Tian Xian Pei

Only a few of you will recognize the title of this post.  But after you read this, I'm betting that those of you who don't know, will remember it.
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As the children grow older in the orphanage, the SWI does their best to provide education and training to the children, so that they can thrive on their own outside the orphanage. 

I was introduced to a beautiful young woman, who was blind.  They had told me that she was very proud of the fact that she qualified as being in the top tier of students studying the art of Chinese massage.  She will be turning this skill into a profession.  As a special treat, I was given the opportunity to be her first Western practice subject.  I was only too happy to oblidge, as I do have a bad back.  To the giggles of the surrounding students, and my daughter, this young woman did a fantastic job on my upper back.  I felt 20 years younger.

I congratulated her on her skills, and then proceeded to an adjacent room to meet and chat with the other students, and was treated to an improvised dance routine from some of the younger students. We were in a small room that was covered in smooth white tile on the floors and part way up the wall.  On one side of the room, full length windows let in a bright mid-day sun which warmed us from the chilly outside air.

As the clapping and smiles subsided following the performance, the young blind woman was led in front of me by another student.  I was a bit perplexed by a statement made in Chinese, and then Steven translated that she wanted to sing for me.  I was delighted.

What happened next would change me forever.

The student left the blind woman alone in front of me as silence fell over the small room. 

Her voice pierced the air like an explosion.  It was strong, loud, and it stopped my heart.  The hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge, and I was left unable to breathe or blink.  Fortunately my daughter had the wherewithal to start video recording the event, which I will play for you here.  I sat in rapt attention as she continued in perfect pitch, the sound attacking me from all sides like a siren song.

This video is unfortunately a very pathetic quality that doesn't do 1/100th justice to the quality and the experience of listening to this talented young lady in person.

I couldn't get her song out of my head, as Steven Tao informed me that this song is very traditional, and very local.  It is called Huang Mei Xi , or HuangMei opera.  The song she was singing was particular to Anhui province, and was the song of Tian Xian Pei.

I have combed the internet, and have asked the local students to explain this opera to me, and will paste what I have found here.  I will also include the lyrics to the song the girl is singing. 

For those of you with Bengbu children... you are blessed with a rich tradition and culture!!

(translated by a Student of Bengbu #2 Middle school, who is VERY proud to be a Bengbu Girl!):

Tianxianpei is a traditional classical repertoire of Huangmei opera . The story goes that there was a man named Dong Yong.  He was poor, and his parents had died. He sold himself to a ministry councilor named Fu into slavery for three years, in order to afford his father's funeral. The Jade Emperor's seven daughters were playing in the Bridge of Magpie (it's a symbol of love), looking into the earth. The youngest fairy lost her heart to Dongyong, and came down to the earth. They got married happily. In order to change Dongyong's 3-year-long employment into 100days, the 7th fairy invited all her sisters to help solve the problem that weaving 10 pieces of cloth overnight .They finally succeeded, the couple returned home. The Jade Emperor learned his daughter's romance, wrathed, commanding the 7th fairy to return the Heaven Palace at once, otherwise Dongyong would be the victim. The 7th fairy felt helpless, with pain and tears, she returned home, leaving an eternal pity.

In essence, the novel extolled the fairies and Dong Yong's bright side of human nature, and also flogged and criticized the Jade Emperor, the role of the ugly and dark. And at the same time, also depicted the Fus as ugly villains, and the son of Fu was even given comedy color. This myth novel showed true love and truth between heaven and earth, thus to say, the theme is positive, the content is healthy and progressive, the characters are distinctive, the story goes ups and downs. In a word, it’s a rare, thoughtful, artistic, highly readable work.

