Tough times

Recalling his arrival in 2018, Buha said: "The villagers trekked across dirt roads dotted with animal manure. When rainstorms hit, floodwater came down from the mountains, inundating the land."

Of the 522 households, 151 were officially classified as impoverished. Most children dropped out of school due to poverty and the young men left to do odd jobs in cities, leaving the elderly, women and children behind.

Now, the residents have all been lifted out of poverty. Each adult earns an average 6,200 yuan ($896) annually after Buha introduced activities such as Yi embroidery, beekeeping, chicken raising and vegetable greenhouses with the support of the PAP.

During the process, the toughest thing for Buha was not the fact that he only saw his family twice a year, but the difficulty he had uniting the villagers, who lacked a spirit of cooperation.

"When we spoke about introducing businesses and renovating roads and houses, they tended to only consider themselves and how much profit they could make," he said.

For example, during the construction of a road, one family asked for compensation, saying the work had damaged their stone doorstep. Some villagers approached Buha to get first bite at projects such as raising chickens and pigs, but he refused to be swayed.

"My principle is to treat everyone equally and gain respect by showing impartiality," he said.