2nd visit to the Catholic orphanage “Liming family” in Biancun, Hebei province.
24 September 2006
After having heard the stories about the poverty at the “Liming family” orphanage in Biancun, Martin, his father Daan and Sherry returned to this orphanage to see the situation for themselves. As a gift, they brought a “wheeled walker”, which, whilst not reaching the new Dutch quality standards, was still considered ‘high tech’ in this Chinese orphanage.
Martin’s first sad impression:
“This is what poverty looks like….”
A long 350 km journey over beautiful toll roads, less pretty provincial roads and as they neared the villages, dusty unsealed (no asphalt) roads brought our MCC founder and representatives to the orphanage. The first things they saw were its soberness and an enormous mountain of coal (used for heating).
We were warmly welcomed by Mother Superior and her nuns that all work for the orphanage.
Martin was also greeted happily by a boy, about 18 years old who was using a rudimentary home-made walking frame, which the Dutch would not even consider using as a laundry rack! It was incredibly instable and worn down.
The gift (thank you Imca!) came to immediate use and the boy gave the visitors a smile which they will not forget for years to come! It is such a privilege to be able to give!
During a conversation with Mother Superior Martin felt free to pose several questions:
How many children does “Liming Family” take care of and what age groups are they?
There are 102 children, of which 48 orphans are severely mentally and/or physically disabled, and they live in the orphanage itself. 48 other children live with families surrounding the orphanage. These children have minor disabilities and can handle some light work and crafts (The orphanage then sells their handicrafts). 6 of the children are hospitalised or stay in the recovery centre. The age of the children varies from 2 months to 20 years. Each and every child however is a special needs orphan.
How much can be spent on each child?
For only 25 euro (approximately 30 US$) per child per month, the nuns are just able to bring up these special needs orphans, provide them with basic food, clothing and medical care. The donations or gifts come from the local Catholic Church, and local community, the latter who also assist by volunteering. Sometimes there is a gift from foreigners. An organization, which is a branch of Unicef may at times provide the money to cover a highly necessary operation. However, they will only pay when the success rate is deemed high.
There is no money to buy anything new: the chairs are worn down, the walking racks are self made from wood with wheels coming from old strollers. There are beds, but none of them has mattresses. Thank God there are enough resources for food!
Since when has the “Liming family” orphanage existed?
We exist for 18 years.
What is the largest problem you encounter?
We don’t have a steady flow of resources and therefore always have to hope that the local community can provide us with donations.
Many other questions were posed, and questions were answered. Out of respect for the children and because of political reasons we have decided not to publish everything.
Please take a look at these photographs, they speak for themselves.
