补偿

So I forgot some stuff in the 10 day "educational" trip blog. So here's what I forgot. When we were in Xian we went to the branch there and we met a lady in the branch who's from South Africa. Her name is Amanda de Lange. She's here doing work kinda like an orphanage but not. Ha. Anyway, she takes children that have been abandoned (which happens quite often in China) and takes care of them until they are adopted. Most of the children she takes in are born with medical problems or physical defects. (I'll explain why children are abandoned at the end of this blog). She invited our group to come over to her place and see and play with the children and how her operation runs. I didn't really take any pictures when I was there, but my friends did, so I'll try to get some and post them. It was a pretty awesome experience and the whole group decided that we should try to help, so we're gonna make some donations. This lady is a hard worker, they have I think around 15 children all under the age of three. She has people volunteer and others I think she pays to help her take care of the kids. They all stay at this lady's house (which is an apartment in a pretty nice community, pretty roomy). The kids suffered from many different birth defects, some easier to fix than others. Some of them are Cleff Lip (spelling?), heart defects, and skin conditions. Amanda works with only western trained doctors (many American doctors that come over specifically to help her cause) and the money she spends is all from donations. Its a pretty awesome little operation she runs, and they've already had quite a few children get adopted. She said most of them go to the States.

The other thing I missed happened while I was on the great wall. We got to the very top and climbed the tower and then I jumped on top of the little tower building on top of the tower. We were super hot from climbing so far and steep and it started raining, it felt awesome, it wasn't a hard rain, more like a mist. Pretty awesome. Anyway, thats not the point. The point is I met some German kids up there who's english was awesome. I found out he lives pretty close to where we lived in Heidelberg and he was over here on a couple week exchange program. His name is Moritz. We talked for a pretty long time up there. He's a way cool kid, we met some of the other kids in their group too. Then for the next couple days we ran into them in some of the most random places. It was pretty cool.


Ok, now for why there are so many abandoned babies in China. There are two main reasons, the first having to do with Ancient Chinese culture. The Chinese have always been biased towards boys when it comes to bearing children. If a wife did not bear a male in ancient china she was looked down upon, especially if she is the emporer's wife/concubine. This is due to the fact that sons are able to keep the family name going and bring honor to this name. Daughters cost the family money because when they get married they have something similiar to a dowry (a payment to the other family) and after the daughter is married, she is apart of her husbands family and will rarely see her own family after that. Sons then, can take care of parents when they're old whereas daughters must take care of their husbands parents. (I might add that in ancient culture all weddings were arranged)
The second reason is due to the Communist Party's policies concerning childbirth. The law, although somewhat more lax now, states that one family is only able to have one child. If they have a daughter there is a good chance they will be abandoned. I don't know the facts but if they are born (many are aborted even though its technically illegal) there is a good chance of either abandonment or that they will end up dead. If a child is born with a defect the parents in many cases do not have the money to fix it or would rather abandon the child and hope the next one doesn't have a problem. Many of the parents that do it are good people, they just are so broken that child has a problem they think they will have a better chance with either an orphanage or a group like Amanda's. Its a sad reality here. People like Amanda come here and give up everything to help these children. Its hard work, but she's says its worth it. She has my respect. She gives these kids a future, she gives them hope for a normal life, a life with a family that will love them regardless of any birth defects they might have. Its a noble calling.
I don't know if any of you have any interest in helping but if you do let me know. They not only have need of donations, but some American things like blankets and other things that are a little better quality. So if you have interest let me know and I can get you her e-mail or contact information. It was a pretty humbling experience. I realized I need to do more (even just a little) to at least help my community in some way, if not children on the other side of the world.