The current appearance of Huopu Village, Zhaojue County. Taken in May 2020. Xinhua News Agency reporter, photo by Jiang Hongjing
A house in Huopu Village, Zhaojue County before poverty reduction. Taken in July 2016. Xinhua News Agency
A teacher at the preschool education point in Huopu Village, Zhaojue County teaches children. Taken in March 2019. Xinhua News Agency
Villagers in Huopu Village, Zhaojue County dry radishes. Photo taken in May 2020. Xinhua News Agency reporter, Jiang Hongjing
A morels greenhouse in Huopu Village, Zhaojue County. Photo taken in April 2020. Xinhua News Agency reporter, Jiang Hongjing
In the southwest of Sichuan, between the turbulent Jinsha River and the rushing Dadu River, is the vast Daliang Mountain. For thousands of years, compatriots of the Yi ethnic group have lived and multiplied here. The mountains and valleys are deep, the gullies are vertical and horizontal, and it has been barren and backward for a long time. It belongs to the Wumeng Mountain area, a concentrated and contiguous destitute area, and the "three districts and three states" deep poverty-stricken area. Huopu Village is a typical poverty-stricken village in the hinterland of Daliang Mountain, with an average altitude of 2,700 meters. In 2014, among the 780 people in 187 households in the village, there were 203 people in 74 households with registered cards, and the poverty rate was 26%.
Liangshan Yi District has always been the concern of the top leader of the General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2018, the General Secretary, despite the long journey and rugged mountain roads, came here to visit the cadres and the masses, and affectionately wished the Yi compatriots an early poverty reduction and a well-off society. At the National Two Sessions in 2017, when the General Secretary participated in the deliberation of the Sichuan delegation, he used the metaphor of "embroidery" to point out that poverty reduction in Yi District should continue to be the top priority, and some need to work on "embroidery".
More than 3 years have passed, has Huopu Village achieved poverty reduction? How is the work of "embroidery"? Recently, we came here and deeply felt that under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with the supreme leader as the core, the local cadres and the masses worked together, worked hard, and used practical actions to "embroider" a gorgeous picture of poverty reduction and wealth in the depths of Liangshan.
Relocation "embroidery" under the happy starting point
Huopu means "the top of the mountain" in the Yi language. Here, it is cold and hypoxic, the land is thin and there is little material, and one side of the water and soil cannot support the other. In the past, the villagers lived in mud houses and ate potatoes and sauerkraut buns, and their lives could only be difficult to maintain. In 2016, Huopu Village completed the relocation of poverty alleviation, and all the poor people moved into new houses, which has since made a starting point for a happy life. In 2018, the whole village of Huopu Village has poverty reduction. Now walking in the village, the Yi family’s new village with white walls and gray tiles is scattered, and public facilities such as health rooms, cultural rooms, preschool education points, cisterns, asphalt roads, and solar street lamps are readily available.
An Ziwu, a poor family of six, moved into a new 80-square-meter house facing southeast and full of sunshine. The living room, bedroom, kitchen, toilet, cattle pen are orderly divided, and there is a small yard outside the house. In the past, their family and cattle and sheep lived together in a dark adobe house. When it was cold, they huddled by the fire pond for warmth during the day, and slept around the fire at night. Bamboo and grass were used as beds on the ground. On the fire pond, three stones supported a pot, which was used for cooking and boiling water. At that time, the only furniture was a few small benches. There was no wardrobe, and the family’s clothes were stuffed in a woven bag. Today, he does not need to pay much to live in a spacious and bright new house, and the government has also added wardrobes and other furniture. He said that since moving to a new home, it feels like life has started all over again.
In Huopu Village, there are many poor households like An Ziwu who have benefited from the relocation. The poor household Qu Bizi Amu, a clean-loving Yi grandmother, said: "In the past, I wanted to be clean but I didn’t have the conditions. The adobe house was not clean no matter how much I swept it. Now the new house is paved with floor tiles and pasted with wall tiles, it is easy to clean, and the house is finally bright." In fact, it is not only the house that brightens up, but also the mood and life of the poor households.
"Embroidery" of poverty reduction industries according to local conditions
In the past, the Liangshan region was backward in production, and some places still used slash-and-burn primitive farming methods. Now, everyone realizes that developing industries is the fundamental policy for poverty reduction and wealth.
