding pigs

The Pigs for Poverty Program offers the chance to alleviate this burden. Through raising and breeding pigs, single mothers like Baiyuhua can achieve financial independence, whilst being able to send their children to school. Since joining the program earlier this year, Baiyuhua is now much more optimistic about her future and that of her children.

She says, “It’s a good thing to know that you are helping single mothers to support pig breeding businesses. I am very lucky to have your support. Although I am not good at doing business, I think I can raise pigs. It is not heavy work and I can take care of my family. Thank you!”

Baiyuhua in front of her pig pen

200 families were part of the Pigs for Poverty Project in 2019 and received 2 breeding pigs and training in pig husbandry and small business budgeting. We hope to help another 125 families and single mothers like Baiyuhua in the summer of 2020. Thanks to GPA Global for underwriting our 2020 project and to the donors from the 11th Annual Shenzhen Charity Federation Captivating Charity Auction. Together, in the summer of 2020, we will help bring financial independence to those who need help.

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