A blind man Jia Haixia and Jia Wenqi, a man with no arms, have been like brothers since their childhood. These 53-year-old Chinese men have suffered many challenges in their lives. Haixia was born with congenital cataracts which made his left eye blind. He became completely blind after he lost his right eye sight followed by a work accident in 2000.
Wenqi has been living as a double amputee after he tragically lost both his arms in an electric shock accident, when he was just three years old. He completed his graduation in 1976 and was invited to work with the local forestry. When Haixia lost his sight completely, his son was four and his wife was not able to work due to illness. The only source of income of the poor family was stopped. Haixia became so depressed and the life became so difficult.
In 2001, the childhood friends Haixia and Wenqi reunited while both were struggling to find a job. The blind man and the double amputee believed they can live life to its fullest with each others hands and eyes. They leased a large stretch of land at the river side from the Government with the idea to plant trees for the future generations. They also hoped to protect their village from flood and to get some financial support from the government for their efforts. But the task was beyond their limits. However, they didn’t let their situations bring them down. Since then, planting trees has been a daily routine of their life.
For 14-years, Haixia and Wenqi leaves their home at 7 am and heading to their plot with a hammer and a metal rod. Wenqi directs the way through the forest for his blind friend who holds his empty jacket sleeve. They need to cross a fast streaming river to reach their site. Wenqi, the double amputee carries his blind friend to the other side.
Due to lack of money to buy saplings, they are using cuttings from the old trees to plant new life. Haixa climbs large trees for the best cuttings and it involves a lot of help from his armless friend. After haixa planted the new one, it is Wenqi’s duty to water the saplings. These process are happening slowly, however, Haixa and Wenqi have planted over 10,000 healthy trees in their three-hectares of land. It continues to grow like their friendship and they never plan to stop planting trees. Now it’s a home for birds and the villagers comes forward to help in their work after their story went viral in China. Haixia is about to get a surgery for his blindness. However, he said, he will continue working with his best friend until his last breath.
Haixia and Wenqi, this incredible friends proved the real meaning of friendship and now an inspiration for the people around the world.