Similarly, Zhaojue county developed its plantation base for strawberries. After a year of development, the base now has 1,800-mu transferred land. In a five-month period between August and December in 2019, more than 20,000 local workers were employed here, each earning 9,000 yuan on average.

Promising future

Significant changes are also happening in education. In the past, villagers here believed that it was better to enter the workforce early rather than going to school, but more people now are realizing that only through education can they shake off poverty and change their destiny.

Jilai Zixia, a sophomore at Southwest Medical University, is the first college student from a poor family in Huopu village, Zhaojue county. She said she thinks kids here now are very lucky.

She recalled that in the past, there was no kindergarten in the village, and she did not become a first grader until nine years old. Back then, the roads in the village were not yet hardened, and it was difficult to trudge kilometers of muddy roads to school when it rained. Very few of her peers went to school, as most parents did not realize the importance of education at that time. Now in the village, there are not only flat roads, but also two kindergartens.

Ale Youzi, also from Huopu village, said that instead of comparing whose family has more kids, villagers here now compare whose kids learn better at school.

Now, all the 137 school-age children in the village are enrolled in school. Jilai Zixia has become a role model for the kids in the village, and she plans to return to her hometown after graduation to make it a better place.

The village leaders said that education is a worthwhile investment for the future. They plan to set up a scholarship to encourage more children to pursue higher education after the village becomes better off.

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