Experiencing China

Day 10: Sobering Needs
Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

Hands are a bit chilled today, can't hardly write or use chopsticks even.

I'm glad I've had such a good look into the life of foreign teachers here. Tempted to join up myself! I'm sure it varies for each of them, but Tony's schedule is roughly this:

Wakes in the morning, gets ready for the day, maybe touches up on some lesson plans. Once a week students are on the athletic field doing early morning calisthenics; may go watch. During each week he has a total of eight classes for two class periods each. He does have a great deal of freedom regarding his lesson plans, though it seems helpful to have him coincide his plans with other teachers. Tony has all 5th graders.

All kinds of benefits for him in this position, which is good to see considering how much he's given up to be here: a good salary, teaching experience, international experience, new friendships, new adventure. He has the privilege of getting to know dozens of students and a great many Chinese teachers on a good level. He gets to see into their world, they get to see into his. On breaks he travels to outlying areas. Each week he gathers with American and Canadian teammates to share meals, plan the week, and, maybe most importantly, encourage one another and share one another's difficulties, for even with all of these good "benefits" the realities of culture shock eventually set in. And on top of all this, they enjoy great Cantonese cooking.

Beyond all this they are serving a need. Within China there is a great demand for English teachers; I seem to see advertisements everywhere and Tony and the others get position offers all the time. And the position of teacher in China is greatly revered so they have an open door of influence.



These factors combine to create a prime avenue for disseminating values of righteousness and learning. The danger in this for teachers of English is the risk of not only sharing the English language, but also too much of our potentially glamorized, materialistic Western culture. This influence must be used responsibly. And I see Tony and his teammates doing just this for the most part; they're choosing to love, serve, and certainly share about what they believe in most in life; also they're attempting to understand the Chinese culture, absorb it into their own lives. I think it's impossible to completely relinquish our national or ethnic identity, but we need to assimilate to our present culture and people if we want to truly show concern for them; if we want to share with one another about the deeper issues of life.

I pray, Lord, that you bring more loving, Christian teachers to Guangzhou. Not that they have all the answers or that China simply needs more Western influence, but because I want to see these fifth graders and others find the hope that you provide.

Today's classes were a bit rowdier, in part, I think, because their English wasn't as good as yesterday's classes. It's tough to behave in class when you can't help but be bored.

There are so many people in Guangzhou. I pray for patience in zipping through the crowds, dodging traffic. Lots of people.

Today I had another sobering experience. I visited an orphanage run by an Australian woman; been here about eight years doing this, she says. She maintains two buildings with a total of fifty children, most of whom have some sort of birth defect or handicap. Used to be they only served handicapped children but recently a national leader gave a speech encouraging Chinese citizens to be more open to the efforts of foreigners on Chinese soil. At least three local television stations aired an article on this orphanage and the next thing they know, they have infants (without handicaps or birth defects) left upon their doorsteps. So the children increased, but the financial support didn't. In fact, sounds like they run the place on an inevitably tight budget. This week there's a shortage of baby formula in the city of Guangzhou. They've had to spend uncanny amounts of yuan to get what they need.

We didn't stay long, some English teachers just wanted to touch base with the director so that they could put in some hours volunteering with the children sometime soon, even if just to hold the infants; hard to gain much human touch when there are fifty other children.

I gingerly coddled a couple of infants; didn't want to break them. They were bound tightly for medical reasons, seemed distant, not very alert at all. I'm not sure what they were dealing with regarding health, but many seemed thin and had sore spots. We also met some young teenagers with cerebral palsy.

Many of the older handicapped kids have parental contact; part of the setup is that parents, who can't physically or financial care for their little ones, visit regularly and stay involved, and the orphanage takes care of some of the other stuff.

Even amidst this pain I was glad to see the children being loved in a Christian environment. They prayed before meals and the director is clearly dedicated to bringing these kids up as best as possible; seems only just. It's not much, but I'm going to leave some money and clothes behind. It's amazing what kind of perspective such a visit as this can bring.

Late yesterday, I had a gift idea for my communications teammates back home. The theme verse for Urbana 2000 is 1John 4:19, "We love because he first loved us." and I thought they might enjoy this verse in Chinese calligraphy, something they could either hang in their office or at home, especially as Urbana is such an international event. I approached Kevin, a Chinese fifth grade teacher, who liked the idea and took the initiative to ask some art teachers about making something up. He even asked me repeatedly for specific measurements and content. So, I was pretty excited about potentially bestowing such a creative and handmade gift upon folks back home.

Anyway, today, with a large grin on his face, he gave me the three long panels of paper. Each of them read, in deliberate, well-measured print, " We love because he first loved us." In English, I'm afraid. I'd failed to be specific enough, I guess.

"How is this," he said, evidently glad to help.
I hesitated, then responded, "Great. These will be fine." They were well printed. I think I'll still pass them along to my teammates.

Thank you again, Lord, for this trip and how it's enriching my life. Please be merciful upon the children of the orphanage; bring to them the needed baby formula and ease their discomfort. Show me a way in which to give of myself to them, these whom I'll probably never even see again. May your justice come to these who may never have a chance at living a healthy, much less prosperous, life.

Mark

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