The village-residency story of Ding Haiyan, first secretary of Hejiayuan Village, Tongxin County, Ningxia

"No matter how hard or difficult it gets, I must help the villagers achieve genuine poverty alleviation" - a profile of Ding Haiyan, first secretary of Hejiayuan Village, Tongxin County, Ningxia

Xinhua News Agency reporter He Chenyang

Hejiayuan Village in Tongxin County, Wuzhong City, Ningxia, was a "hard nut to crack" in the battle against poverty. The village once had 213 households and 869 people; because of drought and scant rainfall, most villagers either relocated on their own or joined ecological resettlement programs, and only 47 households now remain as permanent residents.

Just how poor was Hejiayuan Village in the past? Hu Haiqun, a 64-year-old villager, put it this way: the whole village had not a single new house, and when young men from the village went to meet a potential bride, the family would shake their heads as soon as they heard the village name - it was hard even to get a few words in with the woman.

In March 2015, Ding Haiyan, then chairman of the labor union of the Wuzhong City Water Affairs Bureau, was selected and assigned to Hejiayuan Village as first secretary. Bureau leaders said she was chosen because she had long worked at the rural grassroots level, was full of feeling for rural people, and had rich work experience.

Having spent years working on poverty alleviation, she headed back to the front line of that work at the age of 50.

"My younger son took one look at the village and burst into tears on the spot, saying, Mom, don't come here, I'll go find your leaders - this place is too hard!" After a long silence, Ding Haiyan told her son: "I'll work here for two years. Once things are looking up here, I can go back with peace of mind."

Helping this poor mountain gully shake off poverty and move toward moderate prosperity as soon as possible was the promise she made to the villagers in her heart.

On her first day going door to door in the village, Ding Haiyan already felt enormous pressure. "The first impression this village gives is that it's dilapidated and lifeless. The houses of the 47 households that stay here year-round are all shabby, and residents over 50 make up more than 3/4 of the population. Because the roads are so hard to travel, some villagers don't even leave the village all year round," Ding Haiyan said. Almost everyone in the village with any path to making a living had gone elsewhere, and those left behind were mostly elderly people and people with disabilities, making it very difficult to help this group achieve genuine poverty alleviation.

"If you want to get rich, build roads first." Many villagers had mixed feelings about Ding Haiyan's decision to build a road: glad that they would no longer have to depend on the weather to go out, but worried whether a woman official sent from the city could accomplish something that had not been done for years. After repeated study and verification, Ding Haiyan raised funds from multiple sources, and the city water affairs bureau decided to fund the road's construction. Afterward, Ding Haiyan "went to the site every day, covered in dust every day," and only when a straight gravel road was completed did she breathe a slight sigh of relief. The villagers gave Secretary Ding a thumbs-up.

Ding Haiyan well understood that building roads alone was not enough - without industrial support, the villagers of Hejiayuan could not achieve genuine poverty alleviation.

Through analysis and study, Ding Haiyan found that the traditional planting structure was the main obstacle to increasing farmers' incomes; because growing grain was unprofitable, more than 1000 mu of village land lay idle.

After Ding Haiyan's repeated persuasion, the villagers began to change their planting structure. This year, the village planted 300 mu of seedless gourds, 300 mu of daylilies, 300 mu of Chinese medicinal herbs, 2100 mu of miscellaneous grains, 1200 mu of plastic-film mulched corn, and 3000 mu of purple alfalfa; one mu of land now yields a year's income equal to several years' worth in the past.

"In the past I had no money in my pocket, and I didn't dare go to market or into town, afraid that an acquaintance would ask why I wasn't buying anything - it was so embarrassing," said Bai Zhengquan, 58. Things are better now: last year he earned more than 3000 yuan from bupleurum alone, and he holds his head high when he goes into town.

Besides guiding villagers to adjust their planting structure, Ding Haiyan also secured funding from higher levels and actively reached out to markets, deciding to give every household chicks to start breeding and to mobilize villagers to expand the scale of cattle and sheep raising.

"This year I raised 50 chickens, and a batch sold in August brought in 3000 yuan. That's the biggest sum I've earned in years, and the whole family was overjoyed," said Hu Haixiang, a 64-year-old villager. Secretary Ding not only gave out chicks, feed and chicken coops for free, but also paid out of her own pocket for veterinary medicine.

In Hejiayuan Village, Ding Haiyan found that the village's poor performance was closely tied to the inaction of the village Party branch. "The fight against poverty needs a strong branch as its guarantee." After becoming the village's first secretary, Ding Haiyan not only strengthened branch building, but also actively secured funding to install fitness equipment in the village, enriching the villagers' lives.

She had been working in Hejiayuan Village for nearly two years, and because of the harsh conditions, Ding Haiyan's arthritis kept flaring up, sometimes causing unbearable pain. But seeing the villagers' lives get better and better warmed her heart.

"I've run into plenty of difficulties and sometimes I've shed tears, but whenever I think of the hopeful look in the villagers' eyes, I feel that no matter how hard or difficult it gets, I must help them achieve genuine poverty alleviation. I can't let down their trust, and I can't fail in the duties of a first secretary," Ding Haiyan said.