A determined woman sold her home in China so she could grant her dying son’s final wish and plant two million trees in the desert of Inner Mongolia.
In 2000, 67-year-old Yi Jiefang from Shanghai lost her son Yang Ruizhe in a tragic accident when he was on his way to university in Japan. Before he died, he told her his lifelong dream was to plant the trees.
Yi plans to plant two million trees and so far she has successfully planted 1.1 million that stretch for miles on the Kulun Qi Horqin sandy desert plain.
Determination: 67-year-old Yi promised to grant her son's dying wish planting two million trees in Mongolia
Incredible: In 2004 she sold her home in China and with the help of her husband they began to plant the trees. Above, she is in one of the established forests
in order to complete her son’s wish, in 2004 Yi quit her job and sold the family home. She and her husband also sold the clinic they owned to raise funds.
The couple started up the ‘Green Life’ organisation with the money raised from the house, her son’s insurance pay out, and the help of the local government. It didn’t take long before they started planting the trees.
Their plan was to plant two million trees in 20 years. After more than ten years, they are already over half way. Once the trees have all fully grown, they will be donated to the local villages.
In addition, Green Life were affiliated with the China Women's Development Foundation and the Inner Mongolia Youth Development Foundation. Together the organisations raised donations that are used to purchase seedlings and plant the trees.
Difficulties: She has faced some problems including including mad winds and lack of water in the desert
Strong-minded: She set up the organisation Green Life and has so far planted more than 1.1 million trees
In a recent interview with the Youth Daily, Yi said she did not think they would have achieved so much by now.
She said: ‘I did not expect to stick at this more than ten years, I hope that through our actions we can get hundreds of millions of people planting millions of trees.
'I think I have granted my son’s wish.’
Yi said after her son died it was very painful. It wasn’t until a year later that she buried him on December 1 2001, his birthday.
She explained: ‘Planting a tree is like planting and giving hope. You watch a tree grow and you get comfort. It is just like when a family plants flowers, you watch the flowers grow and it makes you very happy.’
Final wish: Yi and her husband raised the money together to make their son's lifelong dream come true
Courageous: Their plan was to plant two million trees, after more than ten years they are already over half way
When she first began planting the trees, Yi faced some difficulties, including crazy winds that would blow the trees away, and a lack of water in the desert. But she said it will always rain eventually, which is very lucky.
Over the years she has had many volunteers coming out to Inner Mongolia to help her plant the trees.
Money is tight for Yi and her husband but they manage to survive and continue pursuing their son’s dream.
She said: ‘We eat very lightly and I basically do not buy any clothes for myself.
'However, I must emphasize that all contributions to Green Life go into the plating of the trees and we do not retain any of it.’
In the future Yi said that Green Life plans to cover over 23,000 square miles of desert with trees.
Very commendable and noble cause. Kudos to them!