From a Disabled Goatherd to a “Bellwether” in Alleviating Poverty

Text by Liao Zhihui

Photos by Cai Jun

“Meh-eh-eh! Meh-eh-eh!” The bleat of goats awakened the tranquil Xiaotang Village of Zougang Town in Xiaochang County on the morning of August 26. A herd of goats flocked towards a small man standing at the gate of a pen, bleating merrily.When the gate swung open, the flock followed the man and ran towards the pasture on the hillside. I was told at an early age that the goats behaved like a marching army. Wherever the bellwether went, the others would follow. However, I didn’t see a bellwether in the goat army here, so I inquired a villager.

“Gengen is the bellwether! Wherever he goes, the goats follow him!” The villager pointed to the man, smiling.

This small man standing in front of us named Tang Gengen was already 28 years old, but he had a baby face and stood 1.4 meters tall. He was a man of few words. When he was born, he suffered from limb disability, so tripping and falling was a routine for him. However, he overcame countless obstacles in his life and finally alleviated himself and his family from poverty.

“I will raise these goats well”

As his father couldn’t do any physical jobs due to illness, the whole family was supported by his mother, who had to raise Tang Gengen and his younger brother Tang Paipai. Gengen had to study harder than others in school because of his disability.

Graduated from Wuhan Business University in 2016, Tang Gengen had planned to find a job in the city and make a good living for the family.

However, he failed during job interviews repeatedly because of his physical condition.

He couldn’t sleep and felt depressed because he couldn’t find a job or do any physical work to help the family.

In order to make a living, he thought about farming or raising pigs, but it was either hard to earn money or required too much investment. With the support of his mother and the Poverty-Alleviating Work Team, Tang Gengen decided to tend to the goats his family owned.

As an old saying goes, “Despite the small investment requirement, it takes a long time to profit from planting ginger or raising goats.” It is not so easy to raise goats. The sudden death of goat kids saddened Gengen. He swore secretly to take good care of the remaining goats.

Tang Gengen and his goats 唐根根和他的羊群

“咩——”8月26日一早，孝昌縣鄒崗鎮(zhèn)校堂村十分熱鬧。一個(gè)小個(gè)子身影出現(xiàn)在羊圈門口，羊群迅速涌過來，歡快地叫著。

他打開羊圈，羊群涌到他跟前，隨后就跟著他朝山坡的草場魚貫而去。小時(shí)候常聽老人講，羊群的行動(dòng)很軍事化，頭羊走到哪兒，一群羊就跟到哪兒。頭羊一咩，群羊就列隊(duì)出發(fā)。而眼前這群羊似乎沒有頭羊，我問村民是怎么回事。

“根根就是頭羊啊！他走到哪兒，羊群就跟到哪兒！”村民指指男孩，笑著說。

眼前這個(gè)1.4 米高、娃娃臉、說話不太伶俐的“小男孩”，叫唐根根，今年28 歲。很不幸，他先天肢體二級(jí)殘疾，四肢無力，從小到大，走路沒少摔跤。然而，歷經(jīng)摔打的他卻堅(jiān)持“奔跑”，拔掉了自家的“窮根”。

“我一定要把羊兒養(yǎng)活”

唐根根從小生活在一個(gè)貧困家庭，父親長期生病吃藥，無法干重活，母親艱辛撫養(yǎng)他和弟弟唐派派。上學(xué)后，不管是讀書還是寫字，唐根根都要付出比別人更多的努力。

2016年，唐根根從武漢商學(xué)院會(huì)計(jì)專業(yè)畢業(yè)，躊躇滿志的他準(zhǔn)備在城里找一份安穩(wěn)的工作，讓家人過上好生活。

然而，由于先天殘疾，求職屢屢受挫。

那段時(shí)間，他整晚整晚睡不著覺，輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)，在家干不了力氣活，在外面又找不到工作，他感覺很憋屈。

After that, he collected various materials on how to raise goats by searching online and consulting the experts at the local animal husbandry bureau. Through continual learning and experimentation, his goats grew big, stout, and strong.

Delivering 60 kids in a day

A doe produces two or three kids a year. During the peak period of births, Tang Gengen and his family would have to help deliver baby goats from early morning till midnight.

“We helped deliver some 60 kids in a day once!” Tang Gengen recalled excitedly.

The goatherd grew from 40 to more than 600 soon. The species had also increased, including local goats, Boer goats, procapra gutturosa, etc. Tang Gengen earned nearly 300, 000 yuan in 2019.

To keep organic goat production, Tang Gengen had to walk thousands of steps, herding his goats every day. It was a great challenge for a disabled person with weak limbs.

“I often fell to the ground at the very beginning. My trousers were scratched here and there and I was covered in bruises. But I had never thought of giving up. Actually, on second thought, why can’t I take this challenge as a kind of exercise? You see, my muscles are much stronger than before.” Tang Geggen bent to touch his leg shyly.

With the help of the work team, Tang Gengen managed to apply for a discount loan and obtained special funds from the government. He then initiated the Zougang Harmonious Family Ecological Farm and Xiaochang Gengen Cultivation and Breeding Cooperative.

