When her son is gone, she turns her thoughts into 10 million trees
Our reporters Dong Xue and Zhang Mengjie
This is the story of an elderly mother who lost her only child.
Her name is Yi Jiefang, 74 years old. She lost her beloved son in 2000. After several choices, she finally decided to live for her son's wish to "plant trees" before he died.
In the 20 years since autumn came and summer, she turned her sadness into thousands of trees standing in Inner Mongolia and Gansu, greening 40,000 mu of desert and Gobi.
When the reporter interviewed, Yi Jiefang was planting trees in Dunhuang. Although she could only talk through video, she was still infected by her strong spirit.
"Speaking from the bottom of my heart, what is more important than a child's last wish now are living children and living people. Greening the desert is for future generations and for hundreds of millions of people," she said.
It's hard to live, it's hard to die, what should I do?
"Our family's journey is basically related to the death of the child." Yi Jiefang told reporters her story.
Over the past 20 years, every sapling she has planted with her own hands has buried her delicate and profound love and pain as a mother.
In May 2000, the family had been working hard in Japan for many years.
Yi Jiefang worked for a large tourism company, Mr. Yang Antai opened a clinic, and his son was a junior.
If the accident does not happen, the couple plans to return to Shanghai after their son graduates. "The child said that he can work in Japan. He is relatively independent. We have trained him since he was a child. He is very good in life management and interpersonal communication."
"Mom, what are you going to do when you go back?"
"When we retire, we can't be idle all the time. We may do some charity work."
"Isn't the sandstorm raging in China now? Why don't you just go to Inner Mongolia to plant trees!"
The dialogue at that time is still fresh in Yi Jiefang's memory.
She felt that the proposal to plant trees was a good idea, and her son said more and more vigorously: "Mom, we either don't do it, or we can make it bigger!"
"You have a big tone," she joked. "It takes a lot of money to be big. How can we be big as individuals? It's okay to give a little strength."
No one expected that a daily chat would become the belief that later supported the Yi Jiefang couple to survive.
Half a month later, my son was in a car accident on his way to school and died on the spot.
"The whole house has collapsed, the sky is dark and the sky is dark." Yi Jiefang wanted to end her life several times, but she always felt that the child was stopping her.
It's hard to live, it's hard to die, what should I do?
She made a mother's choice - "I can only think about what the child wanted to do before he died, and make up his mind to realize his desire to plant trees."
An episode in the interview left a deep impression on the reporter: the teachers and students of a Hope Primary School in Wangcheng District, Changsha City, Hunan Province contacted Yi Jiefang and planned to contribute to tree planting.
The primary school was built with the assistance of Yi Jiefang and his wife. In fact, the two had already devoted themselves to public welfare before planting trees.
From Inner Mongolia to Gansu, she was called "Mother Earth"
The first trees planted by Yi Jiefang were in Kulun Banner, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia.
She signed an agreement with the local government to green 10,000 mu of desert and plant 1.1 million trees.
As a Shanghai woman, she had never seen a desert before, nor had she ever been challenged by a sandstorm.
This base was measured and selected by her from the eastern part of Inner Mongolia to the western part of the country.
Anyone who is familiar with Yi Jiefang knows that in order to plant trees, her financial and physical efforts are huge.
To ask her how much she spent in total, it's hard to figure out before and after.
In the early days of afforestation, there were almost no donations, and the public awareness of the common people was also in its infancy. The couple’s savings in Japan, the compensation for his son’s traffic accident and life insurance, and the three properties sold in Shanghai were all invested. Which one? Neither is a small number.
How many injuries did she get from planting trees?
It's also hard to figure out.
I only know that the process of planting trees is extremely difficult. It takes a day or two to reach the desert by planes, cars, and carriages, and the saplings have to be carried on the shoulders.
Over the years, Yi Jiefang has experienced more than 10 major surgeries that only require surgery.
"I have broken a lot of places on my body, broken collarbone, broken ribs, broken ligaments. Once after bowel resection, I went to plant trees without a good rest, which caused my abdominal muscles to collapse. Another time was a comminuted second lumbar vertebra. Fractured, I almost couldn't stand up again." Yi Jiefang said.
From Kulun Banner, to Dengkou County, and then to Duolun County, between 2003 and 2018, she led volunteers to complete the afforestation of three bases in Inner Mongolia, using 8 million trees to green 30,000 mu of desert, and the survival rate Reach more than 85%, all donated to the local.
Subsequently, Yi Jiefang moved to Gansu to start a new round of afforestation, planning to plant another 2 million trees and greening 10,000 mu of desert.
She is called "Mother Earth".
Because of the previous comminuted fracture of the second lumbar vertebra, Yi Jiefang was on crutches.
In the afforestation activities in the spring of 2021, when he saw a scene of 3,000 volunteers participating, Yi Jiefang was so excited that he threw his crutches, and he never used crutches again.
"As long as I don't fall, no one can bring me down!"
Haloxylon is one of the most planted tree species in Yifang.
Coincidentally, in a sense, Haloxylon can also be called "mother", and the economic crop Cistanche deserticola parasitizes on the roots of Haloxylon to absorb nutrients, and the two are a "mother-child relationship".
Under the suggestion of some forestry workers in Inner Mongolia, local planting companies planted Cistanche deserticola on the roots of Haloxylon to create income.
The practical exploration of "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" is the direction of Yi Jiefang's efforts.
"After the trees in the desert are planted, they must be managed, otherwise they won't survive. The Haloxylon we planted provides opportunities for the company, and the company also needs to help us raise Haloxylon." She said, "Cistanche deserticola depends on Haloxylon to survive. Enterprises have to serve 'mother' well in order to raise 'children'."
The rope saw the wood broke, and the water dripped through the stone.
Inspired by Yi Jiefang's unremitting efforts and the spirit of "Mother Earth", as well as with the improvement of common people's public welfare awareness and the media's publicity and reports, many caring people have actively participated in desertification control, and some mothers of families who lost their only child have also joined them. The tree under it is taken care of as its own child.
According to Yi Jiefang's statistics, in the past 20 years, nearly 100,000 caring people have participated in the team's donation and tree planting activities.
"Our volunteers are just like me," she said.
Yi Jiefang spends most of the year planting trees, and only stays at home in Shanghai for two or three months.
Mr. Yang Antai persuaded her to say that many trees have been planted, which is very hard, so don't bother.
Yi Jiefang agreed, but couldn't stop. "When I think about stopping, my heart is empty," she said.
If it goes well, the tree planting project in Gansu will be completed by the end of this year, and Yi Jiefang has the intention to start the next project in Ningxia.
"I think people have to do something, no matter how old you are, as long as you have self-confidence." Yi Jiefang said, "As long as I don't lie down, no one will try to bring me down. I promised our volunteers. Be sure to walk on the road of planting trees until you can’t walk!”
Yi Jiefang’s family wrote a message to his son – live, stand up to block the wind and sand, fall down, and ignite yourself to give light and warmth to others.
Planted one by one, compacted every inch, with a little greenery, one side will be born again.
Behind the vicissitudes of life is the persistence of green silk turning white hair, the perseverance of Yugong to move mountains, and the deep love of a mother.