The Rabbit King

I love this story:

The Rabbit King started as the son of poor farmers in rural China. At age 14, he began raising his first rabbits. The bunnies did what bunnies are known for doing—they reproduced. The teenager sold some of his new bunnies, and turned a profit. Thus began the business that pulled his family out of poverty.

News of the Rabbit King’s rags-to-riches success story spread. He was actually visited by Deng Xiaoping (Chinese leader known for opening China to the global market, 1978-1990s). This visit inspired philanthropic ideas in the young man, going beyond simply acquiring wealth for himself to sharing success with the larger community. The Rabbit King established a relationship, and worked for many years, with The Heifer Project*, which provided the model for this.

Having lifted his own family from poverty, the Rabbit King began giving rabbits away to other poor villagers in his community and sharing his knowledge of business and rabbit-raising with them. Because of his generosity and genuine care for people, the Rabbit King is well-known and respected.

Note: Farmers sell their rabbits to businesses that primarily use them for their meat and fur. However, the farmers can also use the meat themselves, which is am important source of nutrition.

*Heifer is an international NGO, whose mission is to alleviate poverty worldwide. They donate farm animals (like chickens, goats, cows, rabbits, etc.) and animal husbandry training to poor farmers. Their condition is that when the animals breed the recipients give the baby animals to other poor families in their community, to spread the opportunities. Beautiful, isn’t it?