Visiting the Chinese AIDS orphans
July 1-5, 2009

In the 1990s, illegal blood collectors went into rural areas in Henan province to recruit people to donate blood in exchange for cash. The people in these areas were mostly farmers, scratching out a living by growing crops on their land (usually about a half acre). Obtaining cash in exchange for donating blood was an attractive way of supplementing their income. Unfortunately, the equipment used was not sterile, but had been contaminated with the HIV virus. As a result, many of the farmers developed AIDS and died, leaving behind orphaned children. The orphans are being raised by grandparents or other relatives, who are just as poor. In addition to being a tragedy for the children, this is also a tragedy for the grandparents. In China it is customary for the elderly to live with their adult children and take care of their grandchildren during the day while the children's parents are at work. Now these grandparents have to both take care of their grandchildren on a full-time basis and continue to work in order to support themselves and their grandchildren. There are about 2,000 AIDS orphans in Henan province.

The Amity Foundation, in a partnership with local churches and charity organizations in Henan province, has been working with the AIDS orphans to provide support and assistance. Judy Sutterlin, as the American Baptist liaison to the Amity Foundation, has been administering donations from American Baptist sources for the support of these orphans. Our church has sponsored two orphans for the last few years, and the flute concert organized by Linda Mintener has supported many more orphans. Judy visits with the orphans each year to keep abreast of their situation, make sure they are doing well in school, and provide emotional support to the orphans and the grandparents. This summer, Linda, Bob Jones, Nancy, Sandy Neundorfer (a friend of Linda and Bob who will also be teaching in the Summer English Program) and I accompanied Judy on one of these visits. In a three day period we visited 32 orphans supported from American Baptist sources, including our church. In addition to Judy, we were accompanied on these visits by  three staff members from the main office of the Amity Foundation in Nanjing and several local Amity partners, who meet with the orphans more frequently.

I invite you to follow the links below to meet the two orphans supported by our church and one sponsored by Nancy. Since the Internet is a public media, to preserve the orphans' privacy the Amity Foundation requires that we identify the children only by their nicknames, not their real names, and obscure the eyes in photos of the orphans.

Jingjing      Shushu     Shanshan    A quick impression of rural village life

A grant from ABC has been supporting about 70 orphans, but funds to continue their support is becoming harder to obtain because of the financial problems facing our denomination. If you would like to help these children, a good way to do it is to become a sponsor. Judy and the Amity Foundation will link you with a particular orphan with whom you can correspond if you choose to do so. Amity will also provide reports to sponsors on how the child is doing in school. The cost of sponsoring an orphan (at current exchange rates) is $220 per year for children up through the ninth grade, and $440 per year for children in senior high school (grades 10 to 12); their expenses are higher since their schools are farther away so they have to live at the school. The money is used to pay school expenses for the orphans, help pay for clothing and food, and other expenses. You can be assured that 100% of your money is used to support the child; administrative costs are covered by other funds. For the cost of a couple of evenings out (dinner at a nice restaurant and a concert at the Overture Center, for example), you can make a major difference in the life of an orphaned child in China. Without Amity support there is more pressure (self-imposed as well as from relatives) on these orphans to drop out of school and go to work to help support the family. If you would like further information about sponsoring an orphan, please contact Linda, Nancy, or me.