Tuesday, January 13, 2009

In the most rural areas of China, older people are often among the poorest of the poor, and sometimes live in severe poverty. Family is a priority in Chinese culture and most of the time children will support their parents when they become older. This is not always true—especially when parents do not have children or their children have passed away. Other times, the elderly are simply neglected and forgotten members of society.

In the small town of Qingyundian there is an elderly home which houses over seventy residents. Eleven of these individuals are poor and live on government assistance. All of them do not have family members who are able to provide them with care.

A few days ago I had the opportunity to visit the elderly care center with a few of the children from the preschool at New Day. They made cards and put together gifts for them for the Chinese New Year, which is coming up shortly. The children also prepared songs, in both Chinese and English—to sing to the elderly people.

The people who are housed in the elderly care facility do not receive many visitors. They often do not leave for days at a time and the only people they spend time with are their acquaintances within their hallways.

They were grateful for our visit and the children’s gifts and performances.

Respectfully submitted by Jake Stortini