LRS Care Profile #29: Cai Ping

Gender: Female
Age: 40
Household: 6 members—Cai Ping, husband, 2 sons, daughter, mother-in-law
Annual Income: $560 USD
Daily Income: $2.56 USD
Needs: Funding for three sheep to help alleviate the family’s poverty
Fundraising Goal: $480 USD

Key Points

Give Cai Ping’s family a chance to improve their lives by raising sheep.

• Cai Ping had CHD surgery in October 2013
  
• Her recovery hasn’t been successful, and she still struggles with health problems
  
• Their daughter suffers from cataracts
  
• Her husband is unable to do physical labor and wants to raise sheep
  

Background

Difficult Recovery from Surgery

Cai Ping had surgery in October 2013 to treat her congenital heart disease, with help from LRS. Unfortunately, her recovery in these past two years has not been ideal. Her pulmonary artery pressure is still high. So whenever she’s overworked, her body swells, which happens quite often. She can’t even make a fist after doing heavy work. 

Continuing Health Problems

Earlier this year in March she fainted and was hospitalized for half a month. To save money, she didn’t stay in the hospital as long as she was supposed to. She skipped physical checkups, ignored signs of illness, and hid fatal symptoms to avoid her husband from worrying. Cai Ping’s husband has a vertebrae problem, so he can’t do physical labor. Therefore, Cai Ping handles the farm work. Both of them are on medication.

Daughter’s Cataracts

The couple also worries about the younger daughter’s eyes. She suffers from congenital cataracts and had surgery at age six with the help of a Hong Kong organization. Now, ten years later, her eyesight has deteriorated again. She can only see things within 15 feet.

Family Harvest

The family harvested 1100 pounds of corn and 1650 pounds of wheat. The corn was sold for $160, and the wheat was kept for food. Even though there wasn’t much wheat, it was still enough for the year since the two older kids are away working.

From Cooking to Sheep Raising

Cai Ping’s husband got a job as a cook last year. He made about $800, but the work was hard for him to handle. After every shift (2–3 days) he would have to rest in bed for 4–5 days to recover. Still, the family would like to have some more income to send the kids to school. Cai Ping’s husband would like to raise sheep to lead the family out of poverty.

Hope for Change

The family owes almost $13,000 in debt, which they borrowed from the Credit Union and from relatives. Considering the couple’s physical condition, raising sheep is a good plan for them. However, they are unable to get any more loans. If we can provide a small amount of seed money for them to start with, the family will have an opportunity to change their lives.

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