Wang Yuanyuan JIN FUZHONG of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, lives with his wife, son, parents, a sister, AND 27 adoptive children. When people tell him what a great person he is to adopt 27 children, the 48-year-old Jin disagrees. “They are all my children and I have simply done what any father would do,” he said. Living in a four-story house in Dongyouxin Village, Jin’s family is thought of as one of the happiest in the area. “There is laughter and music coming from that house all the time,” said Wang Zong, a neighbor. “It is hard to believe that these children were once poor and living in an orphanage The children have even established a band conducted by Jin who is a professional oboist for the Shenyang Opera Troupe, to perform at social welfare centers and community centers. “They are amazingly talented,” Jin said. “I hope all of my children can have a good education and the skills to be valuable members of society.” A big family Jin has always loved children. After graduating from university in 1986, he founded go chess classes and kindergartens to educate children in his spare time. He found himself at the Shenyang Social Welfare Center more than 10 years ago, where he met the orphans for the first time. “I felt sorry for them and thought they deserved a better life, so I started volunteering there every week,” he said. The more voluntary work he did, the closer he felt to the children, so he decided to offer financial support to four of the children, and would bring them to his home on weekends and holidays. “My whole family loved them, so whenever they came over, the entire bunch of us would spend time together,” Jin said. “But as time went by, I wanted to see them more often and increase the number of orphans I would help, so I talked to my wife about adopting them.” After being initially reluctant, his wife and family eventually agreed. “My parents and my younger sisters even said they were willing to cook and do the housework for the children,” Jin said. In 2003, Jin took in his first six children and the number has increased year by year. As of last year, they had taken in 36 children in total, including several orphans from Wenchuan, Sichuan Province, who stayed with them temporarily after the earthquake. “It was a big family,” he said. “At dinner time we need four tables, and the three washing machines are on all day long.” The number of children and the diversity of their backgrounds, however, make them a considerable handful. These children were abandoned by their parents when they were born. “To them, if their parents could not be trusted, then nobody could,” Jin said. Opening their hearts Because they are haunted by these thoughts, orphans tend to be defensive and standoffish. They can pay lip service to society’s norms, yet are seldom able to connect with other people. “And the bigger ones often bully the little ones,” he said. “There is always a danger of cliques forming.” Jin also found that these children were more mature than those from normal families. “They were watching you all the time to see if you really loved them and saw them as one of your own,” he said. This had bothered Jin. “I want them to see me as a father and I want them to become emotionally healthy,” he said. After thinking long and hard about it, and discussing it with his family, Jin decided to treat them exactly the same as he treated his 5-year-old son. “We had 15 people in the family when we decided to live and eat together,” he recalled. “Nobody would be given special treatment. If I learned about any bullying, I would discipline the perpetrators, like a real father.” Gradually, the children’s skepticism towards Jin melted. “They realized that they were just as important to me as my own son,” he said. Raising rounded people Jin has also found that these children have an exceptional hunger for knowledge. “They know that only education can give them a future, so they excel,” Jin said. “I raised these children not just because they had no parents. In today’s society, with so many generous people, welfare centers and government support, it is not a burden to bring them up. So what we do here is give them the best education we can and develop them into respectable adults,” Jin said. They study all night with Jin’s sister providing home tuition. “No matter how busy I am, I check their homework every night, letting them know the importance of studying,” she said. Meanwhile, Jin also helps them pursue whichever recreational activities they are drawn to. “Some of them are very musical, so I help them play to this strength and pursue their dream,” he said. Between them, the children study piano, oboe, violin, saxophone, drums, singing and dancing. “My colleagues were all eager to help and have never charged money for teaching them. The children are all good students, and some even want to become professional musicians,” he said. Contributing to orphan education They have now become a big and happy family, after much hard work. “They have changed a lot,” Jin said. “They have all become more outgoing and gregarious.” The children are all at Santaizi No. 5 Primary School in Huanggu District. The school opened a “green path” to them and provided the best teachers available. “They are all exemplary students who make the school proud. Other students like them very much and the school has also become a big family because of them,” said Song Shujun, a teacher at the school. Jin is not a rich man, but has never considered abandoning the children. “We have not indulged in any retail therapy for more than three years, but it has been worth it,” he said. Jin said his brother would retire soon and open a restaurant in the neighboring area. “Most of the income made from the restaurant would be spent on the children,” he said. Jin often considered himself a pioneer in the field of charity for orphans. “I often read newspaper stories about beggars who raise 100 orphans through collecting garbage. I don’t think this can provide stability to the orphans. What would they do if they grow up without an education?” he said. Jin hoped the society would focus more on orphans’ education, including psychological health. “That’s what I want to do next to promote a better life for orphans in the future,” he said. ? “So what we do here is give them the best education we can and develop them into respectable adults.” — Jin Fuzhong, a father of 28 children. | 