Jia Haixia and Jia Wenqi, two ‘disabled’ men aged 53, share the same first name and have worked together for 14 years, planting over 10,000 trees in China’s Hebei province. Haixia is blind and Wenqi has had his both arms amputated.
Due to their physical incapability, the duo couldn’t get employment. So the two decided to pair up and make a difference to this indifferent world in 2001. They leased a large portion of a riverbank from the government in a bid to plant trees for the generations to come. Apart from this noble objective, they intended to protect the village from flooding while also earning a modest income from the government funding.
When they started work, Wenqi became Haixia’s eyes and Haixia became Wenqi’s arms. Each morning, the two friends would get up at 7 and head off for a day’s work. Since these two were not ‘rich’ enough to buy saplings, they had to take cuttings from trees and plant them in the soil. Armless Wenqi often carried the sightless Haixia on his back across the river. Haixia would climb to the top of trees to cut off the boughs, then dig holes in the ground to plant the new saplings; later Wenqi would water them. With this amazing ‘teamwork’, the two planted over 10,000 trees in 14 years. The incredible feat was achieved using just a hammer and an iron rod.
The meaning of life visible in every picture.