The lyrics of her song:

With pairs of birds singing on the tree

So green rivers and mounts look great

Picking a flower off conveniently

I put it in my dear’s chignon affectionately

From now on being of enslaving-free

My wife and I are on the way home free

You may plough and I will make some textile

I shoulder water you do some watering while

Being so humble, our house can keep out wind

A loving couple regards poverty as honey to drink

Couple of us is just like that of mandarin ducks

Flying wing to wing in the people’s world with good luck

Bengbu SWI - the older children

There are approximately 40 older children living at the Bengbu SWI at the moment.  Shown below is a classroom at the orphanage.

One gifted young man is named Meng Lu.  I first met him in 2005.  He is a very talented artist, and dreams one day of visiting the USA.  He has taught himself enough English to communicate with me.  I practiced my few words of Chinese.

Check out his sketches below.  They adorn the walls of the orphanage.

Another beautiful young lady handmade a bouquet of paper flowers.  Upon leaving the orphanage, Steven advised me that I could just give them away, as it would be impossible to carry with me in my luggage.

 I can tell you that 2 weeks later, as I sit writing this blog in my home in Charlotte, that beautiful bouquet sits on my kitchen table. 

Bengbu Orphanage - The children

After all the preparations, after 17 hours in the air, after all the hotels, all the trains, all the donations, all the lunches, all the speeches, all the letters.....

I finally saw the children.

It's such a bittersweet experience.  I loathe the fact that they are summoned for my brief encounter with my camera in hand.  They are not soulless creatures that are to be catered out for my amusement.  I look at them with my heart aching and while I smile and cry (every time). They look on with confusion as the nannies, trying to be courteous to me, usher the children forward to say hello.  In a few minutes I will be out of their lives again, and they will be dazed and confused as to this strange man that interrupted their peaceful routine.  How would I like it if someone burst into my office and demand to sit with me and take a bunch of photos??

I look at them, and want to take them all home.  They are all so beautiful and so cute.  I look deep into their eyes, and want to take photos of them, and I know that their parents are right now out there somewhere, aching to feel their touch, grasping in the darkness screaming out for them.  I know the feeling.  I was there once. 

But there was at least one little one that I took a lot of photos with, which I can post here. 

Would you like to be the parents of this girl? So Sorry!  She is already taken!  Soon she will be with her forever family.  She is just adorable, and likes very much to draw and to listen to music.  

These happy children look on at me while we chat with their friends.

The children are why we do this.  The children inspire us.  Thanks to all the donors, and all the volunteers and the orphanage staff that make this all possible. 

They are the priceless treasures that worth it all. 

The Bengbu Orphanage - meeting with the Director

After 2 days of shopping for items for the children, and the chance to speak with some children at the school, I was given the opportunity to visit the director at the orphanage.

I do realize what an immense privilege it is to do this.  The orphanage is not only hallowed ground for so many families around the world as the place where their children spend the first years of life, it is also a closely guarded sanctuary for the children that live there now.  It is also a government facility.  The staff are bound by regulations to protect the privacy rights of the children.  I know that they not only follow those regulations out of duty to their job, but also due to their personal values and devotion to the children.  I know that they ride a very fine line in allowing me to come in and share time with the children. 

I want to declare here that I have the very best of intentions when I share this information on this blog, and to let it be known that I am very grateful to the orphanage staff for their trust in me and in Packages of Hope to advocate for these children, and promote our organization only to the end that we will be able to do more for the children in the orphanage.

Our primary goal for this visit was to provide donations for Spring Festival and to provide donations of washing machines.  In addition, there were quite a few letters that the adoptive families wanted to deliver to the orphanage, and I was only too happy to do so.  This is definitely the highlight of my visit for Director Song, and Director Wan.

