Four sisters of a poor rural family in central China have managed to start their primary school life owing to the persistent efforts of their parents and strong local government support, Xinhua News Agency reported on Sept. 12.

The quadruplets were born in the Wu family in September 2010. Though life became more of a struggle in the seven years since their birth, the poverty-stricken family never ceased efforts to raise the children. The local government also contributed to alleviating their poverty in recent years.

Wu, father of the four children and a bricklayer, has been building a three-floor new house in his courtyard since last year. The family has received a government grant of 20,000 yuan (over $3,000) as part of a house renovation scheme and an 80,000 yuan (over $12,000) soft loan.

The family also raises bamboo rats to support the family. Now, the number of bamboo rats has substantially increased from 18 to 200. And Wu’s wife works at a local kindergarten with the help of the local government.

With better quality of life, the children now have access to education at school age.