Blind Man And His Armless Friend Spend 15 Years Planting 10,000 Trees In China

Jia Haixa and Jia Wenqi from Hebei village in China can be called as the invincible eco-warriors. One man is blind, while the other is a double amputee; together they work for something as physically demanding as planting trees and they have been doing this for the last 15 years.

With collaborative efforts, they have completely transformed a three-hectare of area on riverbank — planting trees to prevent their village from flooding and improve environmental surroundings. Together they act as hands and eyes for each other.

53-year-old Haixia was born with congenital cataract, which resulted in losing sight of his left eye. Later in 2000, he met with an accident that took away the vision from his right eye as well. While, 53-year-old Wenqi lost both his arms in an accident when he was just three-years-old.

The duo grew up together. In 2001, unable to secure a job, they leased a large stretch of river bank from the government and started growing trees.

They leave for work every morning at 7, with just a hammer and iron rod. They have to cross a river every day, where Wenqi carries his blind companion on his back.

Haixa has to scale large tree guided by his Wenqi to collect cuttings of those trees and then they sow it on ground. They do this because they don’t have money to buy seeds. Wenqi waters the saplings.

Slowly, over a decade, they have together planted over 10,000 saplings and the place have attracted a large number of birds.

The Logical Indian salutes Haixia and Wenqi for their collaborative effort to conserve the environment despite such impairments. We hope their story inspires millions to conserve the environment by planting trees.