In the 1950s, their town was given authority to mine lead and zinc – and now their home is slowly, but surely, killing them.
Later, however, in the 1990s, the mines ran dry and, with that, so did the money and prosperity of the town.
The people of Sanhe village, China, built schools and with their new-found fortune which served well for decades, but now the town is little more than rubble.
They soon found that once the mining trade had disappeared, so did any other hope of finding work. During the 90s, much discussion was held to work out how they could bring money back the village.
In attempt to go back to farming rice fields, they soon found that contaminated water from the mines had poisoned their soil. The food that did grow made villagers sick.
They realised that the only way they could survive would be to make shallow ponds to breed fish in. That venture, too, ended with villagers being sick.
Environmental agencies in China have confirmed the town is toxic as a result of the mining work. Despite replacing the soil, contamination has found its way back to the fresh soil each time; it is unliveable.
“The lumps over my body are incredibly painful”Huang Guiqiang
The townspeople have suffered with mutations including lumps and contusions spread over their body and pictures from the town show their local river running bright green.
One of the villagers, Huang Guiqiang, 58, said: "I noticed symptoms at the turn of the century, when I was feeling weak and listless and was no longer able to work.
"The lumps over my body are incredibly painful, and interspersed occasionally with periods where I can't feel anything at all in my body."
Guigiang suffers from sever cadmium poisoning, caused by exposure to the toxic metal which is often found in industrial workplaces.
Guiqiang’s second oldest brother Fuqiang, 61, found himself with similar symptoms at a similar time.
After growing a large number of unexplainable lumps on his hands and feet, he has since been confined to his bed.
Their eldest brother, Jinqiang, suffered from the same disease and was bed-ridden for almost ten years; he died just months ago.
The villages, with more than enough worries as it is, continue to breed fish in shallow ponds, despite knowing the meat will be contaminated.
Huang Guiqiang said: "What choice do we have. If we don’t breed fish, we won’t have anything else to eat."