I don't know what to do.

[Satyagraha]

I have been a member of this forum for a bit but I believe I have only posted once. Anyway, for the semester of 2005, I went to study in Hangzhou, China. I'm originally from the United States, although I was born in Canada. The first city I saw in China was Shanghai, so I was overwhelmed by the loads of cars, bikes, and signs. But gradually, when I arrived in Hangzhou, I grew to love this city. The poverty in China is like the poverty anywhere, though; disturbing. Less than halfway into my semester studying there, I wanted a break from the classmates I came to China with (7 of us came from the same school), so I took a bus into downtown Hangzhou by myself. I ended up in an extremely wealthy shopping area. I was looking for a place to sit down, drink some tea, and study, when a little girl dressed in layers of worn clothes came up to me crying. It was a very cold night and it was obvious she was a begger. I speak really poor Chinese, so it was hard to understand everything that she was saying, but it was obvious that whatever family she had made her go out and beg for money because they had nothing. At first, I walked away -- I understood that shoppers kept telling me not to give her anything because she comes by every night. She looked to be 5 years old. I couldn't just walk by when I saw that she was hysterically crying. I tried to bring her in a cafe to have a meal with me, but the waitresses turned her away. I had to explain that she was with me (since I am a light-skinned Westerner, they didn't refuse us). She ate as if she hadn't eaten well in awhile and was amazed at the nice couch seats. She told me she was 7 years old and I was amazed, as she looked much younger. I figured she was malnourished. After the meal, she said she had to leave and ask more people for money. She ran out. That night, I could not forget that troubled face. I told my American friend about her when I got back to my dorm. I told her I was going to go back because I could not forget about that experience. The next night, I did go back and I found her in the same spot, but this time, she was with an older group of beggars. Of course, everyone came up to me asking me for money and then Yu Hua (the 7 y/o), recognized me and told what I later found out to be her aunt, that I was the girl that had ate dinner with her. To cut such a long story (as, really, if you talked to me about this, it would be an incredibly long story), I gradually got to know this family of beggars extremely well, especially Yu Hua, her aunt, and several of the kids of the bunch. I would take the bus every night to spend time with them, eat meals with them, and try and talk. People would always come by and tell me not to talk to these people and that they were trash. About a week into knowing them, Yu Hua and her aunt showed me their home. I was always curious about where they lived in this wealthy downtown area. They walked me across the street from shopping stores and a KFC (KFC's are extremely prevalent in China. Fast food services like KFC, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut are seen to be high class and western). On this side of the street was a wall decorated in a billboard type ad. Underneath the wall was a slab of concrete. There was a small hole above the concrete on one area of this sidewalk. They crawled through this hole and I followed. Behind these ads and behind what all of these wealthy shoppers walked by on a regular basis was a completely different scene; that of a half-torn building and trash literally everywhere. The building could not even be considered half-torn due to its construction. There were beggars strewn through out this construction and Yu Hua showed me where she slept. There was trash inside her little cove, too. My heart broke in half. I met up with them at this spot several times, though.

I was worried about getting this family into trouble, which did happen once. I met up with Yu Hua, her aunt, and an even younger child named Shuo Hua. We talked for awhile outside as they were begging and a young man came up to me and asked me why I was talking to them. I told him that they were friends of mine. I asked the aunt if I could buy the kids hats because it was extremely cold out and she said that would be fine. We walked to a cheaper area to buy hats and mittens and I did not realize until we walked out of the hat store that the man had followed us the whole time. The kids were looking at mittens and the next thing we knew, police arrived in the area, grabbing the mittens from the kids. Shuo Hua was crying and grabbed at my coat as the police pulled me away from the kids. Because he wasn't cooperating, they brought him to the police office. I was extremely concerned. I asked Yu Hua's aunt why they did that and she said that they assume that they are making me do something wrong. They do not like Westerners to see such poverty and don't agree with people intervening. I went with her to the police station and tried to explain that I was their friend. I had to pay 200 Yuan and Shuo Hua was let out. It was a crazy night which made me realize I must be very careful. The next day, I noticed that the hole which they crawl inside was being closed up by cement. There is another entrance way which one can use to get inside, but it takes much longer to get through as you have to walk all the way around an area of stores. I became paranoid that they were doing this because of the event. After these two things, however, nothing happened and the hole was eventually created again.

I continued to see my family of friends everyday. They were beautiful people. Eventually, though, I had to leave. My semester was finished. On the last day, Yu Hua could not even talk to me. She was very upset with me for leaving. I felt horrible. One of the kids would not even say anything to me because they felt as if I was abandoning them.

I want to know what I should do. I can’t just forget about these people. I talked to one of my friends that went to China with me and she basically told me I had done enough. I can’t stop thinking about these people. I am planning on going back to Hangzhou in the fall and I will definitely see them again. I would do anything I could—I would bring Yu Hua back to the States, because I know this is what they want (her and her aunt both told me this), but I don’t even know how that would work. I would adopt her if I could, but I don’t know how that would work. I don’t know anything about this system and I have tried to look several things up, but I was unsuccessful. All that I found was adoption information that pertained to adopting from orphanages. Any information that you have, or suggestions, would be greatly appreciated. I appreciate any open minds because most of the people that I went to Hangzhou with from my university seemed to think I was crazy.

[mscommieparty]

What would I do?

I would try to raise public awareness, maybe contact an organization that would actually care in this country(hard to find now though), and try to raise money to make the trip back, and possibly even stay for quite a bit!

If these are not exactly options, then the best thing you can do (I know it sounds like it doesn't help) is to do something for the poverty-stricken people that you live closer to.

[Guest]

You are a good writer.

I think you probably realize as much as I do that there`s not one-stop solution.:P Since you came onto this forum maybe you also see capitalism as at least one of the contributors to this problem.

That family could be productive workers, but because of the profit motive, they`re an unemployed reserve army of labour. When in actuality, the country`s production would increase to have them working. OR they may have found that begging pays more than a sweatshop job. So yes, I don`t think it is silly at all to say that the underlying problem is capitalism. In China it may be more of an issue of imperialism (Like you said, KFC, McDonalds, ect, taking profits).

I think instead of joining oxfam groups or other band-aid charities, you should work on fixing the root problem. I am not about to pour cold water on these charities, and if you win reforms while fighting, that is also really great.
But change won`t come easy, and many charities present a facade that it will by telling you how many children you`ve feed, or how many goats you`ve bot, but really, that`s small beans and won`t get us anywhere in the long-run.

Solidarity with these countries is crucial. The reason they are living in those standards is the same as why we`re working at a shitty minimum wage mcjobs. Many revolutionary parties have a detailed plan of how to combat this cancer called imperialism.
So join us! Join a party, united front, coalition, or whatever. Just some organization with their eye on the real trophy.

[piet11111]

Satyagraha first of all thank you for sharing your story here.
i would try to get information from international agency's especially if they are united nations funded.

explain your situation and that you want to adopt Yu Hua even if they are not really relevant to adoption situations they will probably try to help you find the right agency's.
you could also contact the poeple's republic of china's embassy near you and if they give you a hard time just say that you are considering writting an article about this for the local newspaper (the media are a real pain in their ass so this is a good stick to beat them with)

also consider contacting the immigration services for information and possibility's.

and again the media are suckers for story's like this use them to your advantage as much as possible.

please keep us informed about your progress.