Why is it the poorer Chinese areas need development? They should be able to survive at the same level they have for hundreds of years. They have a house and grow their own food. So, do they really need new ways to earn money?
I wonder about these kinds of things a lot. What did the average Chinese peasant do one hundred years ago without the job opportunities in Guangdong's booming industrial areas or the massive construction across the country? I know all the standard answers, but just a couple days ago, a friend of mine who lives in a village in just such a situation was able to set me straight on a few things.
School fees are the first thing. Maybe sometime soon these children will not have to pay for their schooling, but even if tuition is free, many school related costs will most likely still be a monetary need for rural people in this area for a while yet.
The other item my friend mentioned that I would not have easily realized is clothing, especially at New Year. Chinese New Year is the time to buy presents, and you have to buy your children new clothing some time or another. "It doesn't grow on trees, you know."
I probably do not have to convince most of you that the average person needs money to live, but in the face of such huge numbers of workers migrating from the countryside to China's cities, I try to question everything to truly understand the rural situation to the fullest. This only brings me back around to the same problem facing so many of the world's developing countries: earning a living in small towns or villages is difficult to impossible.
I am not a big supporter of throwing money at the situation either. I would much rather develop sustainable businesses that can continue providing for years to come, but my friend gave an example of a charitable project with benefits that I had not thought of before.
An organization built a school building in his home village. The overt donation is the building itself, but I had not thought about—I should have thought about, but never had—all the "support" industries surrounding the project, the side benefits to the community. Somebody has to build it: there will be workers. The supplies for construction will be hauled up the mountain by truck drivers. In many ways, the village has a huge economic boost with such a project.
I still believe the local economies will need something sustainable for long term impact, but I now have made a little more room in my thinking for charitable projects that could do so much good for rural communities.
China's biggest resource is its people, and about 70% of those are in the countryside. This place is just dripping with potential, and in many circumstances, all they need is a little nudge to get them going.
