Dawan Village, Hanyuan 2003-2005

Henan Township is located in the south of Hanyuan County. Dawan is a further 30km from Henan Township and to get there requires 3-4 hours of walking. The population of the village is 383 persons. There are 90 households in 6 hamlets, which are located approximately 1600-1850 meters above sea level. The average income per person in Dawan is RMB 510, making it one of the poorest villages in Sichuan Province. The village is a mixture of Han, Tibetan and Yi nationalities. Funding for DORS projects in this village came from the Misereor Integrated Community Development Programme.

Micro - Hydropower Project in Hamlet 6

The electricity project began as a result of participatory discussions at village meetings held in the different hamlets of Dawan in September 2002. This was the first time Hamlet 6 had been connected to an electricity supply. A micro-hydroelectricity project was initially planned for hamlet 3 and but these plans changed as the hamlet would be connected to the government’s Nongwang Gaizao electricity scheme.

As part of the planning of this project, the villagers held a meeting to draw up regulations for the management of this project and also selected a villager to be responsible for the daily management, repair and maintenance of the station. The regulations were made clear to everyone and handed out to individual households to be signed.

DORS Jeep fording a river

The hydropower project has given the villagers a safe and reliable electricity supply. Villagers are now able to arrange their daily tasks without the restriction of daylight hours. 7 households and 36 villagers have benefited from the project. The new electricity supply project began in May 2003 and was completed in October 2003 at a total cost of 18,747 RMB, or GBP 1,562.

Animal Sty Improvements

The project was discussed with the villagers as a way to improve animal husbandry in the village in order to raise more livestock and increase income. The design of the sties was discussed with the villagers as well. It was finally agreed that DORS would provide, in hamlet 5, 1.5 tonnes of cement, 50 square metres of plastic sheeting for the roof and one stone-cutting machine and in hamlet 6, 2.25 tonnes of cement and one stone-cutting machine. All labour and other materials would be contributed by the villagers themselves. Individual hamlet leaders were responsible for their own hamlets. Technical expertise for both hamlets was provided by the DORS technician.

The total cost of the project was RMB 5333.3.

After the project was completed, the villagers drew up regulations to manage and maintain the sties.

Grain grinder Purchase

A grain grinder was purchased for hamlets 1, 2, 3 and 4 in order to relieve the labour of villagers.
This project began in August 2003, at a total cost of RMB 11869.4 RMB including 3450 RMB contributed by villagers, 8419.4 RMB provided by DORS. 75 households, or 317 persons benefited from this project.

Drinking and Irrigation Water Supply

Dawan gathering with DORS staff

Previously, there were 6 water supply systems in 6 hamlets of the village. In 1997 the county water conservancy bureau provided plastic pipes and cement and people put in labor to build them. But after a few years, the water sources of hamlet 1 and hamlet 3 did not provide sufficient supply and when it rained, the water became muddy. The water tanks were also leaking in hamlets 3 and 4. The tanks were lower than a few households so it was impossible for these households to access water unless they carried it away in buckets. Due to these problems, the villagers requested DORS assistance in improving the water supply.

The design was decided on after several participatory discussions held at the different hamlets. Technical supervision was provided by the DORS technician.

The village party secretary and hamlet 1 leader took responsibility for the implementation of the project in hamlet 1, the village accountant and hamlet 3 leader took charge of implementation for hamlet 3, and the respective hamlet leaders of hamlets 4 and 5 took charge of implementation for their hamlets. Individual hamlets signed their own agreements with DORS. In general, DORS supported purchase of cement, plastic pipes and other materials and villagers put in labour. The project in hamlet 1 came up to RMB 1714.1 and for hamlets 3, 4 and 5 came up to RMB1127.06.

This project has now been completed. Villagers in hamlet 1 had clean running water by July 2002, and hamlets 3, 4 and 5 got clean running water by October 2003. The breakdown of beneficiaries is 82 persons in hamlet 1, 70 persons in hamlet 3, 123 persons in hamlet 4 and 6 persons in hamlet 5, totaling 281 persons in the village. Total cost of the project was RMB 2841.

Assisting Schoolchildren

See Education for more details.

DORS supports 33 students in 31 households in this village. Of the total, 24 are girls.
There were 12 students in school. This number has now increased to 36, three times the previous number. Due to the increase in the number of students, the education bureau has sent a formal teacher to the school.

School Construction

The entire project provided RMB 70,000 yuan in this village. The aim of the school construction
Schoolchildren in Dawan (renew a school in hamlet 5, repair a school in hamlet 1) was to let 52 students in the village go to school, where there were 34 students out of school.

The project was monitored periodically. All the children have chances to go to school and villagers are attentive to their children’s education.

Goat Project

The aim of this project was to improve villagers’ living standard by ameliorating the local goat breed to develop animal husbandry. This project began in July 2003 and was completed in October 2003, at a total cost of RMB 2650 yuan. 44 households (182 villagers) benefited from this project.

Other projects in Dawan included assisting particularly poor households and building fuel-efficient stoves.