In my previous blog, I told about Global Partners in Life purchasing a van for the special needs orphans we support in China. Well, there is more to the story than what was shared in the first blog. We wired $25,000 to the orphanage, and on the day we went shopping for the van, the manager of the orphanage asked me if I had room in my fanny pack for her bag. I told her that my camera was in there, but I still had a little room, why did she want to know? She replied that she had gotten all of the money we wired her in cash, and she didn’t want to walk around with that in a plastic bag. Needless to say, I made room in my fanny pack for the cash!
As I mentioned in the first blog, I was surprised to learn that you don’t get to test drive a vehicle in China. They feel that if there is an accident, they could potentially no longer be able to sell the vehicle.
Another surprise I had that day was to learn how the insurance industry works for vehicles. I was so thankful that we were able to purchase the vehicle for a low enough price that we still had funds left for insurance, gas, and maintenance. I asked the manager of the orphanage if she had called her insurance company, and she said no. You have to drive the new vehicle to the insurance company to get it insured. I asked if I understood this correctly; the insurance company wants you to drive the new uninsured vehicle to them to get it insured? She said yes.
As I mentioned in the initial blog, the saleslady was very kind. She had to make several trips to the sales manager’s office as we negotiated the deal. To her credit, she knew this DVD player was going to be for the orphans, so she paid for it herself! I am very touched by her kind heart and generosity, and her picture is below.
