Bringing Gift of Life to Henan
By Jill Ji
Visit from March 28 to April 3, 2007

House of the Leng family	Use of empty industrial plastic bags to create a wall to divide the living room and bedroom

In many villages in China, it is typical that the mother will leave her children with their grandparents and remarry when the husband passed away. These women often felt that they cannot support the children on their own or wants to lead a better life since they are still young.

We are about to tell you a story of an admirable mother living in one of the villages in Henan province, who did not do that. Instead, she stays behind and is now supporting the children of her relatives as well. In total, she needs to support 7 children!

The whole family (7 children and 1 adult) squeezes in a 12 sq.m. bedroom comprising of only 3 beds!

The Leng family has 3 children, a son and 2 daughters. 16-year old Leng Yan (冷艳) is the eldest. She is an intelligent girl and has always done well in school. She has a younger sister, 11-year old Leng Xiao Yan (冷小艳) and a little brother, 9-year old Leng Bei Bei (冷北北). Their father had passed away due to AIDS. Mrs Leng's father-in-law is also found to be HIV positive and is living by himself.

Mrs Leng is taking care of the 2 nieces and 1 nephew of her brother-in-law (ages 9 to 16 years old) as well since the couple had also passed away due to AIDS. The youngest, Leng Shen Zhen (冷深圳) has been detected to have heart disease.

Her sister's son, 14-year old Zhang Dong Dong (张东东) is also under her care since her sister and brother-in-law committed suicide.

In an effort to help this family, Huaqiao Foundation sponsored Leng Shen Zhen for a open heart surgery at the Suzhou Kowloon Hospital under its Gift of Life Project. The operation was done on 6 April 2007 and was a successful one!

The children's little study corner	Citations that were awarded to Leng Shen Zhan and Leng Yan for their good academic results.

Reported by:
Jill Ji
HuaQiao Foundation
www.huaqiaofoundation.org

Tel: (8621) 3209- 5514
Fax: (8621) 3209- 1534
Email: hellojihui@gmail.com

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