Third Round of Baseline Studies Conducted in Yigang Township, Tongwei County!

While the weather may be warming up here in Beijing, Tongwei County is still well into winter. Cold temperatures and a recent dumping of snow greeted our PlaNet Finance team upon arrival in Gansu Province earlier this week and presented us with some road navigation challenges during the mission.

Returning from the villages to our hotel in Tongwei

Roads and weather aside, PlaNet Finance China successfully conducted another baseline study for the Rural Isolation to Market Integration project (Tongwei II), this time in Qiaogu Village, YiGang Township. On Wednesday, March 23, 2011, a team consisting of Pascale Geslain, PlaNet Finance Head of Microfinance and Environment, Alison Schmidt, Deputy Project Manager, and Katy Wang, Communications & Development Officer, along with Tongwei Rural Development Association Deputy Director Cui Feng and Driver Li Guomin, surveyed fifteen households in snowy Qiaogou Village. Qiaogou Village is located approximately 3 kilometers from the township center.

 PlaNet Finance China’s Katy Wang surveys a Qiaogu resident

The results of the baseline will determine whether or not Qiaogou Village will be selected as a project site for the Tongwei II project. If chosen, Qiaogou Village will be one of thirty-two sites which will receive renewable energy and small business loans. Upon analysis of data, results of the baseline will be available.

 A Qiaogou resident