June 4, 2008
Today was sobering; two events are of note. The morning began with a walk through a local village just outside of the Nanchang city limit. As villages go it was unremarkable…better than average by Chinese village standards according to our guide. Most of what one would expect in a poor, rural village could be seen: dirt roads littered with garbage; dark and dank dwellings-no plumbing, no appliances; chickens roaming free, weathered and weary elders sitting quietly in front of their homes.
I’ve been in places where there was such abject poverty that today’s village would be considered an upgrade: the “Colonia’s”, squatter villages built on the active landfills of Juarez, Mexico; a 15’ by 30’ two room house (kitchen/dining room & bedroom)-a pot belly coal burning stove providing heat for Mom and Dad & five children, in the coal country of Hazard County Kentucky. It wasn’t the sight of people living in poverty that got to me today; it was what the poverty meant. Most of the people in the today’s village are illiterate. Most have and will continue to live in the village their whole lives, as did multiple generations of families before them. Even though there is an attempt at providing education for the children, only 1 in 1000 will pass the required academic test that will allow that one to move from the village to an urban setting to attend college. Most of the babies abandoned in China are from villages like the one we toured today. Our guide, with a level of certainty, told us that the five babies in our travel group came from villages like todays.
Standing with Ellie strapped to my chest in her Baby Bjorn, looking out over a rice paddy filled with sewage and garbage, I whispered into her ear, “Ellie, I’m sure glad someone found you.”
I’ve been in places where there was such abject poverty that today’s village would be considered an upgrade: the “Colonia’s”, squatter villages built on the active landfills of Juarez, Mexico; a 15’ by 30’ two room house (kitchen/dining room & bedroom)-a pot belly coal burning stove providing heat for Mom and Dad & five children, in the coal country of Hazard County Kentucky. It wasn’t the sight of people living in poverty that got to me today; it was what the poverty meant. Most of the people in the today’s village are illiterate. Most have and will continue to live in the village their whole lives, as did multiple generations of families before them. Even though there is an attempt at providing education for the children, only 1 in 1000 will pass the required academic test that will allow that one to move from the village to an urban setting to attend college. Most of the babies abandoned in China are from villages like the one we toured today. Our guide, with a level of certainty, told us that the five babies in our travel group came from villages like todays.
Standing with Ellie strapped to my chest in her Baby Bjorn, looking out over a rice paddy filled with sewage and garbage, I whispered into her ear, “Ellie, I’m sure glad someone found you.”
The other sobering event occurred mid-afternoon. Elsie, our CHI representative gave us a local newspaper. The newspaper was the September 24 to September 30, 2007 edition of the Jiang Xi Business News. In that week’s paper was the Jiang Xi province official notice of abandonment. By law, before an infant or child can be eligible for adoption, a picture with a brief narrative must be published for 60 days to allow the birth mother’s family or the mother herself to claim the child. In that week’s edition there were 130 infants and children listed on the official notice of abandonment. Ellie’s picture was in the second column about half way from the top with this announcement: “Bo Tong. Female. Was born July 29, 2007. She was found to be abandoned at the gate of the bus station of Bo Yang County on July 30, 2007. Her hair is not a lot. She has dark skin and big eyes.”
Again I say, “Ellie, I’m sure glad someone found you.”
As you can imagine, the past three days have been filled with wonder and amazement. With each passing day Ellie is more and more comfortable with us. She’s beginning to understand that Caroline is the new woman in her life; Ellie watches Caroline wherever she goes and has cried for her. It’s all so tender.
During play time this evening, Caroline was exercising Ellie; helping her to sit and stand up. And with all that core muscle group activity, Ellie sat up by herself for the first time!
Again I say, “Ellie, I’m sure glad someone found you.”
As you can imagine, the past three days have been filled with wonder and amazement. With each passing day Ellie is more and more comfortable with us. She’s beginning to understand that Caroline is the new woman in her life; Ellie watches Caroline wherever she goes and has cried for her. It’s all so tender.
During play time this evening, Caroline was exercising Ellie; helping her to sit and stand up. And with all that core muscle group activity, Ellie sat up by herself for the first time! More tomorrow. God's peace and love.
No comments:
Post a Comment