Thank you, Captivating!

“My name is Yang Yi and I am 13 years old now and I am studying in Grade 6 at Daxi Primary School. I live in a big family in which there are 15 people. We live in a mountainous area where most family’s major income is from farming. Though there are a number of people in my family, the farmland is actually pretty little. Living in somewhere growing about 1.65 acre of paddy, we experience a hard life but we are happy. In order to support the family and children’s education our parents and my oldest brother have left for the city from home to earn more money. My siblings and I miss our parents and brother very much because they can only get back home in Chinese New Year.

“My grandparents are in their seventies now and are in poor health. In April 2012, the Captivating/Heifer Village Program came to Daxi and my family was chosen to be the first group of villagers who can be part of the program. We used the gift money of￥5000 to buy cattle and piglets. I heard from my uncles that it will sell at a satisfactory price if we raise good pigs. My little sisters walk around the pigsty to watch these pigs every day, expecting them to grow up faster.

“The cow of our family helps plough and it can also produce a calf once a year. My grandpa raises the cow near farming land so as to use the cattle manure to fertilize the plants. My grandmother and aunt take care of the children and raising pigs every day. At the end of the year, we can sell three pigs and still have one left to eat. So yummy and so lucky.  Our life seems to be getting better and better gradually. My study is pretty busy because I am doing my best to prepare for the exam of entering the Junior High School next year. Although it is really tiring, finishing my work greatly after school, I always help my grandma to feed these pigs and babysit my sisters. I hope we can have a good life as soon as possible so that my parents and brother can come back home earlier and our family members can live together happily.

“As part to the program plan, we passed 5,000 RMB of gift money to the next family in July, 2014 from our increased family earnings. I sincerely hope that the next family are able to have the success that we have had. I am grateful for the help of Captivating which leads us to have a totally different life.