Grandparents Struggle to Make Ends Meet, Having Lost their Children and Gaining Responsibility of their Grandchildren

Seven Children's Hope staff and I made the trip to Renjiaping and Beichuan today. We took our video camera to take video of the children awaiting sponsorship. We visited Zhuhong and her mom first. Zhuhong lost her 39-year-old father in the earthquake last year. Now the family lives on her mother’s temporary income. Zhuhong showed me her report card. She received above 90% in all of her subjects, earning only two B's.


Qiaozhi’s grandparents are now 68 and 70 years old. The pair lost two sons and two daughter-in-laws in this disaster; one set were Qiaozhi’s parents. The two grandparents are now left with three grandsons, ages 18, 15 and 9-year-old Qiaozhi. A Chinese family wished to adopt Qiaozhi, but neither Qiaozhi nor his grandparents wanted him to go. This is his home! His grandma showed us her vegetable in the back yard. This is a great asset, as the family grows their own food and their costs are cut somewhat.



Leaving RenjiaPing, our driver took us into the mountain to show us the old Beichuan. Through the lenses of the earthquake, I saw the old town in rubble. Even now, more than 30,000 people are still buried below the debris.

Zhuqing, Zhuhong, and all the other children’s grandparents don’t know where and when they will build the permanent homes. And with very little income, they struggle through everyday life.

Consider sponsoring an earthquake orphan. Click here.

A friend of mine, Zhou Yun, who had volunteered to come with me on this trip, decided she would sponsor one child today! This is great news!

A Day with Steven Curtis Chapman and the Earthquake Orphans in Renjiaing, Sichuan

I came back to Beijing from St. Louis on July 6th and flew to Mianyang today, July 7th to meet up with our dear friend Steven Curtis Chapman at our Hope Center in Mianyang, Sichuan. Renjiping to be exact. I was told Steven and his team were quarantined for a week in Beijing because someone on their plane was reported to have had a fever. Never the less, their team kept their schedule and arrived in Sichuan as soon as they were able. After a concert yesterday and a busy visit in the morning around noon, their company arrived at our Hope Center. Steven and his two sons sang to the 20 orphans and those children who had lost a parent to last year’s earthquake. There are 40 such children in the Renjiaping settlement area and 200 in our 6 Hope Centers. Children's Hope China has found sponsors for 80 of these children so far.

Consider sponsoring an earthquake orphan. Click here.


These children are the victims from Beichuan, a region whose population was cut in half and the whole town buried by rubble. Their hometown is now closed to residence and the children must move permanently in the next few years to a new city. Families struggle to make ends meet, especially those who lost their bread-winning young adults to the quake. Grandparents do not want send their grandchildren to orphanages for the government to help raise them, yet they don’t have the income to support themselves and the children.

Children’s Hope began earthquake sponsorships of $50 per month per child in July 2008, to aid these families so the children could remain with their extended families.

This is where Zhuqing and Liyangyang, two of our sponsored children live. The children who met with Steven and his family today are those who are still waiting to be sponsored. Many traveled from hours away to be here today. Two boys, gave Will Chapman their gifts - pictures they had drawn earlier.



I wish I could show Steven and his daughter Emily, who is now the head of Shaohannah’s Hope, the homes of these children, but the police were concerned about our large American convoy traveling in the area and gave us a restricted time limit.

I visited little Zhuqing and her grandparents after Steven and his team left. She lost her dad last year and her mom left when she remarried soon after. The little four-year-old took me to see her grandma at a nearby restaurant where the 6o-year-old works from 8 in the morning until 10 at night, earning only a $100 per month. She asked for a short break so she could show me her home and fix us a bowl of noodles, to show her appreciation for the sponsorship they receive.

Nine-year-old Yangyang was not home today. She lost her mom to the earthquake and her dad left home to work elsewhere. She helps her grandparents by selling candies at her homemade store, pictured here in January.

I also met one of the sisters who lost their father. (The young girl sitting next to Steven, wanting her picture taken with him.)

Liling, our team leader for this Hope Center, and I will have pictures and profile stories for all 20 children who are still waiting for sponsors, tomorrow. I also hope to be able to go to Beichuan to see the old town if the rain will stop.

View a small number of the earthquake children's profiles, here.

A year has passed, and life goes on. Real life and the needs of these people keep us motivated in our work here. Our local staff are able to build relationships while they live among the victims and we now welcome our friends to join us and show these children great love from above.

Volunteering Their Profession, Taxi Drivers Make Children's Day at Children's Hope Foster Home

June 1st's International Children’s Day, we were so happy to have visitors of 9 taxi drivers to our foster home in Beijing. They came to take our children to the zoo for their holiday. The leader, Mr. Wang told us, they are the top 20 taxi drivers in Beijing who were honored as drivers to the Olympic stars last year. They wanted to be our children’s drivers for all holidays when we need them. What a great gift.

We have sent our van to Sichuan since April and we have relied on volunteers to take our foster care children to hospitals, parks, etc., ever since. This is first time we have taxi drivers as our volunteers. They were so happy to have found us, too. Lucky us!


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CHI Hope Centers Reach Out - Touching Lives, One Event and Donation at a Time

The work of our Hope Centers continue.

Earthquake sponsorships. Through April this year, Children's Hope staff and volunteers visited 36 families with orphans or single-parent children. Ten of these children have been sponsored, which upgraded the total earthquake sponsors to 17, within China. There are now 65 children still on the waiting list and waiting for help.

Medical program. Two earthquake children have applied and are receiving medical aid currently. The first is 1 1/2-year-old boy Ruiyao, who suffers from congenital heart disease. Ruiyao lost his parents in the earthquake and now lives with his grandparents. His weight is not suitable for corrective surgery so he has to wait for awhile. Lianzeng, a 9-year-old boy who has very serious congenital skin disease, has finished his application to our Medical Program. He is set to travel to Beijing for treatment at the end of May.

(Pictured above: Lianzeng and his mother.)

Education donations. After knowing the school’s need, we connected with “PacLantic”, a famous Chinese children’s goods company, and fundraised 340 sets of uniforms. All the children at Renjianping Primary School will received their new uniforms on June 1st, Children’s Day.

Events. All recent events seek to find sponsors for orphans and single-parent children. Our biggest event is ”2009 Child, Love & Summer” Photo and Painting Exhibition, held in both Beijing and Shanghai. Five photographers came as volunteers and took pictures of 50 children; over 100 children wrote down there summer wishes on a Wish Card, all shown in the exhibition. As a result, 8 children were sponsored and 31 children’s wishes came true.

Things are busy and we only hope we can make a bigger impact, with your help! If you'd like to get involved, contact our US Foundation Director at Cory.Barron@ChildrensHope.net.

Photos: A Return Visit to Sichuan

One of my staff went to Sichuan and she took some pictures of her visit of the mining area we first found last year. The entire mine was demolished by a landslide, burying several hundred miners under the mountain on May 12th. They have placed a memorial there to remember them.

Nine children became orphans that day. They have been sent to Fujian to study now. Forty additional children lost one parent. Children's Hope is working with their families to begin sponsorship for these forty struggling families.

The child shown here was sick in 2003 and became disabled since. He can no longer walk. We are dispatching a cerebral palsy therapist tomorrow, from Beijing, to check on the child to see what might be done.

We have a plan to help the children in Sichuan with our medical program and have received support from at least one resource.

I wish our staff could stay there longer so we can get reports like this more often. If not, maybe our volunteer staff will learn quickly to do this. It’s not hard but it’s so important to get these updates.