A determined woman sold her home in China so she
could grant her dying son’s final wish and plant two million trees
in the desert of Inner Mongolia.
In 2000, 67-year-old Yi Jiefang from Shanghai
lost her son Yang Ruizhe in a tragic accident when he was on his
way to university in Japan. Before he died, he told her his
lifelong dream was to plant the trees.
Yi plans to plant two million trees and so far she has
successfully planted 1.1 million that stretch for miles on the
Kulun Qi Horqin sandy desert plain.
Determination: 67-year-old Yi promised to grant her
son's dying wish planting two million trees in
Mongolia
Incredible: In 2004 she sold her home in China and with
the help of her husband they began to plant the trees. Above, she
is in one of the established forests
in order to complete her son’s wish, in 2004 Yi quit her
job and sold the family home. She and her husband also sold the
clinic they owned to raise funds.
The couple started up the ‘Green Life’
organisation with the money raised from the house, her son’s
insurance pay out, and the help of the local government. It didn’t
take long before they started planting the trees.
Their plan was to plant two million trees in 20
years. After more than ten years, they are already over half way.
Once the trees have all fully grown, they will be donated to the
local villages.
In addition, Green Life were affiliated with the
China Women's Development Foundation and the Inner Mongolia Youth
Development Foundation. Together the organisations raised donations
that are used to purchase seedlings and plant the trees.
Difficulties: She has faced some problems
including including mad winds and lack of water in the
desert
Strong-minded: She set up the organisation
Green Life and has so far planted more than 1.1 million
trees
In a recent interview with the Youth Daily, Yi
said she did not think they would have achieved so much by
now.
She said: ‘I did not expect to stick at this more
than ten years, I hope that through our actions we can get hundreds
of millions of people planting millions of trees.
'I think I have granted my son’s
wish.’
Yi said after her son died it was very painful.
It wasn’t until a year later that she buried him on December 1
2001, his birthday.
She explained: ‘Planting a tree is like planting
and giving hope. You watch a tree grow and you get comfort. It is
just like when a family plants flowers, you watch the flowers grow
and it makes you very happy.’
Final wish: Yi and her husband raised the money
together to make their son's lifelong dream come true
Courageous: Their plan was to plant two
million trees, after more than ten years they are already over half
way
When she first began planting the trees, Yi faced
some difficulties, including crazy winds that would blow the trees
away, and a lack of water in the desert. But she said it will
always rain eventually, which is very lucky.
Over the years she has had many volunteers coming
out to Inner Mongolia to help her plant the trees.
Money is tight for Yi and her husband but they
manage to survive and continue pursuing their son’s
dream.
She said: ‘We eat very lightly and I basically do
not buy any clothes for myself.
'However, I must emphasize that all contributions
to Green Life go into the plating of the trees and we do not retain
any of it.’
In the future Yi said that Green Life plans to
cover over 23,000 square miles of desert with trees.