LRS Care Profile #1: Huzi

Name: #1 Huzi
Household: 3 people—Huzi, his older sister, and their father
Annual Income: 2,500 yuan
Daily Income: 8.22 yuan
Needs: Support for Huzi’s tuition, rent, and living costs
Donation Needed: $2000

A Now-Healthy High School Junior

After a successful congenital heart disease (CHD) surgery in 2010 with help from Little Red Scarf, Huzi has been healthy enough to continue his education for two years already. The outgoing and considerate 20-year-old is a junior in high school at the local town.

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Modest Dorm Life

Huzi’s family lives halfway up a mountain. It would take 1 ½ hours of travel on steep roads to commute, so Huzi rents a modest dorm near the school. Costing 850 yuan a semester, this 10-square-meter room has little furniture. With no desk or bookshelves, Huzi piles his books on the floor and studies on his bed. To save money, Huzi always cooks for himself. His main source of food is usually the potatoes he brings from home.

Dilapidated Mountain House

The 50-year-old family house was passed down to Huzi’s family and is in desperate need of repair. In the current spring rainy season, the 2 bedrooms and unused kitchen are full of leaks and cracks, making it a hazardous living condition. 

Aging Widowed Father

Huzi’s father, a shy and honest farmer, is also showing his age at 50-years-old. Because Huzi’s mother passed away in 2013, his father is usually home alone.

His smoking habit has led to a chronic cough. His feet constantly hurt, and after a visit to the town clinic in vain, he takes painkillers. The annual cost for medication is around 1,400 yuan.

Apple Trees Struggle to Bear Fruit

One of the family’s main sources of income is their apple orchard. Eleven years ago, they got 83 seedlings from the local cooperative. However, because the tree species is old, the trees only started bearing fruit last year. At the end of 2014, they earned about 800 yuan from selling about 330 lbs. of apples. “I hope this year will be better than last year,” Huzi’s father says.

A Farming Family’s Income

The family grows other crops on their 1 acre of mountainous land, including corn, rapeseed, and potatoes. This earns them a net profit of around 1,300 yuan a year. With Huzi’s sister’s salary and some government support, the total annual family income is around 2,500 yuan, with a daily average income of 6.94 yuan.

Hard-working but in Debt

Huzi rarely asks his impoverished family for help with living expenses, but his father and older sister already do what they can to support his education. His father contributes toward the tuition of 1,000 yuan per semester. Huzi’s older sister works in Taiyuan and sends him 200–300 yuan every few months. The family’s main expenses are Huzi’s tuition, the father’s medication, and fertilizer. In 2013 the family borrowed 15,000 yuan, but in 2014 they only paid back around 4,000 yuan. 

Huzi’s Ambition to Support His Family

Eager to support his family, Huzi wants to study computer repair after graduation. Exceling in a trade like this will help him find a job more readily. But for now, Huzi and his family face financial challenges from his tuition, dorm rent, and living costs. 

Will you support Huzi’s education so he can eventually support his family?