habuma village in lancang county in yunnan province is located on china's border with myanmar.
in the past, the lahu ethnic group living in the region was stricken by poverty.
yang qixiu, a teacher of lahu ethnicity, started working here in 2004, and has witnessed how life has changed in the region.
"in the past, the students were from impoverished families. they were fed on rice and vegetables they brought from home, without any meat," said yang.
in order to improve nutrition for the students, yang opened a small vegetable plot nearby in 2005, and started to raise chickens, ducks and pigs.
notable changes began to occur in 2012, as lancang made great social and economic progress amid a nationwide poverty-alleviation drive, and more government funds trickled into the county's primary education system.
the government has provided subsidies and free meals for local schools.
yang's vegetable plot is still preserved to this day, but it has been given another purpose -- to cultivate students' labor skills, allowing them to experience the hardships of manual work, and to help them inherit the spirit of being hardworking and self-reliant.
the vegetables that they grow have become part of regular meals in the canteen.
