Aid projects including rebuilding schools and a township
hospital, aimed at improving education and medical care for local
people, have been finished at Jianshan Township in Xinmi, a poor
mountain area in central China's Henan Province. The projects are
supported by the Jinan Military Area Command.
Jianshan, located to the northwest of Xinmi, is an old
revolutionary base area established by an Anti-Japanese general as
well as a key area targeted for poverty alleviation. The township
has an average altitude of 1,100 meters above sea level and an
annual per capita income of approximately 820 yuan (US$111). The
difficulty of receiving an education and getting medical treatment
in the area has not been settled due to adverse environmental
conditions, weak economic foundations and a sparsely scattered
population.
The work group sent in by the Jinan Military Area Command
conducted three field surveys and held many discussions with the
local government concerning relief projects, which were launched in
June 2006. A total of 500,000 yuan (US$67,606) were invested in
constructing a new teaching building and canteen, rebuilding
schoolhouses and buying teaching equipment within the Jianshan
Middle School, elevating the school into a standardized boarding
school with more than 500 boarders.
The military area command also invested 210,000 yuan (US$28,394)
in improving infrastructure facilities inside the township
hospital. Additionally, the command's hospital contributed medical
instruments, desks and chairs, worth some 200,000 yuan (US$27,042).
The township hospital now has 20 beds, 14 basic examination
departments and comparatively complete medical instruments. The
villagers may now get timely medical treatment at their local
hospital.
(China.org.cn by Yang Xi, December 11, 2007)