For the past couple of weeks my team and I have been volunteering at a foster home about an hour south of Beijing. There are large amounts of orphans in China because of the high cost of health care and the one child law, among other reasons. Children are sent to government orphanages, but if they have any disabilities they are sent to foster homes such as this one. Foster homes provide for the medical, physical, and emotional needs of the children until they are adopted.
My job in particular this month is to invest into the volunteers who are working with the foster home long-term. Specifically, I work with the volunteers’ children, tutoring them and putting on after school activities along with my team members. All of the volunteers’ children are homeschooled through online programs and don’t often have face-to-face help with their homework. They also don’t usually have specialized classes like arts or physical education, so during the after school program we try to concentrate on these types of activities.
Two of the challenges my team members and I are facing is the inability to speak to others about what we believe and that we aren’t working directly with Chinese people. So often we want to see the fruits of our labor right in front of us, when instead we are working more behind-the-scenes.
During my time here I’ve realized that it’s ok not to see immediate results. It’s ok to step back and let others take center stage. It’s ok if things take time.
I have seen how this foster home is a beacon of light in the village it is surrounded by as well as in China. The foster home children have been given second chances at life, love, and a family. The hope this shelter provides is evident as soon as you walk through the gates. The hope is seen in the faces and the actions of the volunteers and the foster home children.
I truly do feel blessed to be investing into the volunteers and workers who have dedicated their lives to this cause.
