Dying for HelpNew Club will Help Improve Lives of Chinese Orphans |
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| If you’re an orphan in China, the odds of living a happy, productive life aren’t good.
Every year, thousands of Chinese children are abandoned because their parents can’t afford to care for them or because they are born into an enormous population forced to maintain a policy of one-child families. They are dropped into overcrowded, under-funded orphanages that can’t provide even the bare necessities for such a large number of children. For children born with disabilities—from cleft palates to life-threatening maladies— the odds are even longer. Harvard student Matt Dalio decided to improve their odds. After volunteering in a Chinese orphanage one summer, he founded China Care, a foundation that helps abandoned Chinese children find homes and medical care. He also inspired two Keuka College students—Stephanie Wendella and Caley Sharrat—to start a China Care club on campus last month. A junior occupational therapy major, Wendella first learned of the hardships facing Chinese orphans when she participated in the January 2004 Group Field Period to China led by Gary Smith, associate dean in the Center for Professional Studies and International Program and professor of management.
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“After learning about China Care, I e-mailed Matt Dalio and attended the China Care Club Conference in February at Harvard University,” explained Wendella. At that time, Harvard, Yale and Brown were the only schools with China Care clubs, but they are starting to spring up around the country, including Keuka Park. “The focus of our club is on raising funds for things such as medical care and renovations,” said Wendella, who said the club hopes to “work closely” with an orphanage in Beijing that Smith and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Gary Bonvillian visited earlier this year. “In addition to the club establishing a fund-raising connection to this |
orphanage, we are investigating the possibility of setting up Field Period opportunities at the orphanage,” said Smith. Wendella said the club boasts 25 members, including “lots of freshmen. Membership in the club is not limited to Keuka students. We encourage faculty, staff, and community residents, who have an interest in China or the desire to help save the life of a child, to get involved.” According to a Dec. 6, 2004 article in People magazine, China Care has helped 86 disabled children find families in the U.S., renovated three orphanages, placed some 90 children in Chinese foster homes, and paid for about 120 operations. |
Anna MinKeuka China Care Ready to Help Local
Family |
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| Keuka China Care’s first project will have a local flavor.
“Min, who has been an orphan since she was 10 days old, has a completely blocked ear canal and we won’t know the extent of her hearing loss until we get her home,” said Walt Pieschke. “She will also need plastic surgery to correct a cleft on her mouth and extra tissue on her ears.” |
“We pledged to Walt and his wife that we will raise money to help with the adoption and/or surgery once Anna arrives,” said Stephanie Wendella. “The China Care Foundation is also working to help provide the Pieschkes with financial aid.” Wendella never expected that the club would find a project so close to campus. “When I started this club, I was unsure of the community impact it would make,” said Wendella. “I never thought I’d meet a family willing to shell out about $20,000 to adopt a child from a foreign country. China Care has this concept called the red thread. Everything is connected with the red thread. And more and more, I understand that concept. It does appear everything is connected.” |
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Walt and Marilyn Pieschke of Penn Yan are in
the process of adopting Min Xi Sheng (Anna Min), a two-and-a-half-year-old
Chinese girl who lives in an orphanage outside Beijing. They hope
to bring her to the U.S. late this fall or next spring.