We have a wonderful family here from Indiana who are long-termers - The Howes. They are here in hopes of building an orphanage but have been patiently waiting for funds to come in. They have 4 children here ages 18 months - 13 years whom they home school. I'm just trying to show you that they aren't exactly sitting around :) Well, the Howes heard about Sung Ju and wanted to help immediately. After getting permission from his dad, Sung Ju now goes to the Howe household from 2:30-6:30 Monday through Friday. Instead of sitting alone all day at home, he now gets to interact with other kids and gets fed and cleaned up. This also gives me an opportunity to go in three days a week to do PT with him. Can we say "answer to pr*yer?!!" Sung Ju's dad has really been trying: he comes home from work everyday for lunch to eat with his son and make sure he's cleaned up. Then, when the Howes take him back home in the evening, dad is there waiting. You can tell he really loves his son and wants to do the best thing for him. This schedule can't be easy for him as the locals here work ALL day long, as long as there is sunlight (4:30a-6p).
I want to remind you that his father didn't really know about Sung Ju's disability (Sung Ju was riding a bike and running just 3 years ago). Now, here he is making a huge effort!! It's beautiful. He still is taking time to think about what's best for Sung Ju and his living situation. If he sends his son to the orphanage he would be well cared for, but dad would lose ALL of his parental rights. That's a huge deal. A new thing thrown into the situation - Janet just discovered that if Sung Ju has a helper at school then he can return to Special School!! That would take care of the hours 8a-4p 5 days a week. We'd also need the helper on all school breaks too. There is hope with this option but there would still be time to cover. You get the idea.
Thank you for pr*ying about this. Please, let's keep it up!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
A matter of the heart
I previously shared about a young boy, Sung Ju, who has Muscular Dystrophy and came to Special School last semester. Janet and I went to visit him about 3 weeks ago and unfortunately discovered that he had declined physically over the summer break and could no longer stand or take any steps. This broke my heart. I had encouraged the mother to do a couple of exercises with Sung Ju but she stated during the visit that she didn't have time. Without the ability to walk or toilet himself, Sung Ju was unable to return to Special School. Janet went to take ice cream to him last Wednesday and found him alone in his home. He said that his mom had been gone for a few days. Janet had to leave so she called me and I went and sat with him for a couple of hours. An additional complication to this whole matter is the fact that Janet and I are foreigners. It is not wise to get involved in domestic issues but we couldn't turn our backs either. The abbreviated version is this: his parents are divorced and Sung Ju has been living with his mom and 16 year old sister. His mom just up and left for South Korea (to live) sometime last week, took her daughter with her and left Sung Ju behind. Janet met with Sung Ju's dad the day after we found Sung Ju alone. He said that he works construction 13 hours a day, sometimes more and cannot give the proper care to Sung Ju. He knew very little about his disability. Sooo, yesterday Janet met with the headmaster at Dail Orphanage here in Hunchun along with Sung Ju’s dad and uncle. The Orphanage, run by a young South Korean couple, has never taken in a disabled child – he would be their first. They said that the dad would have to sign a waiver that frees him of all parental rights. Dail also said they would have to talk to the local government and to the head Dail office in South Korea to get permission. If both parties say “yes” then Dail wants to take Sung Ju in and try. This is a huge responsibility as Sung Ju cannot walk anymore and would need total help when going to the bathroom. The other thing that weighs heavily on my mind is the fact that Sung Ju will only continue to get worse physically. He will eventually reach the point where he is totally dependent for all tasks…it’s only a matter of time. Sung Ju's dad has not yet made a decision. We should know within a week. There is so much I want to do but can't. I’m realizing that all I can truly do is pr*y that G*d would hold this little boy in his arms and would love and comfort him. This situation is heart-breaking. In the midst of it I thank G*d that a place like Dail Orphanage exists in this town! The people there are amazing and I know that Sung Ju would be loved and well taken care of. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and pr*y that this is resolved quickly.
