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Follow Helen’s Cafe as they bring two foreigners to the rural countryside of Hubei to visit the homes of a few impoverished families.
Ah Bing – the man behind Helen’s Cafe is a native of the Tujia Chinese minority tribe. The success of his chain of bars follows the concept and design of his childhood upbringing.
To give back to his community, 5 out of 6 Helen’s bars will donate a portion of their sales every Tuesday night to sponsor one of each of the 5 families below. How is this going to work? The price for a bottle of Tsingdao beer at Helen’s is 10RMB however every Tuesday night, the price will be 11RMB. Helen’s Cafe will match every 1RMB donated so that the family can receive 2RMB from every bottle sold. After 100 bottles, the price of Tsingdao will go back to 10RMB so the maximum a family will receive is 200RMB. That is 800RMB per month per family. If this fund is successful, Helen’s Cafe will continue and extend this sponsorship.
5 Helen’s Cafe 5 families – Follow their story below
Wang Xiaofei (王孝飞) 36 years old, Tujia Minority Tribe
Although Wang Xiaofei made a meager living as a farmer, he had a small and happy family. But falling victim to cancer, Wang could not even afford the basic means to provide for his family. Suddenly his family was fighting for survival. Without a steady income, his wife was forced to work in a factory in Guangdong. She makes almost twenty thousand RMB a year, however Wang’s medical bills was more than 20 thousand RMB. On top of that their two children needed money for school, and their house has been drained with no money for maintenance. They live in a harsh area where the winter cold is unbearable, having heat is a luxury they cannot afford. Their house is full of large holes and cracks making it bitter cold in the winter. The two children was sent to live with their grandparents and they have not seen their parents for almost 2 years. Because there is no money to go buy a car.
Zhou Wanyou (周万友) 58 years old
Mr. Zhou was born blind. His parents died when he was 12 years old, forcing him to live and survive on his own. With his economic background and physical disability, he could not find a wife. There is nothing in his home and the Government gives him 80 RMB a month. Recently, someone told him that his eyes could be cure. However it was a lie and he lost a thousand RMB. Just to cook his own food, Mr. Zhou recruits to the mountain to find and carry his own wood. Blind, poor, and with no family to depend on, his life is difficult.
Xi Yao Tang (唐习尧) 45-year-old
Because he had cancer, his surgery cost more than 100,000 RMB and he needs almost twenty thousand RMB a year to visit the hospital. His home has virtually no income and has 2 kids. His son is in college however his daughter turned down her admission to university, because their family could not afford it. She is now working inside a factory in Guangdong and sends money to help her father to see a doctor and to send her brother to school. His son at school eats the cheapest food available and is very thin. With very little money, it is difficult for the family to acquire good nutrition.
He Cheng Qian (贺承迁) 11 years old
When He Cheng Qian was 3 years old, his father fell ill and died. His mother remarried and left him in his uncle’s care. Two years later, the child’s uncle also died. So again, he was sent to live with another family. However now this family has no money. With no loving care, he feels that he is a burden on this family and it greatly affects him.
Xu Zehong (徐泽洪) 63-year-old
Xu Zehong and his wife are very hard workers, but because Xu has suffered from respiratory tract disease, life is quite difficult. Although his disease is not very serious, it is difficult to find work in the rural. With every little bit of money they do make, they use it to buy medicine as they cannot afford to go to the hospital. As they are getting older, it is hard to guarantee the basics for living. Even his own house is about to fall apart so they are living in someone else’s home.