Yi people and the One World Futbol

Dear Wilson

Imagine a village with children who have never seen a soccer ball.

This was the case earlier this month until Huang Yu arrived in Sichuan Province, China. Yu is an anthropologist who has been teaching at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I introduced you to her in my letter of July 28, just before leaving Hong Kong. You may recall part of her research involved studying the loss of biodiversity in Chinese food crops because the use of commercial seed is leading farmers to stop saving seed.

Futbols almost confiscated

Yu took a couple One World Futbols with her when she entered China, knowing that she would be in communities where the people are very poor.

But that almost didn't happen. When Yu tried to take the balls aboard a plane in Kunming in Southwest China, they were almost confiscated. As she explains it, "the security people wanted to deflate the balls and couldn't. They were afraid that the balls would explode under the high pressure on the plane. I argued with them and eventually could keep the balls."

What a great story! Yu, who is not only an honorary member of Team Wilson because of her help; now she is a Team Wilson pioneer, for introducing these balls in a part of the world where they are so unknown that they worry airport security. Team Wilson has broken ground in the world's most populous country.

Here's what she did afterward, as explained in an e-mail:

Professor Huang Yu

Dear Robert, 

I gave one futbol to a village located in Luguhu Town, Yanyuan County, Sichuan Province. The county lies in a high-altitude basin (2400-2500m elevation). The children belong to the Yi ethnic minority group. The villagers there grow buckwheat, corn, potatoes, and sunflower for family consumption. 

Yi village at Luguhu Town. Photo by Huang Yu

They also sell the extra produce to the market. Some of the children are called “left-behind children” whose parents go to coastal cities and do factory or service work. The village is adjacent to the famous tourist site Lugu Lake. In the summer, children often walk 2-3 hours to Lugu Lake to sell sunflower seeds and souvenirs. There is no sports facility in the village. I donated the ball to children and they were very happy. 

I gave another futbol to a village located in Mianya Town, Yanyuan County, Xichang City, Sichuan Province. The village is also dwelled by the Yi ethnic minority group. They used to live in the mountains and moved to the current basin area about 5 years ago to get their children better schooling opportunities. 

The current village used to be an apple plantation, but the owner abandoned it a few years ago due to the decline of profit. He sold some areas of land to his former employees, many of whom are the Yi people. Now the village is very poor without drinking water and electricity. Most families grow buckwheat for their own consumption and also raise sheep for cash. The adults either go outside as migrant workers or get day labor in the adjacent walnut plantation. 

There is no sports facility in the village and the children’s activities include catching wild birds and collecting wild mushroom. I gave the futbol to the village head and he promised that he would let children play the ball often. A lot of children have never seen a real futball before and they were really excited to have the chance to play it.

best,

Huang Yu

 

At least some of these Yi farm children had never seen a soccer ball. Photo by Huang Yu

I had to read Yu’s e-mails a few times to absorb everything she said. Then I looked up some information. 

The Yi People

Here’s what Wikipedia says about the Yi ethnic group:

There are an estimated 8 million Yi people in Thailand, Vietnam and China, where they represent the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People’s Republic of China. In China, they live primarily in rural areas, usually in mountainous regions. Most are farmers, herders of cattle, sheep and goats. They speak “mutually unintelligible” languages.

Buckwheat. Photo by Huang Yu, Inset from Wikipedia.

Buckwheat

And here’s what I found out about buckwheat:

You know, never once in my 70 years did I ever wonder what buckwheat was. I just assumed it was one of three things: something related to afalfa; a character from a Little Rascals movie that would be politically incorrect nowadays; or the same character, satirically recreated by Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live.

Well, it’s none of those. Buckwheat isn’t wheat. It isn’t even a grass. It’s actually related to rhubarb, knotweed and sorrel. It’s referred to as a pseudocereal, similar to amarynth, whose seeds are eaten like grain. Its production declined in the 20^th Century with the introduction of nitrogen fertilizer used for other staples, but it has been cultivated for probably 8,000 years, first in Southeast Asia. 

Wikipedia states that it has been in Finland as early as 5,400 BCE. Buckwheat handles elevation well, and has been  grown on the Tibetan Plateau.

Just think. Someday those children of buckwheat farmers who lack electricity and safe drinking water will see a "real" soccer ball and they will think it's just a cheap imitation, because Yu brought them unbreakable soccer balls that won’t wear out and go flat.

Love,

Robert