Every morning, the two friends wake up at 7AM and then head out for a day’s tree planting

Looking at the lush, green vegetation north of the Yeli Village in Sunzhuang Township, China,it’s hard to imagine that a mere 12 years ago, those plains had nothing but rock and weed.

The fantastic transformation is thanks to to the hard work and dedication of a blind mannamed Jia Haixia and his friend, a double amputee with no arms named Jia Wenqi. They have spent more than 10 years planting thousands of trees to revive the once-barrenenvironment surrounding their village.

53-year-old Haixia was born blind in one eye and lost the other in 2000 in a work-relatedaccident. Wenqi, also 53, lost his arms in an accident at the age of 3.

After Haixia became fully blind, the two friends had difficulties finding a job, so they decidedto lease over 8 acres of land from the local government with the goal of planting trees forfuture generations. While pursuing their noble goal, Haixia and Wenqi have also protectedtheir village from flooding, which has earned them some modest income from governmentfunding. With little money to buy saplings, they rely on taking cuttings from grown trees andplanting them to create new life in their community.

Having lived and worked side by side for over a decade, the pair have learned how toovercome their disabilities while cooperating. Wenqi often carries the sightless Haixia on hisback across the local river, while Haixia climbs up to the top of trees to cut off the boughsthat will become new trees. Once back on the ground, he digs holes in the ground to plant thenew cuttings; Wenqi then takes care of the growing saplings by watering them.

With this unique way of working together, the friends estimate that they’ve planted over10,000 trees in over 10 years.

News of the duo’s heroic efforts went viral in China and they have received a tremendousamount of attention and support ever since. According to Hebei Haoren, people havedonated them with enough money to provide for pensions to support their lifestyles.

Also, Xinhua News Agency has shared the exciting news that Haixia may be able to regainsight in his left eye thanks to an operation that a team of health care professionals are readyto perform for free. The heartwarming story of these two friends seem to underscore thesaying, no good deed goes unnoticed!

source: earthlymission.com