Huopu Village’s arable land, woodland, and pastures are not small, and there is sufficient light. The main problem is that the accumulated temperature in the alpine area is insufficient, and the yield and output value of traditional crops such as potatoes and buckwheat are low. In this regard, under the guidance of experts from the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the village has introduced "Green Potato No. 9" potatoes with high yield and few pests and diseases, and Ximental cattle with fast growth and high meat production, which has opened the door to poverty reduction and wealth for many poor households. In order to find industries suitable for the village conditions, in recent years, the village has also tried to grow morels, strawberries, blueberries, and honeysuckle. At the same time, a professional cooperative for planting and breeding has been established, and poor households have been organized to invest in land and funds, and provide greenhouses, seeds, and technical guidance uniformly, so as to enhance the ability of
In addition to characteristic farming and breeding, the village also relies on natural scenery and ethnic customs to explore the combination of agriculture and tourism and develop rural tourism. Mo Sierhuo, a 23-year-old poor household, used to work in an electronics factory in Guangdong. Now she has started agritainment with the help of the village. She also learned to fry back-cooked meat and shredded potatoes in the cooking training class of farmers’ night school. She can earn thousands of yuan a month during the peak tourist season. She said: "Now I can make money without going far away. I feel very satisfied. I hope that tourism will develop more vigorously in the future and bring more popularity." Yoshizawa Tsubasa became the first person in the village to own a car. He aimed at the tourist ring lines of Huopu Village, Sanhe Village and "Cliff Village" that were being planned in the county, and bought a used car for transportation. He also took the people in the village out and brought the people outside the village in.
Education for poverty alleviation "embroidered" future vision
In the past, villagers did not pay attention to education, thinking that it was better to send their children to school than to farm and work early. In recent years, education for poverty alleviation has made more and more people realize that only reading can cut off the root of poverty and change their destiny. At present, all 137 school-age children in the village are enrolled in school. Two preschool education centers have also been built in the village to ensure that young children learn Mandarin before school.
Jilaizi is the first college student trained by the poor in the village and is a sophomore at Southwest Medical University. Looking back on the past, she feels that the children today are so lucky. She said that in the past, there was no preschool in the village, let alone preschool, and she only started first grade at the age of 9. At that time, the roads in the village were not yet hardened, and it was three or four kilometers to walk from home to the central school. When it rained and snowed, the roads were full of mud, and it was very difficult to pull feet. Few children of the same age went to school, and most parents did not realize the importance of education. Today, Jilaizi has become a role model for the children in the whole village. After graduation, she plans to return to her hometown to serve and make her hometown better and better.
Villager Ale Youzi told us that in the past, when villagers met, they compared more children than their children, but now they compare their children who are better at learning. In order to give their three children a better education, Qu Bierchu, a poor household, gritted her teeth and sent them all to Xichang to study. In order to take care of the children’s schooling, she rented a house in Xichang, picked up the children during the day, and worked at a barbecue restaurant at night. To earn more tuition fees, her husband went to Xinjiang to work at high altitudes on the power grid. Qu Bierchu said: "Although the pressure of life is a bit high at present, as long as the children have good grades, no matter how difficult it is, they have to be given up."
This year, only 5-year-old Qubi A Niu and Ale You Sip, under the education of the preschool education counselors, can not only speak fluent Mandarin, but also learn to recite the Three Character Classic. During this year’s epidemic, the two little girls are most concerned about when school starts, and want to continue learning to sing and do crafts under the guidance of the counselors. Parents said that in the past, children could not understand Mandarin, and they could not hide when they met strangers. Now not only are they not afraid of meeting people, but they can also sing generously.
Village officials said that "embroidering" good educational articles is to pay for the future, and it is worth it! After the village collective economy has money in a few years, scholarships will be set up to encourage more children to go to college.
Change customs and customs "embroider" to the mountain town breeze
Due to the low level of social development, in the past, there were many outdated habits in the village, such as large-scale management, thin maintenance and thick burials, and high-priced betrothal gifts, which brought a heavy economic burden to the villagers and became a spiritual shackle for poverty reduction. The village "two committees" and the poverty alleviation task force stationed in the village realized that without ideological revolution, no amount of help may "return to pre-liberation overnight".
