Grassroots Official Devotes to Helping Villagers Live Better Lives

Deng Kefeng walks through a tea planting base in Chenliudian Village, Nanyang City, Central China's Henan Province, on May 27. [Xinhua/Hao Yuan]

Due to long years of staying outside and working under the sun, 37-year-old Deng Kefeng, secretary of the Party branch of Chenliudian Village, Nanyang City, Central China's Henan Province, has become tanned, so the local villagers gave her a nickname "Heini (sunburnt girl)."

When Deng was young, her father was unable to do farm work because of hemiplegia, and her mother painstakingly raised her alone. 

At the most difficult time in her life, her neighbors helped her family a lot, so as a little girl she wished to repay them when she grew up.

Chenliudian Village is located in a shallow hilly area where the land is not fertile. As the secretary of the village's Party branch, Deng led the villagers to plant sweet potatoes and tea, developed a flower seedlings industry, fed crayfish, and helped the villagers increase their income and get rid of poverty. 

For now, there are still 13 impoverished households in the village. Although it's not an easy task, Deng has confidence in tackling the difficulties of poverty alleviation work. She vows to devote herself to the poverty relief work for the local people through working hard at the grassroots level.

Deng Kefeng (L) checks the rice seedlings with a villager in Chenliudian Village, Nanyang City, Central China's Henan Province, on May 27. [Xinhua/Hao Yuan]

Deng Kefeng works in her office in Chenliudian Village, Nanyang City, Central China's Henan Province, on May 27. [Xinhua/Hao Yuan]

Deng Kefeng (1st, L) talks with the villagers in Chenliudian Village, Nanyang City, Central China's Henan Province, on May 26. [Xinhua/Hao Yuan]

Deng Kefeng (2nd, L) weeds with the villagers at the flower seedling base in Chenliudian Village, Nanyang City, Central China's Henan Province, on May 26. [Xinhua/Hao Yuan]

Deng Kefeng(R) learns about a villager's income from planting watermelons in Chenliudian Village, Nanyang City, Central China's Henan Province, on May 26. [Xinhua/Hao Yuan]

Deng Kefeng (L) talks with a villager in a tea garden in Chenliudian Village, Nanyang City, Central China's Henan Province, on May 26. [Xinhua/Hao Yuan]

(Source: Xinhua/Translated and edited by Women of China)