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，孝昌縣鄒崗鎮校堂村十分熱鬧。一個小個子身影出現在羊圈門口，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。小時候常聽老人講，羊群的行動很軍事化，頭羊走到哪兒，一群羊就跟到哪兒。頭羊一咩，群羊就列隊出發。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，他先天肢體二級殘疾，四肢無力，從小到大，走路沒少摔跤。然而，歷經摔打的他卻堅持“奔跑”，拔掉了自家的“窮根”。

“我一定要把羊兒養活”

唐根根從小生活在一個貧困家庭，父親長期生病吃藥，無法干重活，母親艱辛撫養他和弟弟唐派派。上學后，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，唐根根從武漢商學院會計專業畢業，躊躇滿志的他準備在城里找一份安穩的工作，讓家人過上好生活。

然而，由于先天殘疾，求職屢屢受挫。

那段時間，他整晚整晚睡不著覺，輾轉反側，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；想過養豬，可投入太大承受不起。在母親和扶貧工作隊的鼓勵下，唐根根決定，先把家里的幾十只羊養起來。

俗話說：“種姜養羊，本小利長；羊死姜爛，啥也不算。”有些羊看著好好的，過了幾天就死了。看著夭折的羊羔，唐根根無比心痛。他暗地里發誓，一定要把剩下的羊兒養活！

幾年下來，他上網查閱資料、請教畜牧局專家，努力學習科學養羊方法，筆記記了一大摞。通過不斷的學習和實踐，他的羊兒不僅活了下來，還長得越來越壯實。

最多一天接生五六十只羊羔

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

“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。

為了堅持生態養殖，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。

“剛開始經常摔跤，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。”唐根根彎下腰摸了摸小腿，略顯羞澀。

在扶貧工作隊的幫助下，唐根根申請貼息貸款，申報專項資金，創辦鄒崗鎮和諧家庭生態農場，成立孝昌根根種養殖合作社。

現在，唐根根成了村里的致富“頭羊”，帶領著更多村民一起奔小康。

他與附近17 名貧困戶簽訂了協議：給每戶提供懷孕母羊，生下的羊羔免費贈送，母羊回收。羊羔養大后，貧困戶可以自己銷售，也可以委托他來銷售。

根據協議，方集村貧困戶熊志強靠兩只懷孕母羊免費得到了4 只羊羔，又買了3 只懷孕母羊，現在一共有7 只羊。“這7 只羊就是我的不動產，會慢慢增值的。”熊志強很有信心致富，“養羊的技術、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”

因養殖生態好、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、書房的設置、屋內外的整潔可以感受到，唐根根不僅生活上拔掉了窮根，精神上也更加充實快樂起來。

“你心目中的小康生活是什么樣的？”我問。

“農業休閑觀光游消費需求旺盛，讓客人吃到正宗、綠色的土菜和生態羊肉，村民們就可以在家門口吃上旅游飯。”這就是唐根根心目中的小康生活。