Jidierzi, a poor household, recalled that in the past, when funerals were held at home, relatives and friends would come to 800 or 900 people, and it would take more than a dozen cows to kill alone. In addition to tobacco, alcohol, fireworks, etc., the cost was very huge at one time. In desperation, he could only borrow money everywhere, and then work with his younger siblings to pay it back. "The debts owed are not clear for more than ten years." Now, the village has established a village regulation and people’s contract, which stipulates that red and white affairs should be handled simply, limits should be set, and a mechanism for declaration and supervision of dinners should be established, which greatly reduces the burden on the villagers.
Not only that, but changing customs is also reflected in many aspects such as catering customs, hygiene habits, and toilet revolution. Walking into the home of Mubi Youzuo, a poor household, the first thing you see is a multi-layered shoe cabinet, with pairs of shoe sizes neatly placed. Because she is hygienic and loves cleanliness, last year she was named a sanitation pacesetter by the village and received a washing machine as a prize, which made other villagers very envious. At the preschool education point, two counselors will check whether the students wash their faces and hands one by one every morning, and if they don’t wash them, they will take them to wash again. At the same time, teach children to "hold hands with small hands" and pass on good hygiene habits to parents.
In order to guide the villagers to develop good behavior habits, the village had come up with various ways to convert good practices into points. They could exchange goods in the "Eagle Fund Supermarket", set up a farmer’s night school, and "Fire Pond Night Talk"… Bit by bit, the spring breeze turned into rain, and the breeze of civilization gradually infiltrated the entire mountain village.
Stationing in the village to help "embroidery" prison ethnic unity
There is a young team active in Huopu Village. They are affectionately called "Moji Moxi" (relatives) by the Yi villagers. These are the young men stationed in the village’s poverty alleviation team. There are a total of 7 people, 4 party members, all of whom have college degrees or above, and the average age is 33.
The earliest resident in the village was also the darkest, called Luo Yitu. He said that he chose to come to Huopu because he wanted the Yi brothers to live a good life. Every time he thought of going to his hometown to talk about their hearts and help everyone with poverty reduction, he felt that the past few years had not been wasted. Jigi Riha’s son was just half a year old, and the Yi villagers said: "It’s not easy for you to work on this side, but your home is on the other side far away!" He felt that this was the greatest affirmation to himself.
Mr. Li, who is from Mianyang, more than 600km away, has spent years wondering how to find new industries suitable for the village. "When the year of poverty reduction comes to an end, we have to think about what we can leave behind for the local people," he says. The youngest, 26-year-old Yang Qinxin, was greeted politely when he first started to persuade villagers to change their hygiene habits, but he went his own way. To this end, he took the initiative to sweep the floor and clean up the house every time he entered the door, and the villagers were embarrassed and followed suit. Fan Jing, a statistician, helped village cadres learn to use computers during his stay in the village and taught them to keep accounts. He says that there are no weekends or the concept of commuting to and from work in the village, and this is his home.
The most memorable thing for Gao Yingjie, a member of the poverty alleviation team stationed in the village, was that everyone ate dumplings without vinegar. After the Yi fellow knew it, he rode a bicycle and went to the village to buy it without saying a word. From then on, he learned that true feelings are exchanged for sincerity, and hard work is exchanged for trust.
The first secretary, Zeng Yuanxu, had just arrived, and when we went, he was working hard to understand the situation in the village. He said that we should carry forward the spirit of nailing nails, hammering one hammer after another, one stubble after another, and promote rural revitalization on the basis of winning the tough battle of poverty reduction.
During the visit, we felt that the years when the village poverty alleviation team went to the countryside were the years when the ethnic unity was "embroidered" with sincerity and sincerity. An old Yi grandmother said: "The village poverty alleviation team members are like their own sons, and they are reluctant to leave." Village director Le Wuzibu said that now villagers have to invite the village poverty alleviation team members to eat together when they kill pigs and chickens. The general secretary cares about Liangshan and sends such a good team. The Yi people thank the party and always listen to the party and follow the party.
More than 60 years ago, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, Liangshan Yi District directly went from a slave society to a socialist society, achieving "one step across the millennium". Today, a new generation of Communists continue to struggle in the Great Liangshan Mountains, with firmer progress and more ambitious new goals. On the journey of the new era, the days of Huopu Village will definitely be as red and bright as the soma flowers blooming on Yi embroidery, and the future of Liangshan Yi District will definitely be able to "embroider" newer and more beautiful pictures.