Director Song had a message for the families:

To re-iterate the video presentation, and to echo what all the staff says to me, is that they welcome back all families for a visit to Bengbu SWI.  Having been to China many times, I know what Chinese hospitality is.  There is always a warm invitation to come to China for a visit.  But this is something different.  The adoptive families are FAMILY, and it is a sincere expression that Director Song has for those who trace their origins to come back to their roots.  As my most favorite Chinese phrase goes "Luo Ye Gui Gen" -  It's part of a poem that says, "No matter if a tree grows to 10,000 Li, falling leaves return to the root".  A "Li" is a unit of measure, officially equal to 500 meters.  the number 10,000 expressed in Chinese is often used figuratively, and associated with the concept of "the biggest number you can think of" or "infinity".  The phrase means that no matter how far you roam, you will always return to the place of your beginning.

We spent a few hours reading notes from the families.  I never fail to get very choked up reading the notes of the children to the staff, realizing how important this information is.  The director and Ms. Wan also pore over each photo.  I take video of this exchange, in order to provide feedback to each family.  Director Song realizes how important this is, and is very sensitive to what we are doing.  

After the presentation of the notes, I had the honor of asking the director a few questions that had been brought up by the families.  One of the questions that has been brought up several times by the families is the issue of "child trafficking".  I brought this topic up with the director and he had this to say:

The director stated that all children MUST come to the orphanage via the police.  There are some cases where the children are brought to the orphanage doorstep, but in these cases, the child, and whoever has brought them, are directed to the police.  All children coming to the orphanage MUST have a certificate issued by the police authorities.  Director Song stated that in the 12 years he has been the director, no one has come to the orphanage seeking their children.  Nevertheless, they keep all information on the children on file.  Director Song related that he only knows of a case 18 years ago, where the parents came to the orphanage and found their child.  However, the child did not want to go with the biological parents, and wanted to stay in the orphanage.  I did not pry further for the details of this case, and I suspect there was a lot more to the story, and perhaps the parents were not fit to be parents, and the child felt safer in the orphanage.  I did not find out what eventually happened to this child.

Another question the families brought up was the idea of finding birthparents, perhaps through genetic testing.  Our translator, Steven Tao, mentioned that he had a short discussion with the orphanage staff on this topic.  He said that he didn't know about the regulations in other provinces, but that in Anhui, it is illegal to abandon a child.  He related a story in a newspaper about parents who were found to have neglected their child, who was found living on the streets, and were convicted to a long prison sentence based on genetic testing (in addition to resembling the parents).  In addition, a person who was found to be implicated in this case received a 7 year prison sentence.  It is therefore Steven's opinion that it would be doubtful that people would come forward openly for genetic testing, for fear of reprisal by the police.  Even those implicated are at risk. 

Director Song also relayed to me that as of 2 years ago, per government regulation, genetic information is obtained and retained on all orphanage children. 

When I asked Director Song about the parents wanting to explore finding their birthparents through genetic testing, Director Song said he was open to doing this for the families.  I don't know exactly what this means, but I think the implication of his statement is that he was stating to me that this was not a closed topic, as far as he was concerned.  What he could do exactly, I don't know (and I don't think HE knows, either.  My take on it is that he was displaying his openness to addressing of this topic).

I also discussed with him the feedback that I have received feedback from several families whose children have trauma and issues that the parents have associated with their early life at the orphanage.  These are issues such as RAD, or other negative behavioral issues which are often associated with living in an orphanage.  Director Song told me that he very much appreciated the feedback.  He told me how he solidly adheres to his directives and regulations to provide the right nutrition, life standard, and proper education to all the children in the orphanage to the best of his abilities.  He said that sometimes they do lack professional services for each individual problem and each individual child, but that there are so many different situations, and that he tries "very hard" [I heard the sincere emphasis in Chinese] to do well given his resources.  I said that we could try to work together in order to provide feedback from the families so that we could help to improve things for the children at the orphanage, and he welcomed this.

To summarize, and as I have said so many times, I, and all the families with children of Bengbu, are VERY lucky to have the relationship that we do with Director Song.  I have been to many orphanages, and as with many other organizations in China, the force of politics is strong and vicious, and one mis-step can cost not only your job, but those of your employees, and in this case, the possible welfare of the children.  I provide GREAT PRAISE to Director Song to risk so much in talking with me,  and discussing these topics.  His openness is inspirational, and I am humbled to know him, and I am energized by his vision and by the heart of the donors to keep doing more to help the children of the orphanage.

