Sponsor's update from Kaifeng, China

Child sponsorship update from the SOS Children's Village Kaifeng, China from Winter 2008.

At present, 135 boys and girls are living in the village, and 14 SOS mothers and aunties are looking after them. Among the children, 48 are in elementary school, and the rest are in middle school or vocational training school. A young girl from House 9 and a young boy from Youth House entered the college after entrance examination. We have selected 28 new orphans among the whole province, and the medical examinations have finished and they would enter the village in the New Year soon.

The Spring Festival is always the most important holiday for Chinese within the whole year. When the holiday coming, all the people would come back to their home to share happiness and blessing with family members and friends. But this year it was not so easy for the people to get together with their families, for in this winter, China, especially south China, suffered worst harsh winter havoc. Heavy snow and sleet has paralyzed transport and coal shipments, and led to travelers cramming railway stations and airports. Our city was not been influenced so much, but it was much colder than before. The price of food rose, because of the bad weather and transportation. The gas supply was sometimes limited. With the help from the government, everything recovered to normal. During the Spring Festival, like the years before, we held kinds of celebrating activities, and the Evening Party was always the favorite. All the families performed their own programs, and every child was asked to show himself or herself on the stage. We had a warm and unforgettable evening.

All the SOS mothers in our village have kind heart and have been devoted themselves to the cause of caring orphans. They were beloved by their children, and also acknowledged by the whole society. Zhou Guifang, the SOS mother in House 4, was awarded the title of “The Best Ten Mothers in Kaifeng” by Kaifeng Propaganda Department, Kaifeng Woman Federation and Kaifeng Daily Newspaper. She was invited to the commending meeting on 8th, may, this was a great encourage

Events at Kaifeng, China

This year, China experienced both sad and happy events. On 12, May, suddenly a disastrous earthquake occurred in the southwest province of Sichuan province. Thousands of people and families were killed and great losses were suffered. We couldn't go to the area to rescue the victims ourselves, all the co-workers, mothers and some children donated some money as a small support to the people in need. On 8, August, the 29th Olympic Games were held in Beijing. As a celebration, we held a funny sport meeting in our village to welcome the Olympic torch passed in our city. It was just in Summer school holiday, and the children could watch the matches on TV.

On the Children’s Day, the most important holiday for children, we held a funny sports meeting with the theme of “Celebrating Children’s Day, Welcoming the Olympic Games”. The leaders from the Kaifeng Civil Affairs Department also attended the meeting. Before the competition, all the members rose and stood in silent tribute expressing our heartfelt condolences to the deceased in the disaster. As for the matches, though they were not normal sports competition, all the children shows great enthusiasm. The spirit of “faster, higher, stronger” was highlighted.

In summer school holiday, we begin two big construction projects, one is inner renovation and decoration of all family houses, and another is the replacement of roof tiles. The wall between the kitchen and the repository in each family house was wiped off, and the kitchen became bigger. All the family house rooms were painted again, and children’s beds and wardrobes were replaced. The kitchen was equipped with new refrigerator and holistic cabinets. After the renovation, the house looks more bright and comfortable. At the same time, all the old building’s roof tiles were replaced with glazed tiles, and the whole building is more safe and beautiful. Detailed preparations made for them. We selected the best decoration company after investigation. For many times, our village director, and with other leaders, visited many tiles factories to decide the color and size of the tiles. All the co-workers and mothers did a lot during the constructions, as well as the big boys in youth house. We ourselves unloaded all the new tiles from the truck, and we moved all the construction garbage’s around the house. All we want is to give the children a sound living and studying environment.

The financial crisis that originated on Wall Street and swept the world has bitten into the Western economy, and also influenced China greatly. Many people lost their jobs, and it is more difficult to find a new job for new graduated students. The living cost in our city also is increasing, and we have been trying our best to pass this difficult time. We will make great effort to search for help from the local government and the society in the year of 2009.

Growing up at Kaifeng, China

With the development of our country, China is much stronger and richer than before, and has the ability of accelerating social development with the focus on improving people's livelihood. Children’s living and education situation attached more attention. Among the children, the orphans are the most disadvantaged. So the government paid special attention on them. Each child in our village who is under 18 years old was granted a “Children Social Welfare Certificate”. The children with the certificate can receive kinds of aids and privileges in policy, such as education, medical care, employment, etc. And we believe this will be a great help for the children.

Also in this year we received many donations. Pinsent Masons, a famous company in United Kingdom, donated a new minibus to replace our old one. It is very safe and comfortable. In October, three co-workers in the company visited our village to make sure the donation, and they brought many school stationeries for the children. A friend relationship has been established between us. In November a Nissan Motor Sales Company in Shandong Province donated 500 books for our village’s small library. A fund supported by a kind lady in Hong Kong has agreed to support some school fees for children who newly entered the senior high school in this year and next year.

Just at the end of the year, Xu Yan Min, a young girl who grown up in House 8, was recruited to the army, and she was the first girl from the village who entered the army.

The Youth Facility (Youth House) welcomed 4 new comers in September. These 4 big boys moved out from their family houses and began a new different life in youth house. This move prepares them for independence and self-sufficiency, and this is a big challenge for them. Naturally we will give them necessary support. They will continue their school education, and furthermore, educational staff offers counseling and supporting in this decisive process of becoming an adult. The playground in Youth House was mended, and the basketball field was newly covered with plastic on the top of cement, which means safer for the children.

Learn from other SOS Children’s Village in China, the SOS Nursery School started to find cooperative business partner to provide financial support since the second half of this year, which not only could make up the shortage of money ofnursery school, but also could provide financial help for the village.