If you read my books, Lessons From China and Unseen Tears, you will hear me tell about a truly tragic event. While I was teaching at a university in China, there was a fire in an illegal fireworks factory in a rural area a little over an hour’s drive from the campus. Unfortunately, many people died in the factory’s fire, which left many children orphaned.
This area was so rural that there was no orphanage where the children could live, so distant family members and local villagers took the children in. Some of the teachers and former teachers at the university got together and decided we wanted to help the children, so we decided that we would pay for the school fees for each of the children until they graduated from high school. There was a broad range of ages for the children, so we knew this would take several years, but we wanted to make sure the children received an education.
After making sure the school fees were paid, one of the first things we did for the children was to buy them coats and toboggans. We work through a Ladies Auxiliary group from the city where the university was to assist the children. These ladies knew with whom each child lived, their teachers names, their grades, and what clothes size they wore, so this was a huge help for us. As you can see in the picture below, on this day we were able to give the children some new warm coats and hats. It was so cold this day, one child refused to put their new coat on, because they had already warmed up their old coat!
The horrific fire took place several years ago, and Global Partners in Life has continued supporting orphans in the area!