DENGDI VILLAGE, A RAGTAG collection of stone houses and thatched huts huddled high on a hillside, commands an imposing view of a long, meandering valley.
The chill morning air forms a delicate mist as it comes into contact with the frozen soil. Despite the wealth of natural beauty, life in this remote corner of Guizhou province is far from picturesque.
The village is accessible only via a long, precipitous dirt track, torn up and reduced to deep mud in parts, partially washed away in others. The local county town of Weining may be less than 50km away as the crow flies, but it can take half a day when the weather interferes.
The farmers here eke out a near subsistence existence, supplemented with meagre earnings from the local cottage industry, tin production. Many villagers share their tumbledown homes with livestock, sleeping on half-floors directly above the family's pigs.
At the village primary school, hundreds of students have had to cram into rudimentary classrooms, huddled together on hard wooden benches at rough desks. Some have walked 10km to get even this slim chance for an education.
The scene is repeated at remote primary schools all over Guizhou's mountainous countryside. Rural schools are falling into disrepair and there is no money to maintain them. Few qualified teachers are willing to work in isolated villages for the minimal wage local authorities are able to offer so most primary teachers have completed only junior secondary school. Schools often lack basic necessities such as pens, paper, work books or even chalk for the blackboard.
But pupils at Dengdi primary school are among the lucky ones. The school has a new building, erected on a knoll above the original school structure and completed less than a year ago. Paid for by a Hong Kong-based charity, this effectively doubled the school's classroom space, breathing new life into the school.
