by:Xu Zhuang;

Translated by Pang Baokun; edited by Zhen Yanhua

Time: 2017-10-17 16:40:13 Click:1,299

Xinli Village, a provincial-level poverty-stricken village, is located in Fengle Township, Bayan County, and has 21,000muarable land, a population of 4,160 and 16 poor households. The village is mainly hilly land which is not conducive to agricultural irrigation and large-scale agricultural mechanization operations. Because of the barren soil, the main crop of the village is corn with high agricultural costs, low output, low agricultural productivity.

Volunteering to Undertake the Major Task

In the first half of 2017, Heilongjiang Province proposed the overall goal of alleviating poverty at the provincial poverty-stricken village by the end of 2018. To achieve the goal, the province requires all units to step up poverty alleviation efforts with the aim of winning the battle against poverty.

Dong Shaowei was originally the deputy director of the physical education department of the university. In April 2017, Dong Shaowei volunteered for a volition with a fervent heart. In his opinion, Bayan County is his hometown, so it is his responsibility to contributing his own strength to the task of alleviating poverty. He also has his own advantages in doing so. First, he loves his work and wants to make contributions to his hometown. Second, he is familiar with various aspects of Bayan county so it is easier for him to facilitate the work of poverty alleviation. In this way, he and the other two young counselors of the university formed the second batch of Anti-Poverty Work Team of Harbin University and Science and Technology and Dong Shaowei himself served as the leader of the work team and the first secretary in the village.

A Fervent Heart Warms Up the People

During his visit to poor households, Dong Shaowei found that the reality of each poor family is not the same. He patiently explained the party and state policies on poverty alleviation to poor households while earnestly recording the pressing demands of them.

The first poor household that Dong Shaowei visited was Qi Lianquan’s. After the coordinated efforts made by Dong Shaowei and relevant departments, the couple's accounts problem has finally been properly resolved, they will later enjoy the relevant government subsidies and get out of poverty completely.

Zhang Wansheng, one of the poor households, whose eldest son died while working at a construction site, and the compensation of 190,000 RMB yuan could not be fully implemented. Dong Shaowei consulted the school of laws of the university for relevant problems. After nearly two months of twists and turns, the couple finally got the compensation.

The poor household of Liu Zhenquan, both himself and his old couple are seriously ill. Chen Xue, their daughter-in-law, has no household registration card, no ID card and owns no land. Dong Shaowei went to the township government, police station, Public Security Bureau to help her solve the problem. Finally, Chen Xue got her own identification.

Dong Shaowei said: “Although it takes many twists and turns to help poor households, it is worth it because my efforts can save an imminent family and make the wish of a family for many years come true.”

Road Construction Ensures Autumn Harvest

The Road in Xinli Village was damaged in many ways, which made it no way to collect and transport crops on overcast rainy days. Dong Shaowei visited these sections and submitted road maintenance applications. Due to financial constraints, he returned to the university for help. The school attaches great importance to this situation. Through the joint efforts of various departments of the university, he finally got 50,000 RMB yuan for road building sponsored by China Mobile Communications Corporation. When the autumn harvest was imminent, Dong Shaowei paid out of his own pocket for road construction before the fund was in place. Villagers are deeply moved by Secretary Dong, they offered their strength and tools to the construction of road and soon the road will be opened to traffic. The main road to the village where the village committee is located has now been repaired.

Multiple Industrial Tunnels Helps Poverty Alleviation

Dong Shaowei found that the majority of young people in the village are working outside in other cities. Without good project settling down in the village, Xinli Village may return to poverty again because it is located in isolated and remote area. In his spare time, Dong Shaowei began to focus on poverty alleviation projects. He not only went to the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Northeast Agricultural University to learn about poverty alleviation and new agriculture, but also went to the Academy of Agricultural Sciences with other two comrades from the Branch Committee of the Communist Party and the Village Committee of Xinli Village to visit and study new knowledge. In just a few months, Dong Shaowei inspected a total of 14 projects including animal husbandry, economic crop planting, sapling planting and Photovoltaic power generation, and there are currently 4 projects under active promotion.

Dong Shaowei also pays attention to the red raspberry project. Red raspberry is a kind of economic crop, the initial investment is not large, but considerable economic benefits will be visible after three years. Currently, he is actively raising the start-up funds for the project.

Dong Shaowei is still planning to develop small park economy and guide the villagers to set up planting cooperatives, village cooperatives and unmanned aircraft cooperatives to reduce investment risks and boost farmers' income. He also actively contacted the Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, preparing to establish a soybean planting and production base in Xinli Village and preparing for cooperation with the Jiusan Group to completely lift Xinli Villagers out of poverty.

On September 28, the school held a meeting on poverty alleviation. Zhao Guogang, party secretary of the school, Man Chuntao, vice president of the university and heads of relevant units attended the meeting. In his speech, Secretary Zhao pointed out that Dong Shaowei walked into the village with his fervent heart and dedicated his efforts to solve the problems for the poor households. All those things he has done were impressive with remarkable results. He stressed that all departments in the school should attach importance to the work of poverty alleviation and support the task force based on own advantages. It is reported that in our university, female doctor fraternity has set up a scholarship to support the primary and secondary school students in Xinli Village. The volunteering teaching group of university students will also go to Xinli Village to carry out related activities. The school teaching unit will also open training courses based on their own advantages for primary and secondary school teachers in Xinli Village to help improve their teaching ability and teaching quality.

Poverty Alleviation Under the Guidance of Party Building

Party building is an important task for the village team. Dong Shaowei held party lectures to villagers and activists so that villagers, especially the poor households, would appreciate the warmth and care given by the party and the country. Due to his influence, six good hands at becoming rich submitted the application for joining the party. Dong Shaowei decides to set 17th of each month as the theme day in the village and he will hold party seminars and plan the celebration of July 1st theme activities, which are favored and supported by the village, the county.

Self-Devotion Reveals Sincere Emotion

Nowadays, Xinli Villagers’ attitude toward the poverty alleviation work team has changed greatly. One saying in the village is popular nowadays: When something happens, don’t hesitate to find Secretary Dong! Hospitable villagers regard him as a very distinguished guest of the village.

Dong Shaowei’s work not only caused a strong reaction in the local area, but also received media attention. On October 16th, reporters from China Education Television Station (CETV) and News programme of Heilongjiang TV Station came to Xinli Village to have an interview with him.

Dong Shaowei Visiting Qi Lianquan and his wife, one of the poor households in Xinli Village