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Virginia First Lady Visits Heifer China
 On June 7, 2004, the First Lady of Virginia of the United States, Ms. Lisa
Collis and her two daughters, Madison and Gillian, visited a Heifer project
site in Beijing.Accompanied by Mr. Zheng Bohua, Director of Miyun Agricultural
Commission and Ms. Song Jinpin, Beijing Representative of Heifer International-China,
the First Lady of Virginia and her two daughters visited Zhuang Tou Village
of Miyun County on the outskirts of Beijing.
Zhuang Tou Village lies in the east part of Miyun County, about 70 miles
away from the City of Beijing. A total of 642 people live in the village
in 214 households, working with 59 acres of arable land and 1,000 acres
of non-arable land. Fruit Forestry production provides most villagers
their major income. The insufficient water and land resources often bring
the villagers poor harvests.Therefore, it has been long on the list of
low-income villages of Miyun County. The annual income of one third of
the households in the village is under RMB1,000 (US$120) per person. In
2002, Heifer International was introduced to the village and many villagers
applied for the help. In 2003, Heifer assisted 32 households with 210
small-tailed Han sheep to enable them to set up their micro sheep production
project.
Mr. Mao Jiuhe, Heifer project coordinator in the village, extended a warm
welcome to Ms. Collis and made a general introduction to the village,
as well as to the Heifer project. Ms. Collis expressed her gratitude for
having the opportunity to visit a Heifer project site in China. She said,
"Virginia is going to start a Read to Feed campaign both for raising
funds for Heifer International and for enabling more people to know what
Heifer International has done around the globe. My visit today will certainly
make me know more about Heifer and China."
Ms. Collis talked with Heifer recipients and was invited to visit one
recipient's home. The recipient said to Ms. Collis, "Many thanks
to Heifer's help. I received ten sheep last spring. Within one year, I
now have about thirty sheep in my pen. I also sold five sheep, which brought
me enough income to pay for my daughter's tuition."
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