Since our last web site update we have had several birthdays. Clockwise starting top left we have Henry He Long Qiang with roomates Hank (on the left) and Jerry; Julie Zhang Yan Yan (now nineteen and entering college this year); Seth Yang Xiao Ke; Michael Yang Wen Bo; Lydia Kang Lin Lin in the center with roomates (left to right) Rena, Heidi, Linda and Gail; Tim Tian Zheng Tu; Logan Zhang Xin Zhuan (also nineteen) and in the center of the group is a picture taken at Paul Yao You Bin’s birthday (Paul is on the left) shown with Nathan and Jim Yang Jin Duo. Nathan is telling Paul that Paul is now taller than Nathan is. How well we remember the first day we ever saw Paul. He barely came above Nathan’s waist back then! My how time flies!

Summer Work – For Pay!

Some of the older children, Sam, Hank, Julie, Holly and Tim asked Yie Yie (Nathan) if they could find a job during the summer this year. They said they were old enough now and really wanted to earn some money during the summer.
We try to paint the interior of the dorm building and the other buildings if possible each summer as by the end of winter the walls are showing the effects of having fifty plus children living there.

We told the children they could work right here if they wanted to, painting the inside of the buildings and they all jumped at the chance! It is almost finished as of this writing and it looks really good!

On the left is Julie Zhang Yan Yan. She is studying art in school so she was elected to do all the detail work. The taping of the windows and doors… door knobs… light switches and plugs then paint the places that took a lot of care so as not to get paint all over the adjacent items. She did a great job!

On the right is our “Handy Man” Tim Tian Zheng Tu… actually that is just what we call him. He follows Nathan around anytime he is not in school and even though he is still in middle school he can weld, do plumbing, fix minor electrical problems and much more. Between Nathan and Hai Tao (our true maintenance man) Tim is learning all he can and says he wants to stay at the Home of Hope when he finished High School and be the General Maintenance man for all the different Home of Hope’s in China.

In the back ground is Sam who graduated from High School this year and is preparing to enter college in the fall.

We painted the downstairs (the boy’s section of the dorm) an eggshell white with a 1 1/2 meter high band in baby blue at the bottom.

Upstairs, which is the girl’s section and also the nursery area, we used the same egg shell white with a very, very light pink band on the bottom.

To the left is Hank Cao Hai Kui who also graduated from high school this year and he too is preparing to enter college this fall.

Both Hank and Sam speak excellent English and so it was very easy for Nathan to give them detailed instructions on how he wanted everything done!

We felt this to be a great thing. We would have had to pay a contractor to come in and do the work as we normally do every year but this year the children who are working on this project earn their own money, are learning about having a work ethic and are helping to improve their own home!

On the right is Hai Tao our general, all purpose, all around…. EVERYTHING! He is our driver, driving the children to the doctor and other places as necessary; driving the house mothers to take the babies to the hospital; going out and negotiating good prices and buying many of the necessary things to keep a place like the Home of Hope operating on a daily basis and when not doing that he teaches the boys and does general maintenance work…

The neatest thing about Hai Tao is just what you see! That perpetual smile! He has been with us for over four years now and we have to say we really can’t remember a single time when he was not smiling!

“June” truly did manage to get some of the birthday cake in her mouth. But as is traditionally custom here in China some of the cake has to be put on your friend’s and relative’s face. A birthday party is to be a time of fun and happiness and a minor cake fight is all part of the fun. On occasion they even catch “Yie Yie” (Grandpa Nathan) and get some cake smeared on his face as well.

“Rena” decided to hide behind a flower or planter to eat her piece of Birthday Cake. I don’t think it did much good because I seem to remember a short time after I took this picture she came up to me and showed me her face covered with pink, yellow and blue icing. It is amazing to see how these children have grown in stature and character during the time they have been here. “Rena” and her brother “Bryan” are a joy to have around with their mischievous yet tender hearted personalities. Always good for a laugh yet always ready to lend a helping hand when needed.

On the left, “Joey”, “Gail“, “Heidi” and “Rena” all wait for big brother “Seth” to give them their piece of his birthday cake. You can almost see in Joey’s eyes that he is planning on the exact spot where his piece of cake is going to land on “Seth”! Of course you have the two little ladies “Gail” and “Heidi” who simply won’t do those kind of things. That just isn’t lady like! But most of the children with a small exception of a few, do get into the “cake mess” as I call it.

“Luke” and “Michael” sure don’t have any problems with eating all of their cake. Both of them wanted second helpings so they weren’t about to waste their cake by putting it on another person’s face… Michael seems to be saying “It tastes just fine on my own face.. and that’s where I want all of it!” They are both in kindergarten now and doing very well in their preschool courses.

November Birthdays

At the beginning of November we started something new at the Home of Hope. Every Sunday night we celebrate all the birthdays for the previous week. This month we had several. Glen and Esther both share the same birthday of November 21st. They had a beautiful cake and each of them received a nice card signed by all their brothers and sisters in the Home of Hope. YeYe (Grandpa [Nathan Bell]) is the last to sign the card and the children can’t wait to find someone to translate the words that YeYe writes on the card.

Little Ruthie Xiong Shan had her first birthday and was a little confused about all the “goings on.” Some very special friends in the United States who have developed a real love for Ruthie sent her some awesome birthday gifts.

She doesn’t like the flash on the camera and the digital camera we use has a pre flash that is designed to take the red out of people’s eyes caused by the flash. This always alerts Ruthie that a flash is about to take place and she closes her eyes and turns her head making it so difficult to get a good picture. We got lucky here.

June’s Birthday was on November 9th. This was the first time she had ever had a cake made in her honor and she was so happy. You can see the big smile on her face as she cuts pieces of cake for all the other children in the Home of Hope.

One of the traditions in China is to have a cake fight after the preliminaries are over. They did it on June’s Birthday.. later she was covered with pink and white creamed icing!

This was also Jerry and Hazel‘s birthday. Jerry’s birthday is on November 4th and Hazel’s birthday is also on November 4th. We checked and double checked the personal information cards of these children this month as it is really coincidental that two pairs of children have birthdays on the same day in the same month. It is such a joy to observe the difference in these children from a little over a year ago when they came to us the first time.

Other Events

Remembering the difficulties of last winter… the days without electricity and because we heated with electricity… no heat.. we decided to install a coal fired boiler system to heat the facilities for the Home of Hope.

The boiler was delivered in early November and has made such a difference. The coal will be a substantial cost savings over the electric and that savings will more than cover the expense of installing the unit. A big “Thank You” to all of you who contributed to make this system a reality.

Above is Roland Ashby, director of Strategic Alliance, and an eighty plus year old lady. If you look real close you can see her feet were bound as a child.

On November 28th some dear friends of the Home of Hope arrived in Gongyi, China all the way from San Antonio, Texas. They brought gifts to the children and more importantly A LOT OF LOVE!.

The group had lunch with the children and said they really enjoyed it. The fare was Chinese dumplings and Hot and Sour Soup. The children love to watch the foreigners try to eat with the chopsticks. They often think it is the first time they have ever tried it.

There were a lot of pictures taken during this visit but we really liked this one. It is probably the first time anyone ever just sat down, laid back and rested in the three wheel cart the Home of Hope staff uses to go to the market every day to buy groceries.

November also saw the calendar move around and all the children were given preventative injections as suggested by the Chinese Medical Association here in Gongyi. The service was provided free by the Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Gongyi that we have developed a good relationship with.