CARING FOR LIFE...

“One must care about a world one will not see.”

Bertrand Russell

This post is about caring for life. Indulge me please as I attempt to set the stage, okay? Thanks!

Did your parents ever try making you feel guilty about the food you'd leave on your plate...like...'eat every bite on your plate...remember all those starving children in China'...words that had little impact on our eating habits...ha! We had no idea we'd one day be living among so many Chinese children...all sizes and shapes. Granted, like most countries, there are those who are hungry...in China there are so many more things to consider.

Oh well, we don't live in China...we're in America, the land of everything!

Michael and I didn't know much about China but believe me, our knowledge of that country has experienced exponential growth! It's awesome...on one hand; on the other...it's horrendous!

I doubt you're aware of the total concept of China's 'one child' policy...then again, you may know all about it. I had read a little but wasn't aware of its drastic measures...until...until it slapped Michael and me in the face...as in person to person/up close and personal.

We've many good friends in China...some are closer to us than others...our Chinese children? Yes, in a manner of speaking. You don't know the ones I'm writing about today...but trust me, they are so special.

Most of the time Michael is 'Mr. Cool'...but a couple of weeks ago we received a call from China that shook both of us...super stress and cool flew out the window!

The Call...our friends have one child...a wonderful child and it's all 'government approved'. They're suddenly upside-down because the wife is pregnant; while most American couples would be overjoyed...in China, it's different...it can spell DISASTER.

You see, both of them have siblings...aah, great blessings? Oops, not so great because if you've siblings you are only allowed to birth one child. If you're an only child you 'may' apply for a 2nd birth permit or if you're a farmer and your first child is a girl, you may have a 2nd child.

 

Now...if our friends decided to go ahead with the pregnancy and give birth to the child, it would be without a 'birth permit' and the child would have basically 'no identity' w/no papers, not allowed to attend schools, nothing...nothing...a non-person!

The parents job security would fly out the window. In some instances their homes would be/could be bulldozed, their families hounded, persecuted or both. If that isn't enough, they will also be fined from four to seven times one year's salary. This is for married couples...you don't even want to know about single women...yet.

For this small family to have...a child with 'no identity'? They want to have the child...they do not want an only child but they've found themselves in a predicament that, in China, is a common, horrendous everyday occurrence.

Here's something more for you to consider: In 2009, there were reputedly six (6) million abortions. That number has declined due to the more attractive practice of 'social maintenance fees'...the fine for having 'extra children'.

Our friends cannot pay the 'fee' which means their second child will not have a registration document or hukou...which allows it to have basic rights...education, employment, etc.

We witnessed this first-hand in our year of teaching in Changsha (Chairman Mao's home province). The head of our English department was a wonderful gentle man, very intelligent and a family man. Aah, therein lies the problem...his wife was lovely and they had several children. Before we left to move to Qingdao, he had been stripped of his job along w/many other punishments for? For having too many children; his wife was doing very menial labor and what became of them we don't know. It was heartbreaking...they suddenly had no hope, no future...but they had a family.

You may be thinking 'why don't they leave the country'...aah, wouldn't that be wonderful? But...oh... but...how could you leave when one of your children has no papers?

Like a son asking advice from parents...talk to me, what is your thinking on this'?

Prayers, considerations...more prayer...more calls...investigating all avenues w/no positive outcomes with a final decision made.

The outcome? We don't know...we don't know. What do we think? We don't know...we think they will not have the child...cruel? We are not the judge, we are not Chinese, we are not in their shoes! They know we will do everything in our power to help them but they 'have face'...they are Chinese.

What would we do? How about 'what would you do'?

This is a sensitive post, a sensitive topic...Michael says 'Vasca, you're really challenging yourself'...and trust me, I know...oh how well I know.

It would be simpler to just forget about it, you don't need to know (maybe you'd rather not know)!

But, I can't leave it like that. And, pray tell me, why not? Tell me, why not?

It's a God thing...an important God thing...

“One must care about a world one will not see.”

From my heart...to yours, Vasca