Now, Tang Gengen became a leader in helping more villagers out of poverty, and led them on the road to prosperity.

He signed agreements with 17 poverty-stricken families in the neighborhood and agreed to provide pregnant does to each of them. When the kids were born, the family would own the kids for free and return the doe. When the kids grew up, the family could either sell them by themselves or ask Gengen to help with the sale.

Xiong Zhiqiang, a povertystricken villager in Fangji Village, got four kids for free by signing the agreement, and bought another 3 pregnant does later. Now he had 7 goats in total, “These goats are my property and will add value gradually.” Xiong Zhiqiang was now confident about his future, “Gengen knows how to raise goats and sell them. I believe I can succeed with his help.”

Becoming well-off together

The cooperative has attracted a large number of visitors for its organic breeding methods and high-quality meat, and Gengen’s story. His goats sold well.

Gengen built a new house in 2019. The house was not whitewashed on the outside, but it was well designed and tidy inside, with a nice study. Now Tang Gengen was both wealthy materially and rich spiritually.

“What’s your definition of being well-off?” I asked.

“We have great potential in developing rural tourism. Entertaining visitors with indigenous and organic local vegetables and chevon is my dream, which will help more villagers become rich.” This is the well-off life in Tang Gengen’s eyes. (Translation: Li Li)

Looking at a new born kid, Tang Gengen beaming with satisfaction唐根根（右）看著出生不久的小羊羔，開心地笑了

他想過種田，可光靠種田很難脫貧；想過養(yǎng)豬，可投入太大承受不起。在母親和扶貧工作隊(duì)的鼓勵(lì)下，唐根根決定，先把家里的幾十只羊養(yǎng)起來。

俗話說：“種姜養(yǎng)羊，本小利長；羊死姜爛，啥也不算?！庇行┭蚩粗煤玫?，過了幾天就死了?？粗舱鄣难蚋?，唐根根無比心痛。他暗地里發(fā)誓，一定要把剩下的羊兒養(yǎng)活！

幾年下來，他上網(wǎng)查閱資料、請教畜牧局專家，努力學(xué)習(xí)科學(xué)養(yǎng)羊方法，筆記記了一大摞。通過不斷的學(xué)習(xí)和實(shí)踐，他的羊兒不僅活了下來，還長得越來越壯實(shí)。

最多一天接生五六十只羊羔

一只母羊一年可以生產(chǎn)2 到3只羊羔。生產(chǎn)高峰期，唐根根和家人常常從一大早接生到晚上十一二點(diǎn)。

“最多的一天，我們接生了五六十只羊羔！”談起這些，唐根根眼睛放光。

很快，羊群從最初的40 多只，壯大到了600 多只。種類也在增加，本地山羊、波爾山羊、黃山羊等都有。2019年唐根根收入近30 萬元。

為了堅(jiān)持生態(tài)養(yǎng)殖，唐根根每天放羊都要走上十幾萬步。這對先天肌無力的病人來說，是極大的挑戰(zhàn)。

“剛開始經(jīng)常摔跤，摔到褲子破了，摔得鼻青臉腫。但我一想，這何嘗不是一種鍛煉？你看，小腿的肌肉都長大了?！碧聘鶑澫卵嗣⊥?，略顯羞澀。

在扶貧工作隊(duì)的幫助下，唐根根申請貼息貸款，申報(bào)專項(xiàng)資金，創(chuàng)辦鄒崗鎮(zhèn)和諧家庭生態(tài)農(nóng)場，成立孝昌根根種養(yǎng)殖合作社。

現(xiàn)在，唐根根成了村里的致富“頭羊”，帶領(lǐng)著更多村民一起奔小康。

他與附近17 名貧困戶簽訂了協(xié)議：給每戶提供懷孕母羊，生下的羊羔免費(fèi)贈(zèng)送，母羊回收。羊羔養(yǎng)大后，貧困戶可以自己銷售，也可以委托他來銷售。

根據(jù)協(xié)議，方集村貧困戶熊志強(qiáng)靠兩只懷孕母羊免費(fèi)得到了4 只羊羔，又買了3 只懷孕母羊，現(xiàn)在一共有7 只羊?！斑@7 只羊就是我的不動(dòng)產(chǎn)，會(huì)慢慢增值的。”熊志強(qiáng)很有信心致富，“養(yǎng)羊的技術(shù)、銷路都有根根管，這么好的條件，能不好好干？”

“想帶著大家吃上旅游飯”

因養(yǎng)殖生態(tài)好、羊肉口感好，加上很多人因唐根根的故事慕名前來，合作社的羊兒供不應(yīng)求。

2019年，唐根根家蓋起新房。盡管房屋外墻沒有粉刷，但從屋檐的講究、書房的設(shè)置、屋內(nèi)外的整潔可以感受到，唐根根不僅生活上拔掉了窮根，精神上也更加充實(shí)快樂起來。

“你心目中的小康生活是什么樣的？”我問。

“農(nóng)業(yè)休閑觀光游消費(fèi)需求旺盛，讓客人吃到正宗、綠色的土菜和生態(tài)羊肉，村民們就可以在家門口吃上旅游飯?！边@就是唐根根心目中的小康生活。