Finally, many of you have emailed to me and asked me more about my experience with my daughter, and have enjoyed her posts.  I will encourage her to post more to the blog.  I do like to write, but words absolutely escape me when it comes to the expression of what my daughter means to me.  Nothing comes close to adequately describe how incredibly proud I am of her, her performance, and my joy to be near her during this trip.  She far exceeded expectations in every aspect of the trip.  She was my filmographer, director ("Smile more, Daddy!.....  Don't say 'uhm' so much!!,,,,speak louder.....what do you want me to have in the frame, now??"), personal secretary ("don't forget your notes for the children, daddy!"), ideal travel companion ("don't forget your toothbrush daddy!  Did you look under the bed for anything!! Hurry, or we'll be late for checkout!"), perfect fun buddy (I'll never forget the bits of palmello that she jokingly threw over the shower curtain at me while I was taking a shower as she laughed, or how she would always cringe and gripped my arm when people loudly cleared their throat and spit on the street), or sweet perfect kid ("Daddy, can I take a little nap in the car?....I'm tired!").  I am, by far, the luckiest dad in the whole wide world, to have Jie-jie as a daughter.

A visit to Bengbu #2 Middle School

In 2007, I was graciously given the honor to visit the Bengbu #2 Middle School, which is locally known as the best middle school in Bengbu, and where competition is fierce to attend as a student.  Children go to school from 7am to 7pm (which includes after-school study sessions), and then go home to study more, and also study on the weekends.

you can see the details of my last visit by clicking here

If you check out the link, you will see the "before" photo of me standing next to this sign:

luckily, I am wearing headgear in both this year's photo, and the one taken in 2007, so you can't see how much more of my hair I have lost.  And I am also glad that my coat hides my growing midsection.

I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to visit with these bright young people, and my thanks to Mr. Li JiangPing for helping with the visit.

In my talk with the students, I discussed Packages of Hope, and volunteer community involvement.  A student I have kept in touch with since 2007, Ms. Mavis, came all the way home from her job as an Chinese teacher to foreigners in Beijing, to meet with me.  It was great to see her again.  Also, my daughter had the opportunity to talk with the students.  After the discussion, they mobbed her with questions about her hobbies, and if she liked "Twilight".

 Although camouflaged, my American daughter amongst her new Chinese friends in Bengbu

Mavis, a graduate of Bengbu #2 Middle school, and now a teacher of Chinese to foreigners, now working in Beijing.

After my presentation, the male students were very keen on discussing current sports teams and players, which is definitely not my strong suit.  While I know very little, it is clear they knew quite a bit about American basketball and tennis stars. (As with most other countries outside the USA, American football is not well followed).

A few students wanted to discuss the latest hot topic of the day, which involved orphans.  It was about a woman who was caring for orphans, without a license, in her home.  A fire broke out, which unfortunately took the lives of some of the children living there.  The government had condemned the woman because she was operating without a license.  However, the story seemed to backfire on the government, as the entire country appears to be in an uproar over the government's harsh treatment of this woman (her story has swept the country in microblogs).  Public opinion from people I spoke to throughout my trip to China this time, was that while the fire was very unfortunate, they believe that the woman was doing was a good thing.

Her story reminds me of a similar story that inspired our charity to go to Lanzhou (click here and here for the details)

Please click here to see Chinese news story, including very compelling video. It was also interesting for me to read that the woman was my age.

I will include some of the articles translations below:

Rescue vehicles wait on the fire accident site in Lankao county, Central China's Henan Province, January 4, 2013. A fire broke out in a residential building in Chengguan township of Lankao county at about 8:30 am on Friday and was extinguished about two hours later. Four children were killed on the spot, three died on the way to hospital and one other is still being treated in the hospital. An initial investigation showed that the accident site was an adoptive family where the children killed and injured lived in. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. 

