Kathy Liu is a Grade 5 student at the International School of Beijing. Recently, she visited New Hope Foster Home for sick and physically disabled babies with her classmate Arden Wang. Spurred into action by what they saw, Kathy and Arden decided to organize a donation drive. Here, Kathy reflects on her experience.
I couldn’t get the images out of my mind: the infants with cleft palates, the children with bowel defects, the toddlers with heart diseases – they all spun around in my mind as a peer and I left the New Hope Foster Home. Those poor children were all abandoned; they had no choice but to wait there, without any parents or a place to call home – until someone came to adopt them or they became too old for the foster program.
As I left the orphanage, my mind was racing with ways to help them. They were completely innocent, ultimately helpless, and yet lived a life without love. I knew that I could do something to help them and make their lives better – but what?
All my classmates and I had lived full childhoods, with wonderful parents providing us with everything that we needed and wanted. The thought of these kids suffering while I was happily playing with new toys or gorging myself on my favorite foods had never occurred to me.
Now, as a fifth grader, I have come to realize there are millions of children that aren’t as fortunate as I was. I knew that I could help these children and make a positive impact on their lives.
After careful thought and consideration, Arden and I settled on a donation drive to be held at the Capital Paradise Clubhouse in Shunyi from May 20 to June 12. The donation counter is open 24 hours and accepts items like baby clothes, toys, washing detergent, cleaning supplies, and basic food products like rice and cooking oil.
If all of us devote love and pitch in, we can make a great impact on the orphans’ lives.
All photos courtesy of Kathy Liu
