​The main theme of the ceremony was “Building a happy home through participation of the community”. It was held at Ta-er-ti village on 25th November, 2019 with the participation of the Deputy Secretary of Yanyuan County, Secretary of Yousuo Township, officials of the Forestry and Agricultural Department of the County and other Government officials. Director Mr. John Bowden, in charge of the water project and director of fund raising Mr. Nicholas Pirie also participated in the ceremony. 

​A Festive Atmosphere
The ceremony was hosted and planned by the university students and the village management team with the support of The Leprosy Project Limited. Government officials, Directors of TLP and representatives from the village gave speech at the ceremony, then followed by a variety show with the support of volunteer performance team from Xichang, students from the village and the villagers.

​Helping People Help Themselves
The Leprosy Project commenced project implementation in cluster 10 and 11 of Ta-er-ti village since 2017. Through the preliminary survey, the Project found out that POD (Prevention of Disabilities and healthcare works to persons affected by leprosy), water, agriculture and education had been the most wanted from the community. Through the services and support from the Project during the past three years, we could see a tremendous change in the village. We could see the ulcers of the persons affected by leprosy got cured or improved, old people were able to visit the cities and let them feel the care from the public, and regain their confidence.
The most tangible change of all was the improvement of agricultural system through the completion of water project. Villagers resurrected the paddy fields which was abandoned for years due to shortage of water. Every family has their own vegetable gardens to grow a big variety of vegetables for self-consumption. Economic crops were also planned to be planted.

The Source of Life, The Source of Wealth -- The Water Project
The implementation of the water project began in the summer 2018, the started clearing up the obstacles all the way from the water source, which is more than 10km away from the village, and digging up ditches for the main water pipes in June and July as the first phase of the project. Villagers then built 6 GRP sectional water tanks, two 60m³, two 24m³ and two 12m³ tanks, as buffer and storage for the dry season. Through the hard work by the villagers the main construction of the water project was completed in 9 months, they got the first flow of water in Mid-March 2019, and the first 3 mu of paddy fields were resurrected right after the connection of water. Economic crops such as Sichuan green pepper corns, citrus trees, walnut trees were planted in the village, and the latest crops added to the list was Konjac, the villagers shall try to expand their arable lands for a bigger variety of economic crops to improve their livelihood.
The entire project used 10338m of 140mm PE pipes as main pipes from the source to the main tanks in the village, and 3138m 110m, 12400m of 25mm -63mm PE pipes as divisional pipes, 8000m of pipes for the drip system for the vegetable gardens. The project supported RMB712,644.80 for the entire water project in Yanyuan. 

Some Immediate Results from the Water Project
These were part of the immediate results collected at the end of 2019.

• 186 villagers from 62 households benefited from the water project.
• Water storage system enabled year-round use of water for both household and irrigation, especially during dry season.
• Improved personal and community hygiene to avoid transmission of diseases.
  
• From 0 irrigated land to 720 mu arable land was covered by the irrigation, where 100% of paddy fields shall be fed.
  
• Yields from green pepper corn, walnut and corn increased from RMB30,000 to RMB50,000 the first year, and planned to have a yield of RMB200,000 and an extra income of RMB130,000 from selling rice by restoring 81 mu of paddy fields in three years.
  
• Enlarged area of vegetable garden by 3 folds for self-consumption.
  
• Enabled villagers to grow wheat as their second crop after the harvest of rice in the paddy fields.

​It was the walnut picking season of the year.  I helped my father pick walnuts yesterday. Every falling walnut made different movements when they fell on the rooftop, on the grass, in the ditch and in the baskets on our backs.

​We are all like those falling walnuts, that could not decide the starting point by our own, but we could decide our direction through our efforts. There was an old man, he started his life just like the walnuts in the ditch. Everyone calls him Mao Duhuo. He was born in 1955. He had to grow up with the unbearable pain unlike those healthy kids. He was diagnosed with leprosy, and he was forced to leave his beloved family, the place he was born and grew up, he was sent to the leprosy rehab village in Ta-er-ti village in Yanyuan by his mother.

Every survivor form the disease is a hero. The old man did not give up on himself, he chose to live with dignity. Perhaps this is the tenacity of life, to life with the will like Beethoven -- I will seize fate by the throat; it shall certainly never wholly overcome me.

​“That which does not kill us makes us stronger”, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. The old man has gone through “the rebirth of Phoenix Nirvana”. He now his own circle of life, his own friends, neighbours and children. He cultivates in the fields with his friends in springs. The lived They sowed happiness with sweats and lived a self-sufficient life. They met almost every evening under the big “Eucalyptus” and chitchat about everything, from wars in the past to family matters, they chitchat until their mouths dry-up, then followed by board games and chess.