Sancha Village: A Special Place in China
My jeep bounced along some thirty minutes outside of Datong, Shanxi, once a bleak town enveloped in coal dust, but now a modern city tourist destination with its magnificent Buddhist Yungang caves and even an interstate connecting it with Beijing. However, close by are pockets of living in a different age. There, deep cracks pierce the earth leaving not much flat land. Only a bit of corn and potatoes can thrive in this rugged environment.
In 2005, I was headed toward Sancha Village with a group of doctors and nurses. I, too, donned a nurse’s cap and gown. This mission was to give brief care to orphans, many of them severely disabled, in this “Foster Family Village.” As we approached I glanced as this infertile land and its deep ravines. At one point the road seems cut right into the yellow earth with high mud walls on each side of the road. Sancha Village is the same beige color. Except for the one-story brick-constructed school, all buildings are made of sun-baked mud. Until recently, not much has changed in its 300-year history.
We were welcomed by the village headman and officials of the Datong Social Services Bureau. These individuals are a warm and forthright group who are determined to make decent lives for some very unfortunate children. The balance of population tells the story. Sancha Village has a population of 700 persons and 270 orphans. Forty years ago villagers began accepting abandoned children into their homes. In the earlier days, girls were prevalent orphans, but now the physically or mentally disabled make up a large proportion of those babies being abandoned. Here, foster parents receive a small stipend from the government, but what they give cannot be bought. What I saw on the faces of these foster parents was a deep love for the children under their care.
Foster mothers gathered with their charges on the bit of flat land in front of the school. It was the monthly visit by the doctor from Beijing. Each Mom was eager to talk to the doctor and nurses about their concerns with those in their care. A classroom was emptied and instantly transformed into a clinic. Desks became makeshift tables. One after another I heard the medical history of each child. There were the problems of swallowing for those with cleft palate, there was the inertia of the child with down’s syndrome, one boy had a large tumor on the back of his head, another had partial paralysis. The doctor listened carefully and the foster mothers gratefully accepted the administered medicines. The mothers will continue to care for these children until they reach 15 years of age and are transferred to the orphanage system of Datong. In China, disabled children are not allowed to be put up for adoption. They are wards of the state. In fact, all orphans in China have a special designation. They carry the last name of Dang. Dang refers to the Communist Party, thus, they are children of the Party.
In one farmhouse Mrs. Yang was sitting on the kang. Her own children are grown and have left the village. But standing beside her was a young girl who looked about five years old. She actually was ten. Cuddled in Mrs. Yang’s arms was a boy aged five, who appeared as an infant. Another child, bundled up in the tight wraps of a newborn, had just joined the family. Raising even one of these children would be a challenge, but Mrs. Yang has a special ability to love and give her all for these precious lives.
In August of 2006, I returned to Sancha Village to attend the opening of the Center for Orphan Care in Sancha Village, built with a grant from the Japanese government under the Grass Roots Program. A two-story brick building, this new facility has a large rehabilitation room, a doctor’s examination office, a library and offices for the villager leaders. Ceremonies included performances by all age groups of Sancha children. One girl sang an opera. An albino boy belted out a rock song with his guitar. Dance routines went from folk renditions to disco. Despite the dismal landscape and the challenges faced by everyone of the village, there was such euphoria and energy reverberating on the open space in front of the new center. Painted on a wall by the entrance was a mural of the Great Wall and Mt. Fuji. Fittingly, these symbols of China and Japan are connected by a line of children with the words, “Give one’s all for children; for children are everything!” Sancha Village has increased its well deserved self-esteem by being part of this global partnership.
I returned to this village again in 2010 and saw the progress in the village and home environment. As I said above, when the children reach their mid-teenage years they then move to the orphanage in Datong from where they can attend junior and senior high school.I have also stayed at that orphanage three times and was impressed that some of their wards have even gone on to specialized schools or university and come back to help the orphanage or Sancha village.
What is for certain is that the strong and dedicated mothers of Sancha Village are a powerful symbol for humanity.
