About those orphans...

Last Saturday I had the priviledge of taking my friend Rachel's class monitors to the orphan hospital to drop off the money that their classes had donated.

I have a generic powerpoint about orphans in Chi.na that I passed around to some of my foreigner friends to show to whoever. My friend Rachel has a heart for justice and was very proactive in showing the PPT to her students and matching their gifts.

I'm thankful for her. It was a good morning. We spent about an hour playing with the kids on the two floors: the extreme retardation floor whose kids will never go up for adoption and most of whom will not live to adulthood (because of improper care). And the fourth floor whose kids have a greater chance of international adoption and long, prosperous lives.

Two of the male students teared up when I gave my usual speech, "orphans are not accounted for in Chi.na so there are no state statistics...there are 30 orphanages in our Province (the richest province in Chi.na)...because of the one-child policy handicapped babies get given up 98% of the time...blah blah babies and justice blah blah help the kids..."

I try to be objective - to not make critical remarks, just factual remarks. But I find myself becoming more and more cynical and bitter and judgemental and racist. The longer I stay here the more hardened I am. Idealism is still there inside me, but I see reality also. And reality sucks.

But, I cling to the hope that Someone above has always been here. That efforts for good are not in vain. And that even the smallest act of giving can help people to understand their own culture towards orphans and hopefully affect change in the decades to come. There's an incredibly long road to go in the realm of orphan care in Chi.na. I just have this tiny role, but it's my duty - to tell people, inspire people, and gather tangible things like money and supplies for as long as I live here.

Rachel's college students heard and responded.

That makes my cold heart a little warmer. When I see people - especially natives - responding to message of social responsibility, everything becomes a little bit clearer.

one of the students brought teddy bears bigger than the kids!...

there's so few downs babies because most of them get aborted, if a downs baby is in the orphanage it is because the mom did not recieve pre-natal care and did not have the mandatory downs test during the second trimester. I have a soft spot for the downs babies...

me, Lin, Rachel, and her students, and my friend Hannah...

You must do what you can, with what you have, wherever you are.

walk slow. xoxo.