JIA work camps , in the leprosy rehabilitation villages is of 1-2 weeks, to be became an organizer of work camps, you need to take about half a year to prepare for the event. (To participate in such activities, may be a kind of privileged college students, but work camps will not be at the end of step out of the society at the same time.) Together with the villagers, campers experience of learning stimulated further growth, even after step out of the community participants continue (it) in some form.
JIA started carrying out activities in China since 2004, by now has experienced more than 10 years of Sun and moon. Where are the campers now, how has it been ?
CHEN Peng who grew up in the city, began to work/ participate in the work camp because working in the village is very fresh. In his opinion, on the leprosy rehabilitation Camp surrounded by nature, he can feel the connection between people. He participated in the activities but also the same time, began to think about how the vision was only limited to the village? He still wanted to see more of the world, and with his own power do something.
2004 February, CHEN Peng in Guangdong Lian Jiang Shek Kong , the first meeting of the working team)
August 2004 in Yunnan Chuxiong work camps
February 2005 in Guangdong Lian Jiang Shek Kong committee)
Then in 2011, CHEN Peng's ideas turn into a reality. He wanted the villagers to rely on their own strength to cultivate, as a starting point, now his activities became the heart of Zhongshan camp. When CHEN Peng first arrived in Zhongshan he didn't know what to do, he just start building the water diversion and the plowing.
CHEN Peng precise that JIA "Joy In Action" means discussion and thinking alone can't solve the problem, but also must also have action.
At the same time, CHEN Peng also felt the Chinese farmers suffered social problems. Vegetables if are not cheap are not sold. To grow cheap and good looking vegetables, it is necessary to use pesticides harmful to humans. The use of fertilizers for the cultivation of large amounts of vegetables has led to a further decline of land. There is not escape from the vicious cycle of producers and consumers and CHEN Peng thinks that the problem is that they do not see each other's face. If producers, the farmers, and the consumers can establish links between each other to see the way and understand the correct knowledge of the agriculture, it can create a win-win situation to sell.
This way of thinking and the ideas of the work camps are similar. "Volunteers" and the "leprosy affected people" get to know each other by name. Society have failed for decades to solve the problem of the discrimination against leprosy, however through this method of getting to know each other it has been gradually improved. CHEN Peng believe that agriculture can also get the same effect using the same method.
In order to be a bridge between producers and consumers and establish the relationship between each other, CHEN Peng from "cultivating" changed to "pass", that is, the work changed from "production" to "flow". Now, he not only accept online orders of vegetables free of pesticide, also provide resort to family farming experience. In this way, he let the consumer access to agriculture experience at the same time, the opportunity to promote information about farmers and vegetables, the more people to understand what is agriculture. His wish, is to let everyone enjoy equally from the safe vegetables, win-win state.
Now CHEN Peng talk about his work and experience in JIA:
Before I met work camp, I thought that society was the way it was and I that I could only adapt to it, there was no need to change it. Even when I encountered strange things, i felt that there was no way of doing it.
But I found that through the work camp, as long as the action, we will be able to find a support and finally we will be able to change. I am now engaged in agriculture, the original state is to start from the "amateur", and then slowly development. A lot of people said I was doing something impossible, should give up early. But I think I can always make a little achievement, but you won't change anything if you don't act.
At the time of JIA, I know the situation in the later discussion. Now I want to find a bigger was desperate subject. Every person alive has a mission, each person has their own choice, also don't need everyone. And my choice is to agriculture.
To act and want to create something new in it's CHEN Peng's side, gathered a lot of friends. Everybody together discuss, act together. On Daniel and work camp continues.