Editor's note：

On August 22, 2010, reporters from ""Spring City Evening News"" newspaper from Kunming City (Yunnan Province) went along with SP Edify staff's Miss Margarita Cheng to visit 4 ""free immigration"" Miao villages. Their goal was to call the attention of all Government relevant departments attention to the problems of the ""black people, black households"" in the area of Kaiyuan City through in depth reports, and also to report on the possible measures that the Government Departments may take to solve the problems of the children of these ""free immigration"" villages.

After taking more than 3 hours to travel 20 Km., the reporters enter into an ""immigrant village"" in the mountains.

Zhangpojiao, the village ""without identity""

At the beginning of another school year, more than 10 students from the Miao village of Zhangpojiao, in the Hanni and Yi Autonomous Region of the Red River Prefecture, finally don't need to worry about going to school. Shu Jingsong, principal of the Zhengzhong centre in Jianshui district, when talking about these children, his eyes full of fear and love, said: ""These kids have the right to go to school regardless of their status, we can not forget them...."".

Why are these children denominated ""the forgotten children""? Why their status and identity are ""especial""? Not long ago, reporters from this newspaper went to several places situated in mountainous areas of the Red River to ask these questions and to know such a large group of people. Their local government calls them ""Free immigration families"", meaning people that left their original villages and emigrated to some other unknown place and lived over there for a number of decades. In the Red River area, this kind of people can be numbered in the thousands, and more than 90% of them belong to the Miao small ethnic minority. ""Not registered"" and ""Poverty"" have become the label of this group of people. Here, this newspaper only records their living conditions, hoping to make everybody thing about their future.....

In the mountainous area, around 20 km. away from Kaiyuan City, there is a poor village called ""Zhangpojiao"". There is no electricity, no water and no roads. Here live 18 families with a total of 128 people. In these 30 years, how did they make a living? The reporter from this newspapers went there to find out about this question.

Departing from Kaiyuan City, crossing the hills to the west, and after following a bumpy mountainous road for more than 3 hours, finally this reporter arrived to Zhangpojiao.

 【Difficulty】

Out of 128 people, nearly 80 do not have registration.

During the seventies of last century, because there was not enough arable land for their families, two brothers, Luo Yunguang and Luo Jiawang, immigrated to this place, smoothed the land and build thatched houses to start making a living here. After that, friends introduced this place to friends and relatives to relatives, people kept moving to this place all the time. In the space of 30 years, the population of the village has risen to 128 persons, members of 18 families. All of them had to face a very serious problem: the lack of identity and registration. Among these 128 persons, at least 80 of them do not have registration and become ""forgotten"", ""without identity"".

  【Food】

""One pumpkin"" to make 4 dishes

The day of our arrival, the villagers prepared a meal for the reporter. After preparing the food, they bring it to the center of the village and sat over there. After looking at the food, we were quite surprised. All together there were 4 dishes: fried pumpkin, boiled pumpkin, pumpkin flowers and fried pumpkin leaves. One villager said to me: ""This is like the New Year"". The reason was that, because of our arrival, the villagers even killed 2 chicken to make a soup.

Fortunately, because of the help of SP Edify (Saint Paul School Educational Infraestructure for Yunnan), Zhangpojiao already has built a water reservoir, and all the inhabitants can drink clean water.

  【Housing】

 Most of the people live in thatched houses

 In between 18 families, but for a few of them that have built for themselves brick houses，the majority lives in thatched houses. The ""bedroom"" is at the right side of the main door, simply extending some pieces of wood in a corner and, if there are more children, they use some pieces of wood to make something like a nest, thus making another ""bedroom"". At the left side of the main door is the place for the cows and the kitchen. At night, it is occupied by the cows, but at daytime after they take the cows to the fields in the mountains, they light some firewood and start cooking.

 【Transportation】

""Immigrants"" repair mountain roads.

In the mountainside where Zhangpojiao is located, looking at the opposite side of the mountain, the freeway Jijie-Jianshui runs very near. Luo Yongqiang, major of Zhangpojiao, said: it looks very near, but there are no roads; going by foot needs at least three of four hours. Pointing to the mountain road at the side of the village, the villagers told the reporter that in order to make it a bit more convenient to go to the city, they had constructed that mountain road.

 【Health】

The villagers themselves put injections to treat their illness.

If they have solved the problems of food, housing and clothing, how about when they become sick? Zhangpojiao's old major told me quite proudly: a few years ago, the villagers learn how to put injections themselves. SP Edify's representative, Chenli told the reporter that the first time she came to this village, because of the food, became very sick in the stomach. When the old major knew this, he inmediately came and told her: ""don't worry, we will put you an injection"". After bringing the injection, the old major told her: ""If the pain is in the stomach, we will put the injection in the stomach"". This was enough to scare the hell out of Chenli. The old major said: The villagers learned by themselves, they went to the city to buy needles, syringes, alcohol and medicines. They mixed the medicines by themselves and learned to put the injections themselves as well. They think that the problem is always where it hurts, so the injection should also be put there: ""In this way a lot of people have been cured"".

 【Useful】

Recharge the mobile phone battery using normal AA batteries.

The major, Luo Yongqiang, carries a mobile phone in the waist. It is essential in order to be in touch with anyone outside the village. But, if there is no electricity in the village, how can they recharge the mobile phone battery?  The villagers left the reporter dumfounded with their answer: they invented a way to connect with very fine wire AA batteries to the mobile phone recharger, so they can recharge the mobile phone battery. Needless to say, it is really useful.