|
|
Hefei
Childrens Welfare Center
Hefei, Anhui Province, China
"A Visit
To A Village Near Hefei"
Scene 5. At Aunt Yang's House
 A
small boy is lying in a metal crib. He is the Aunt Yang's current
foster child under contract from the Hefei Children's Orphanage. The
boy sits up but he is not able to stand by himself. Aunt Yang puts
him in his stroller and he sits eating the rice bar that YanYan brought.
Aunt Yang wipes his nose and tells us that he has a little cold.
"I have had him 10 days", says Aunt Yang as she searches in a drawer in
her bedroom and brings out the folded foster certificate card. The
little card is written with her name as foster parent and the boy's name,
birth date and contract start date.
"I had another child a while ago. She was very sick when she arrived
and did not get better until the last day that I had her. Dr Qian said
that her illness was not my fault and put me on a waiting list for another
foster child. I had to wait a long time before I got this child.
The little boy has some problems. He doesn't talk but he smiles.
He is already much improved and has some color in his cheeks. When
I first received him he was just skin and bones. I have been feeding
him an egg first thing each morning and then give him formula later in
the morning. We receive 90 yuan and two packs of formula per child
from the orphanage."
Scene 6. Taking a picture.
Aunt Yang goes to change her shirt and stands next to the boy in the stroller.
Her grandson stands on the other side. The boy is busy eating
the rice bar with his head down. Aunt Yang holds the boy's head
up for the picture and takes the rice bar away so that he will look at
the camera. He is more interested in the rice bar and looks up at Aunt
Yang, crying for the rice bar. Aunt Yang is glad for the boy's reaction.
"He understands what is going on", she says.
Scene 7. Setting off to visit another foster family
Aunt Yang asks one of her daughter-in-laws to keep an eye on the boy,
and then she finds us three umbrellas to shelter us from the burning sun.
Scene 8. On the way to Aunt Wang's house Aunt Yang's story:
"How did I end up adopting YanYan's Second Big Sister? I was a child
bride and had come to live with my in-laws and future husband when I was
very young. We all lived together. I did the house chores
and field work with the family. I married my husband when I was
17 and gave birth to my first son the next year. The baby died a
few days after birth. My mother-in-law suggested that she find me
another child to nurse. YanYan's mother-in-law had just given birth to
her second daughter. YanYan's mother-in-law was about two years older
than I was. I am 72 this year."
(Note: Using the Chinese way to calculate age, a child is considered to
be one at the time of birth (as in "the first year of life") - Aunt Yang
is only 71 in by western calculations).
Aunt Yang continued, "The woman's father-in-law began cursing her for
having a second girl. The old man told her, "I am already sick and
your second daughter has made it even worse. Give her away". That
is how I got your Second Big Sister."
"We all lived in the same village then. I named the Second Big Sister
"Zhaodi" which means 'Waving for Brother'. We spoiled her a lot.
She sat on my shoulders all day long. She never wanted to
get down and walk a single step. I did not get pregnant again until
Zhaodi was six years old. I had my second child and then four more arrived,
one after another. I ended up with five sons and one daughter. My
husband loved and spoiled Zhaodi as his "heart and liver" (sweetheart)
until he passed away three years ago. Zhaodi married and moved away
a long time ago but she is still the big sister to all of her brothers."
Continued...
|
