The village Zhimajia caught our eyes because it was the poorest, but with a strong leadership and cohesiveness. The 300 villagers belonging to the Tibetan ethnic minority had already, without outside assistance, started building a new village on a small piece of land donated by the local government. The solidarity of this village was amazing. The men were working hard erecting new timber constructions while the women were making food and taking care of the children in the primitive temporary huts and earthquake relief tents. In collaboration with The Poverty Alleviation Office we decided to begin a 2-year project starting with helping to relocate the old village.
Gaining new livelihoods
The new village will be in traditional Tibetan style, and because the village is located close to the famous Chinese national park, Jiuzhaigou, the plan is that the new houses will be built with separate hostel rooms in each house which can be rented out to tourists. The villagers will also retain their land in the old village and keep on growing medicine plants, but the main income in the future will most likely be from tourism.
The villagers have started building their houses with a small grant from local government, and they will also receive subsidized loans for the rest. Local government will provide new road access and main electricity supply as well as a school, but there is still a long way to go before a pleasant village is ready.
Support from BESTSELLER FUND
BESTSELLER FUND has help with creating drinking water supply, electricity for houses, in village paths and plaza. Furthermore the fund has be setting training programmes up in order to prepare the villagers for their new way of living giving them basic education, tourism management, vocational trainings, small scale business management and agricultural training.