A 10-year-old carries a basket almost his own height on his back to earn a daily wage. His family does not have the 140 yuan (approximately US$18) to send him to school. (Ben Ben)
According to a BBS report on bbs.cenet.org.cn, the local farmers of Dashui Village, in Dafang County, China, live in dire poverty.
Dafang County is located northeast of the Wumeng Mountain area in Guizhou Province. The regional economy is very backward. Transportation, communication, energy, and other forms of infrastructure are inadequate.
The photographs by Ben Ben capture typical scenes in the lives of the villagers, especially the children.
Children playing in the river during the day. Their families cannot afford to send them to school. (Ben Ben)
Most residents live in thatched huts made of grass. (Ben Ben)
An entire family occupies an uninhabitable hut. (Ben Ben)
The Dashui Village elementary school is located at an elevation of approximately 1,600 meters (5,249 feet). The infrastructure offers no protection from nature. (Ben Ben)
Children sit at makeshift desks. (Ben Ben)
These are the feet of a child who climbs in the mountains and crosses rivers every day for more than two hours, even in the heavy snows of winter, to reach school. (Ben Ben)
Children eat two such bowls of rancid rice per day. (Ben Ben)
A young girl wears a thick sweater, her only piece of clothing, during the heat of July. (Ben Ben)
What do the expressions on these children's faces have to say to us? (Ben Ben)