Seven people adopted by a local woman were killed in a fire Friday morning at a house in Lankao county, Central China's Henan Province. Their adoptive mother, famous for taking in over 100 kids, is in custody for questioning by police.

An investigation into the cause of the fire was still under way on Friday evening, with no further information available, a spokesperson from the local government told the Global Times.

A 20-year-old man with congenital polio and four boys and two girls under 5 years old were killed in the fire, the People's Daily reported Friday evening.

An injured 10-year-old boy was still in intensive care at the No.2 People's Hospital of Kaifeng, reports said.

Earlier information from the local government showed that the fire broke out around 8:30 am at a residential building near the People's Hospital of Lankao, and firefighters put out the fire till 9:10 am.

The local government set up a special group to deal with the case. A local woman, Yuan Lihai, had opened a shelter to take in orphans and abandoned children.

The county's public security bureau said Friday evening that Yuan was in custody.

Yuan, a street vendor, began to adopt children from 1986 and had adopted over 100 children by last year. Many had moved on as adults but around 39 children still live with Yuan across four properties.

Her story made her a well-known and appreciated public figure, despite lingering doubts about her capacity to take care of so many children and her use of the kids to collect money from the government and private donors.

On Friday, an official surnamed Li from the civil affairs bureau of Lankao said that the bureau will take measures to improve the living conditions of the orphans adopted by Yuan, according to the local news website dahe.cn.

The local government will discuss sending five children newly adopted by Yuan to the social welfare home of Kaifeng.

The local government will also work with various groups to set up temporary living sites for the rest of the children taken in, said Li.

Images of Bengbu - 3

 While shopping for washers, we noticed this "micro" model.  I can only imagine what it could be used for, but it almost looked too cute to take seriously.

 I walked proudly and  humbly behind Steven, Ms. Wan, and Ms. Song as they walked down the bustling streets of Bengbu to the next shop.

 I often wonder what Chinese people think when they see our American shirts and clothes adorned with Chinese characters.  I only hope they make more sense in Chinese, than these clothes do in English.

 Many stores were gearing up for the Spring Festival.  This upcoming year is the year of the Snake!

 I can never get over the fact that most of the baby advertisements I see in China show western babies.  I get told over and over again that they think western babies are so much cuter.  I really couldn't disagree more.  Of course, I am very biased.  But it mostly just makes me laugh.

 There is a large Muslim population in Bengbu, and there are many mosques, as this one above.  Muslim cuisine is very popular as well, and there are growing numbers of  "kabob"/bread food stands on street corners.  I have partaken of the food and it is delicious!!

As with our neighborhood, Bengbu has a love for pets!  As you can see on this pet market street, they sell chickens, birds, rabbits, dogs, and fish for pets.

 Bengbu has a lovely antique/jade market that I have loved to visit since 2005.  I wish I could afford (and also manage to carry!) all these pieces home

Even in my trips to Amsterdam (the land of bicycles) I never saw this unique battery powered vehicle.  Looks like something from the Jetsons!

Above is my beautiful daughter posing next to a restaurant window.  I am a bit perplexed as to how this seems to have caught on in China, but in many windows of restaurants, you will see a poster of Santa Claus, either as shown here, or as just an image of his face (with the red hat and big white beard).  It has no connection to our American holiday or sentiment, but I was told that it is a friendly face of a jolly old man that inspires happiness (and people to come in for a meal!).

Images of Bengbu - 2

The above images are of the sports stadium at Steven Tao's university.  The unique design has that Beijing "Bird's Nest" feel.

 Check out THIS happy family.  They looked very content, although I don't think our local police would allow the nearly 10 safety violations I spotted in these images.

