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Reflections on a Wandering Life.....
Thursday, June 24, 2004
I saw an interesting news bit in the China Daily the other day that caught my attention:
------------------------------
Family lives off 'beggar's' earnings
A 14-year-old girl, who was found in Qiqihar of Heilongjiang Province, has earned so much money through begging that her family had built a new house and does not need to farm anymore, Life Daily reports.
The girl from Shancheng of Henan Province claimed that she was from Shandong Province, her parents had passed away and she had no money to go back to her hometown. Many people donated money to help her return home.
But she aroused suspicion when she refused police help, when officers offered to assist her to return to Shandong Province.
She was later identified by police as coming from Henan, where here parents are living comfortably thanks to the money sent by their daughter.
--------------------------------
I have always been a little uncomfortable giving money to child beggars, because it is widely recognized that often they are controlled by unprincipled adults. "Bad men," as people in China put it. In the case of this young girl, the "bad men" were her parents. Pretty pathetic. So how do you know? How does one decide whether or not to give money to a beggar? I don't know.
A couple weeks ago, I was riding my bike late at night, and I heard a soft voice calling my name. I looked to the side of the road, and to my amazement, there was Lucky Bird. She had what looked to be her entire household wrapped in a bundle on the back of her bike. Of course, I asked her what was wrong. She told me that she had just been fired from her job. I was surprised by this, because I always felt that she was a good waitress, and her English was very good. I asked her what she was going to do, and she said, "I am going to stay with a foreigner. He is coming to pick me up now." I said, "Who is this foreigner?" She said that she didn't really know him. I told her I was uncomfortable with this. She started crying. "I have nowhere to go." Lucky Bird was not so lucky.
Talking to her, I got the gist of the story. She said that before she came to Beijing, the restaurant had promised her a place to live, but once she got here, the restaurant somehow never got around to providing a place for her. This affected her performance. She told me her monthly pay was 600RMB (about $75US). That is definitely not enough to live on in Beijing if you have to provide your own housing. I asked Lucky if I could pray for her. As soon as I was finished, the foreigner showed up. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but I still felt very badly about the whole situation. I went to the restaurant later and talked to her manager, but she was pretty tight-lipped about it.
It's frustrating to be in a position where you have a lot of questions and no answers. The problem of poverty in China, and the widening gap between rich and poor is overwhelming. But I remain confident that something can be done about it. China is loosening up the regulations on the establishment of NGOs. I am more and more confident that I may soon have a chance to do something about this monstrous problem.
------------------------------
Family lives off 'beggar's' earnings
A 14-year-old girl, who was found in Qiqihar of Heilongjiang Province, has earned so much money through begging that her family had built a new house and does not need to farm anymore, Life Daily reports.
The girl from Shancheng of Henan Province claimed that she was from Shandong Province, her parents had passed away and she had no money to go back to her hometown. Many people donated money to help her return home.
But she aroused suspicion when she refused police help, when officers offered to assist her to return to Shandong Province.
She was later identified by police as coming from Henan, where here parents are living comfortably thanks to the money sent by their daughter.
--------------------------------
I have always been a little uncomfortable giving money to child beggars, because it is widely recognized that often they are controlled by unprincipled adults. "Bad men," as people in China put it. In the case of this young girl, the "bad men" were her parents. Pretty pathetic. So how do you know? How does one decide whether or not to give money to a beggar? I don't know.
A couple weeks ago, I was riding my bike late at night, and I heard a soft voice calling my name. I looked to the side of the road, and to my amazement, there was Lucky Bird. She had what looked to be her entire household wrapped in a bundle on the back of her bike. Of course, I asked her what was wrong. She told me that she had just been fired from her job. I was surprised by this, because I always felt that she was a good waitress, and her English was very good. I asked her what she was going to do, and she said, "I am going to stay with a foreigner. He is coming to pick me up now." I said, "Who is this foreigner?" She said that she didn't really know him. I told her I was uncomfortable with this. She started crying. "I have nowhere to go." Lucky Bird was not so lucky.
Talking to her, I got the gist of the story. She said that before she came to Beijing, the restaurant had promised her a place to live, but once she got here, the restaurant somehow never got around to providing a place for her. This affected her performance. She told me her monthly pay was 600RMB (about $75US). That is definitely not enough to live on in Beijing if you have to provide your own housing. I asked Lucky if I could pray for her. As soon as I was finished, the foreigner showed up. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but I still felt very badly about the whole situation. I went to the restaurant later and talked to her manager, but she was pretty tight-lipped about it.
It's frustrating to be in a position where you have a lot of questions and no answers. The problem of poverty in China, and the widening gap between rich and poor is overwhelming. But I remain confident that something can be done about it. China is loosening up the regulations on the establishment of NGOs. I am more and more confident that I may soon have a chance to do something about this monstrous problem.
