November 1998

30th November 1998

Wansheng Drinking Water Project Completed

In October 1998 the final 6 households in Wansheng and Guangrong were connected to a new drinking water supply. Thus completing DORS largest drinking water project to date. This British Embassy funded project was completed within budget. The total expenditure was 117,409 RMB (£8386), or just £4.20 per person to supply clean drinking water to the 2,000 residents of Wansheng and Guangrong.

Sugu Women Loan Again with DORS Revised Credit Scheme

Last newsletter we reported that the women of Sugu hamlets 4 and 5 had made their final loan repayments. They are the first of DORS loanees to complete the one year loan period. After discussing the benefits of the scheme, a new repayment schedule was designed for their second round of loans. The women thought that making repayments once a month was difficult. Sometimes they were able to find the cash and other times they missed repayments. The small group leaders also found it time consuming to try to collect the repayments every month. The new scheme still has a loan period of 1 year and maximum loan size of 1000 RMB, but repayments are made in two equal six monthly repayments. Overall the women felt the loan scheme was of great benefit to them. This year 25 of the 30 decided to borrow for the second time, in addition to 5 new loanees.

Photo: One of the small groups of loanees in Sugu. From left to right: Ahjisicha, Ahyisiha (small group leader) Qiu De Lian, Ahyisiluo, Pu Guo Lu (a widower).

New Project Village - Na'er

DORS made two trips to Na'er Village in the last month, an arduous three hour walk up steep hillsides. The village is one of Hanyuan's 28 particularly poor villages. The population has declined in recent years as families have moved to more accessible locations. There remain approx. 50 households in 5 hamlets.
Women's Rural Credit - DORS made loans to 18 women in the village in a scheme specifically designed to fit with their conditions. Most women used the loan for expanding livestock such as cattle and horses.
School Rebuilding - DORS are also considering providing materials to rebuild the village school. This school, with 3 classes and 24 children, is funded by the village, in this case the village Committee has no funds for the urgent repairs. The mud brick tiled roof building is in imminent danger of collapse due to advanced wood-worm in the main roof beams.