 This was a common sight, and another culture shock for me.  No helmets, and the handlebars sitting just at front-tooth-level for the toddler standing upright on the scooter.  And in busy avenue traffic with huge trucks whizzing by.  The truck horns lightly honk to signal their proximity to these fragile drivers, which I surmise is the way that they feel keeps everyone safe.

A new Howard Johnson hotel will be opening sometime this year or the next, which will be the new best 5-star hotel in town.  This one is located just across from the main downtown square.

Images of Bengbu - 1

In addition to our charity work, I had a chance to enjoy the wonder and beauty of China.  I enjoy all the little things that I find that are different from what I see in my neighborhood, along with many of the things that, while looking different at first glance, are really quite the same as in my neighborhood.

Check out this group of folks playing a game of cards.  While we don't do this on the corner in my neighborhood, it seemed so nice and peaceful, with smiles and chattering of community and neighbors together.

 At the end of the street, there were vendors selling snacks in the chilly afternoon.  The temperature was around 5C, or about 40F, which is not too chilly to me, but it is very cold to this tropical province that usually swelters in the heat of the long summer months.

 My daughter was given this heated drink by Ms. Wan.  It was a syrupy sweet drink with bits of fruit, sesame seeds, and oats.  Although she did not find it too tasty, I enjoyed the warmth, and the fact that I could not detect any artificial sweetening.  The sweetness came from the fruit extract.

 An old home along the market street.  It looked unoccupied, and is a vestige of the old neighborhood.  Buildings like these are being demolished and swept away to make way for modern high rises.  I think this will be a vanishing sight in Bengbu.

 As an engineer, this sight made me cringe.  I'm not sure, but I think these are communication lines, and not power lines, that are in a vicious snarl.  The sight is ironic.  Many know China only to be autocratic and rigid.  But as seen here, there is a lack of order for the phone system.  Although this wire tangle is not often seen in my neighborhood, I know that our system is far from perfect as well.

I was told that local city ordinances forbid people to own dogs over a certain size.  This doesn't seem to be the case for this shop owner and his husky (I saw the owner doting on his furry friend).  As with my neighborhood, there are several evidences where "regulations" and "matters of the heart" collide, and we all smile when we know which one tends to win out.

Clothes shopping in Bengbu - New

Apologies to the new look of the blog, as I am back now in the USA, and am now trying to pick up chronologically on the trip, and post photos, now that I have a fast and clear internet connection!

This post is a little out of synch in the timeline of my journey, but it includes other images and information about the two days of shopping we did for the children of Bengbu.   Above you can see our volunteers from Bengbu.  We all wish Sun Lele, on the left, a big congratulations on the birth of her son just 4 months ago!  Steven Tao, on the right, assisted me all through this trip, and took personal time out from his work and homelife to be our translator and help to purchase items for the orphanage.  All without accepting a penny in payment.  I can't thank these two enough for all they have done for Packages of Hope and for the orphanage.  They are AWESOME!

In the above photo, you can see from left to right - Steven Tao, Ms. Song (director of the orphanage for the older children, no relation to SWI director Mr. Song), Ms. Wan (director of the orphanage for children ages 0 to 3), and me. Here we are pictured with one of the 10 washing machines we purchased for the orphanage.

Over the course of 2 days, we purchased clothing and shoes for the 140 children at the orphanage.  Buying the clothes for the younger children was easier, but Ms. Song did her due diligence to make sure all the personal tastes of the older children were taken into consideration. I was also extremely impressed with the speed at which the director was able to buy shoes for all the children!  She had the sizes memorized and was careful to pick out the best possible styles the children would like, given the choices we had.

Ms. Wan and Ms. Song had the shops already scoped out before we arrived, and we went swiftly from shop to shop.

The bags of clothes lined up on the street where they were picked up by van to take to the orphanage.

Just a few of the shoes we purchased for the children

All of the washers had been delivered to the orphanage by the last day of my visit.