Hay is for Horses
A trip to Inner Mongolia: There were 6 of us who went – myself, Jessie, ZaiBin, Ruth, and Gary and Mike from the Montana Team. The purpose of this trip was to buy hay for our five horses. It started out with a 6 hour bus ride to ChangChun – nothing special about this ride. Then we boarded a bus to ChangLing, 2.5 hours away. This bus was a bit older and Ruth and I were put in the front two seats. The unfortunate thing about this was that there were about 8 people too many in the front of the bus. We’re talking on the floor leaning against my legs, in the aisle and in the stair well. The guy in the front who acted as an assistant to the driver, who takes the money and lets people off and on, was a bit flirtatious and kept feeding us fruit talking in paragraph-long sentences in Chinese – non of which I understood. That didn’t seem to discourage him. The driver was horn happy while going down the road but that’s to be expected as this is the norm here. However, the horn was much louder when sitting in the front of the bus and I’m pretty sure this one could be compared to a cruse ship’s horn! Not only was the driver able to manage driving, eating fruit, smoking cigarettes and talking he also busted out his electric shaver while going down the road. Impressive. At one point, a pheasant flew up and hit the windshield with a loud thud. Not to worry, the driver immediately pulled to the side of the road, the assistant jumped out and retrieved the dead pheasant and brought in into the bus…wouldn’t want to pass up a dinner opportunity :)
After the 2nd bus we had an hour taxi ride which brought us to our final destination – a small, sleepy village in Inner Mongolia. The guys in our group had established relationships with the owners of a small hotel in town in previous years. We stayed there this year and had great fellowship with the locals. By hotel in this case, I mean there are 4 rooms above their home/cafe with a hole for a toilet outside behind the building. Ruth and I found out that we were the first white women to ever come to this town – kinda crazy to think about. That night after dinner there were several children around whom I started playing with. I was able to practice the Chinese I know and charades made up for the rest. We took turns singing songs and they overloaded me with pictures they had drawn with the word “love” written in English. It was precious. They kept feeding me fruit and would stand there patiently waiting as I ate and then would hold their hand out in order for me to spit the seed into their hand. :) They were so cute! The 13 year old daughter of the hotel owner, Wang Wen Zhuo, asked me to sleep in her room that night. Of course I accepted and we spent some time working through my broken Chinese and figuring out she is just like any other 13 year old girl – she likes boys…a lot :) After looking at the night sky filled with stars and thinking the big dipper was close enough to drink out of, we said goodnight to each other and to the little mouse that had set up camp in her room.
The next morning we walked to a small building and had service with some of the local people. I was escorted by 4 little girls all holding my hand or leg. Later that day we visited a local Korean War veteran and his wife whom Jessie had built a friendship with two years prior. They were so precious and welcoming!! Their little mud home quickly reminded me how little we can truly live with. This 86 year old man, Xu Yuan Chun, had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen and his wife, Song Hui Lan, was so beautiful and warm-hearted. The wild thing about this story – the last American Yuan Chun had seen before Jessie was a soldier in the Korean War who had shot him in the leg. Then one day while sitting along the road in his humble little village in the middle of nowhere, at the age of 84, he met a blue-eyed, white-haired, smiling American who wanted to be his friend. It was really touching to meet them and to spend time with them. They told me I need to come back next year with my husband, ha ha!
That night we stayed out in an area with a cluster of yurts (Mongolian-style teepees). When we first arrived we came upon a big bonfire with people doing various dances around the fire…some were traditional dances and some were simply attempts of resembling dancing, ha! Being white we couldn’t exactly hide and were soon pulled into the commotion. It was pretty entertaining. It soon died down and we were left in the stillness of the night to enjoy the coolness and the stars that stretched down to the horizon. It looked as though we were in a dome made of stars – incredible. I slept like a baby that night. In the morning I headed over to the bamboo “outhouse.” It’s a basic, shallow squattie toilet with a bamboo wall blocking any view of you to outsiders. As I was getting ready to, well – you know, I suddenly noticed a live chicken pecking around underneath!! Whoa!!! Beside the obvious shock and concern I had a “note to self” moment…don’t eat the chicken here! Ha Ha!!
We made it back to Hunchun safely after 13 hours of traveling by bus and taxi. The next morning we unloaded our 10 tons of hay bales and I must say – that is NOT an easy task! Whew! Hope those horses are happy :)
After the 2nd bus we had an hour taxi ride which brought us to our final destination – a small, sleepy village in Inner Mongolia. The guys in our group had established relationships with the owners of a small hotel in town in previous years. We stayed there this year and had great fellowship with the locals. By hotel in this case, I mean there are 4 rooms above their home/cafe with a hole for a toilet outside behind the building. Ruth and I found out that we were the first white women to ever come to this town – kinda crazy to think about. That night after dinner there were several children around whom I started playing with. I was able to practice the Chinese I know and charades made up for the rest. We took turns singing songs and they overloaded me with pictures they had drawn with the word “love” written in English. It was precious. They kept feeding me fruit and would stand there patiently waiting as I ate and then would hold their hand out in order for me to spit the seed into their hand. :) They were so cute! The 13 year old daughter of the hotel owner, Wang Wen Zhuo, asked me to sleep in her room that night. Of course I accepted and we spent some time working through my broken Chinese and figuring out she is just like any other 13 year old girl – she likes boys…a lot :) After looking at the night sky filled with stars and thinking the big dipper was close enough to drink out of, we said goodnight to each other and to the little mouse that had set up camp in her room.
The next morning we walked to a small building and had service with some of the local people. I was escorted by 4 little girls all holding my hand or leg. Later that day we visited a local Korean War veteran and his wife whom Jessie had built a friendship with two years prior. They were so precious and welcoming!! Their little mud home quickly reminded me how little we can truly live with. This 86 year old man, Xu Yuan Chun, had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen and his wife, Song Hui Lan, was so beautiful and warm-hearted. The wild thing about this story – the last American Yuan Chun had seen before Jessie was a soldier in the Korean War who had shot him in the leg. Then one day while sitting along the road in his humble little village in the middle of nowhere, at the age of 84, he met a blue-eyed, white-haired, smiling American who wanted to be his friend. It was really touching to meet them and to spend time with them. They told me I need to come back next year with my husband, ha ha!
