Latest News:  

English>>China Society

Private foster home persists despite pressure

(Xinhua)

09:05, January 17, 2013

(Photo/Xinhua)

NANNING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- For at least three months, Ban Aihua has tried to legalize her privately-run foster home, a humble shelter for 68 children.

However, her plea to register the home as a non-governmental charity agency has fallen on deaf ears. She is still waiting for official authorization to run a welfare home for orphans and other abandoned children in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The news of a deadly fire that killed seven people at an unlicensed orphanage in central China's Henan Province on Jan. 4 was particularly disturbing, Ban said.

"I'm in the same boat as the foster mother in Henan and may face similar risks," she said.

In the wake of the Henan fire, authorities began questioning Yuan Lihai, the "foster mother" who has reared more than 100 orphans over the past 26 years -- mostly ill or handicapped children who no one else wanted to adopt.

Ban said she was particularly sad to hear that Yuan, who struggled to earn a living for the kids by selling snacks, begging and applying for government subsidies, may face prosecution despite decades of efforts to make up for government inaction and provide for the children.

"Yuan is not alone," said Ban, 54, who lives with 68 children between the ages of 5 and 17 in a village in the city of Hechi.

In her younger days, Ban taught at a village school for four years. She later migrated to east China's Jiangxi Province, where she took temporary jobs, got married and settled down.


【1】 【2】



We Recommend:

2012 year in review: Steps of growth

2012 year in review: Say goodbye

2012 in review: Questions on responsibility

China’s weekly story (2012.12.27-2013.1.4)

New Year Wishes from left-behind children

Kazak's wonderful falcon game in Xinjiang

Food is the paramount necessity of life

Dense fog causes serious air pollution

Twisted, ugly ‘Tower of Large Intestine’ found

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:黄瑾、陈丽丹)

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. PLA army aviation brigade in flight training

  2. Submarine flotilla in routine training

  3. What is behind the weather extremes?

  4. Beijingers see first sunshine in seven days

  5. Cities surrounded by pollution

  6. Schoolmaster killed in heroic fight

  7. 'La Traviata' staged in Shanghai

  8. Laboleng Temple getting facelift

  9. Superhero Washers Cheer Up Children

  10. Japanese crazy for blood types

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. Will rural residents become middle-class?
  2. Taxi drivers' plight leaves passengers out in the cold
  3. China Voice: Living better or living green?
  4. Families of migrant workers are least happy in 2012
  5. Japan’s hopes to contain China laughable
  6. Sino-Indian ties
  7. Li pledges measures in fight for clean air
  8. A competent ‘general’ is also a good ‘platoon leader’
  9. Highlighting the skills you need in a changing China
  10. Will there be another Liu Xiang in China?

What’s happening in China

'Sister House' case urges efforts in combating corruption in affordable housing

  1. 'Family feud dramas' concern TV viewers
  2. Corruption curbs crimp luxury market
  3. Pollution triggers breathing woes
  4. China's rich prefer to give Louis Vuitton
  5. Beijing leads nation on rich list