 My name is Adam Jarzab and I am a leader of HPI project in Wrobliniec community. In the past I was living in a small town and working for the state farm. When the farm collapsed I didnā??t know what to do. The only profession that I was familiar with was farming, but I didnā??t have my own piece of land to start agricultural production independently. I was accepting any job offered to me to make some income, but any of them became a permanent employment for me. After some time of living without any prospects for the future my parents decided to take radical steps to help me. They were living modest life themselves, but they possessed a small apartment that they inherited in the town after my grandparents. They decided to sell this apartment in order to have funds for buying a small farm in Wrobliniec for me.
In 2002 my wife, myself, our two children and my parents moved into two rooms in an old house on the farm. The beginning was really difficult, but we finally had our own land to start our production on. It was our great chance for improvement of our situation. I was working very hard on the farm and was looking for any possible opportunity to get some support at the same time. This is how I learned about HPI. When I applied for assistant I was informed that in order to start HPI project in our village I had to create a group of farmers who needed assistance and wanted to cooperate with each other. It was a real challenge for me. I was new to the village and didnā??t know whom to approach and ask for help. Slowly, step by step I started talking to the farmers from my own and neighboring villages and I became acquainted with them. After some time we knew each other good enough to register our own association and to apply to HPI for assistance. There were many, many people skeptical about our idea, but we managed to get our project approved.
At the moment all of the farmers eligible for HPI assistance have already received the horses. The horses help them on the farmers, lowering the costs of production. They are also used for carriage rides that is an additional sources of income for some of them. The members of the association present the horses during different ceremonies, promoting horse riding as nice tourist activity. As a result our association and HPI project are becoming more and more popular in the region. We hope that it will result in including our village into horse trail that would allow more members of the association to increase their income.
My personal life also has changed significantly thanks to HPI project. First of all, I became a happy owner of a nice mare that is very useful for running my organic farm. I also hope that she will help me to attract visitors to stay on my farm and I have already prepared a camping place for them. Moreover, as a result of my engagement in starting HPI project I became respected and fully accepted member of the community. Currently, I can count on the members of the association if I need any advice or assistance, which makes my life in the village easier. Additionally, popularity of the association and myself allows me to arrange for additional assistance for the community members that I could not arrange for before. I can say with full responsibility that HPI project has made me an active man who knows that he can secure better future for his community and for his own children. I feel that this change in my mentality will stay with me for life time and that my children will inherit it after me when they are older. This will be my additional POG for them.
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