"I am his hands. He is my eyes."

Jia Haixa talks of his symbiotic relationship with his friend Jia Wenqi — a double amputee. The pair work together to plant trees in Yeli village, just outside of Shijiazhuang city, northern China.

Losing his sight in one eye to congenital cataracts, and later his right eye in a work-related accident, Jia Haixa is completely blind. The friends approached the local government and leased a 7.5 acre stretch of land along the riverbank. They hope to transform it by planting 1,000 trees every year, and have been doing that for a decade.

Planting the trees helps them to earn money, having both struggled to find work individually due to their handicaps. They also hope to benefit future generations with their environmental efforts.

Fortunately, the local authorities allow them to live rent-free, which is a great gesture given their poor living conditions.

Additional reporting by Corbis.