That night we stayed out in an area with a cluster of yurts (Mongolian-style teepees). When we first arrived we came upon a big bonfire with people doing various dances around the fire…some were traditional dances and some were simply attempts of resembling dancing, ha! Being white we couldn’t exactly hide and were soon pulled into the commotion. It was pretty entertaining. It soon died down and we were left in the stillness of the night to enjoy the coolness and the stars that stretched down to the horizon. It looked as though we were in a dome made of stars – incredible. I slept like a baby that night. In the morning I headed over to the bamboo “outhouse.” It’s a basic, shallow squattie toilet with a bamboo wall blocking any view of you to outsiders. As I was getting ready to, well – you know, I suddenly noticed a live chicken pecking around underneath!! Whoa!!! Beside the obvious shock and concern I had a “note to self” moment…don’t eat the chicken here! Ha Ha!!
We made it back to Hunchun safely after 13 hours of traveling by bus and taxi. The next morning we unloaded our 10 tons of hay bales and I must say – that is NOT an easy task! Whew! Hope those horses are happy :)
Monday, September 7, 2009
Trip to Beijing
Wow, talk about a "Western" city in an "Eastern" land. Beijing is a boombing city with all the luxuries an expat could want...ice cream, cheese, real coffee, Western dishes, newspapers in English. Amazing. I stayed very near to the well-known Forbidden City which resulted in lovely streets shaded by glorious trees. It had more of a warm fuzzy feeling than I had expected (the warm fuzzies leave when you reach the less traditional parts of the city). I stayed in a hostel down a hutong (older, Chinese alleys) which was nice and quiet and quaint. Tucked away in these hutongs are the local people carrying on their slower-paced, daily activies. It made me feel more at home in a city that holds more than 17.4 million people.
I woke up early my first day and left the hostel at 6:15 to head to the Great Wall. I decided to be a bit adventurous and chose to complete a 6 mile hike on the Wall from Jinshanling to Simatai. Whoa...let's just say that there are some parts where the stairs are so steep you have to turn sideways to go up or down. It was pretty intense in places and tiring but well worth it. This area was 3 hours from the city by bus which meant far fewer tourists and less renovations...just the way I like it :) Another payoff - I got to take a zip line across the river to a boat that then took me to the parking lot!
The next two days I met up with my former boss, Leslie, and her husband who were in town on a tour of China. How bizarre to visit with old friends in another country. We toured around the main sites which all represented Old China. This meant walking, walking and more walking. I was a whimp with my post-Great Wall legs and had us sit a few times to rest that first day, ha! The last night in town we went for Italian food. I cannot tell you how excited I was about this. My taste buds were alive with the flavors of cheese, balsalmic vinegar, CREAM sauce, salmon, arugala, fettucini, bread with pesto, cheesecake with strawberry drizzle and real ice cream!!!!!!!! Talk about positive overload!! It had been 4 1/2 months since my taste buds had experienced such joy. I literally had perma-grin during and after the meal. Heavenly!!!
A little bit of drool just came out of my mouth :) My time in Beijing was wonderful and Leslie and Tom spoiled me rotten. The trip ended with a 25 hour train ride and 1 hour taxi ride - it's nice to be home.
I woke up early my first day and left the hostel at 6:15 to head to the Great Wall. I decided to be a bit adventurous and chose to complete a 6 mile hike on the Wall from Jinshanling to Simatai. Whoa...let's just say that there are some parts where the stairs are so steep you have to turn sideways to go up or down. It was pretty intense in places and tiring but well worth it. This area was 3 hours from the city by bus which meant far fewer tourists and less renovations...just the way I like it :) Another payoff - I got to take a zip line across the river to a boat that then took me to the parking lot!
The next two days I met up with my former boss, Leslie, and her husband who were in town on a tour of China. How bizarre to visit with old friends in another country. We toured around the main sites which all represented Old China. This meant walking, walking and more walking. I was a whimp with my post-Great Wall legs and had us sit a few times to rest that first day, ha! The last night in town we went for Italian food. I cannot tell you how excited I was about this. My taste buds were alive with the flavors of cheese, balsalmic vinegar, CREAM sauce, salmon, arugala, fettucini, bread with pesto, cheesecake with strawberry drizzle and real ice cream!!!!!!!! Talk about positive overload!! It had been 4 1/2 months since my taste buds had experienced such joy. I literally had perma-grin during and after the meal. Heavenly!!!
A little bit of drool just came out of my mouth :) My time in Beijing was wonderful and Leslie and Tom spoiled me rotten. The trip ended with a 25 hour train ride and 1 hour taxi ride - it's nice to be home.
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