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RELATED THEMES communications education environment employment and income water OTHER THEMES IN SW COLLECTION THEMES IN NE COLLECTION BACKGROUND |
development in the southwest collection The testimonies reveal a strong belief among most narrators that they could raise their living standards significantly if they could get a little more training and investment. More than one emphasises that "We're not afraid of working hard", but they feel hampered by generally low levels of literacy and their physical isolation: "we don't know about the farming experience of other places" (China 16). Being minority people with different languages, some feel they have not benefited from the same educational opportunities as the majority Han. A woman (China 16) who promotes hybrid paddy, says she has to teach her fellow Lahu farmers very much by example: "The training cannot just be theoretical. Because Lahu people are not literate, you have to demonstrate the skills in the fields and teach them step by step." She is full of ideas for progress and, like many other narrators, she identifies a real need to learn how to improve the quality and health of their livestock. If the income from animal husbandry went up, she says, "then they could have the money to build tiled houses, buy chemical fertilisers, chemical weedkiller, and have more food. Women's labour could be freed to do handicrafts and food processing." This last point is another common thread: people want to be able to process some of the agricultural produce locally as well as make their own fodder and fertiliser, so as to generate more income and increase their independence from the factories and shops of the lowlands. Others feel they could make more of their craft skills, and sell their renowned woven and embroidered bags and clothing. Tobacco has been a successful cash crop and new farming techniques and seeds are having an impact, and more than one woman mentions what a difference piped water supplies have made. But poor roads still limit people's ability to market their produce, and several narrators say lack of electricity is another hindrance: "Our lives will be better after the road is built and the electricity connected. You see, everything has to be done manually. Like pulling the grind-roller, if we have a electric grinding machine, life would be much more convenient" (China 26). Yet there is, with some exceptions, a cautiously optimistic attitude among the narrators who feel that greater diversification of livelihoods is gradually becoming possible: "In the past, we did not run many businesses; most of the business was opium trading… We didn't buy many things. We didn't spend much money… [now] there are more ways to make money. Like my daughter-in-law, she often weaves bags to sell, and can earn 200 to 300 yuan a year. My son helps others to build houses; in one year he can have several hundreds yuan's of income!" (China 10). quotes about development"There isn't a processing factory, otherwise they would want to do some food processing or some related thing…Villagers could get great benefits from it. It's good to do the pig fodder processing, or [have] a grain mill, then you can ask for whatever price you like. Some want a fertiliser processing factory… [Some] wish to have a manufacturing facility… They just want to sell Lahu clothes and bags. If the factory manufactured them, they can sell one bag at 30 yuan." "…if the higher authority could help us, put the road through for us, connect the electric power for us, and draw the water up here for us, then we could have some resources, and probably we could do some work to improve our lives. If there is water, people can use it to plant some grain, feed the livestock, and for drinking - that's not bad." "There is no development in these places. Really, except for raising livestock, there isn't anything else here. We all depend on livestock for our living." "I want to learn more skills. My thoughts cannot catch up with the Han - my literacy level is low, and I have poor technological knowledge" "My family, if compared with the past, is much better off now. Especially my son, who basically learned how to repair tape-recorders and TV sets, and had made some money from that. We also make money from some other business… my husband can weave bamboo mats to sell. One sheet of them can be sold at 30 to 40 yuan. [He stops] just because there is no light when it gets dark…" "It's difficult to do anything if you don't have any techniques. Production cannot be increased… We want to learn how to inoculate pigs and chickens. If we could learn these techniques, the pigs' and chickens' diseases would be greatly reduced. We are most in need of practical skills. If we could learn technique of breeding and rearing [livestock and poultry], we would be off the poverty level, and our life would be much better." "We Miao people live in remote and backward mountain areas. Although we have had some development in these years, there is still a big gap between us and other peoples…" |
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development in the northeast collection
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