Hope for the Hopeless

To whom much is given, much is required.

This notion is in the Bible (Luke 12, I looked it up!), and often quoted.  It’s an ideal I try my best to live by — some weeks I do a better job of it than others.

A few weekends ago, I thought I would try to have an ‘on week’; so I joined our church for their weekly trip to an orphanage.    A few hours holding babies, playing with kids, and I could check ‘giving back’ off my list, right?

You guessed it – I was wrong.

The trip was much more than I ever expected-  more taxing, more impactful, longer, sadder – it consumed me for days afterwards.

Let me describe the journey.

About 20 of us started out at 8:00 Saturday morning.  The group, as diverse as the church itself, included individuals from China, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Russia and the US. After about a 1.5 hour ride, we arrived at a huge brick building, with several wings and about six floors.  It reminded me of an old hospital.

We got off the bus and were greeted by a little boy, Patrick, who had a mild disability, Down’s Syndrome if I had to guess.   Patrick was thrilled to see us!  Yup, I thought, can’t wait to hold those babies and play with these kids!

Upstairs,  there was a large, multi-purpose room connected to two other smaller rooms.  The larger room had metal cribs lined along the walls for babies, while the two connected rooms had beds for older children and a few additional cribs.  The room smelled of bleach, so things were clean – a good sign! The ladies who worked at the orphanage were attentive, doing their best to care for approximately 30 children, most of whom had some sort of physical or mental disability.

As the morning marched on, however, I began to see past the freshly washed floor. The kids were much older than they appeared – likely the result of food without enough nutrients.  Without the toys we brought – which were cleaned up when we left – there was nothing around to stimulate their thinking, just blank walls and empty space.  Most of the kids, regardless of age, wore some sort of cloth diaper to protect from accidents.  It was difficult to tell which kids were boys and which were girls, since haircuts and clothing was doled out universally.  I asked about school – did the kids go?  Probably not – the schools are not equipped to handle the children.  It was beginning to be a heavy day. By 11:15, I was ready to go.

After a quick lunch and a trip to the ‘squatty potty’, it was time to visit the elderly.  I didn’t even know this was part of the deal, and I was mentally exhausted after leaving the children.  But, I put on my big girl face, this was no time to wimp out.

With a keener sense of what I would see, I recognized the blank stares of the nursing home residents right away.  Again, the staff met all the patient’s basic physical needs, but it seemed like that was all they were able to do. Patients slept five to a room, with only a bed to claim as their own.  No pictures, no games, no books, nothing else was in their room.  Outside the rooms were open air hallways, and locked metal gates at the end, presumably to prevent an escape.  And, when I looked closer, I realized these were not just older people, but young people, even a boy as young as about 8, were mixed into this facility. We prayed for some of the residents, and sang some simple Christian songs in Chinese and English to bring a little smile to their faces.   I had to sing to stop my tears that were flowing inside.

On the car trip home, I tried to figure out why I was so distressed by what I had experienced, other than the obvious.  I had volunteered in dire places before, why did this one seem so different?

Then it hit me – It wasn’t that the facility was dirty, the residents  and children were clean, they had a place to lay their heads and they had food.  It was simple; what was missing from the facility was simple – hope.  There was no hope for a what a new day might bring.  No hope for a new milestone met.  No hope for a visit from a family member.  Only mere existence.

So, I have a renewed determination to live out this motto I value …  to whom much is given, much is required…even when giving is one of the hardest things I’ve done.

PS – we weren’t allowed to take pictures at the facility, so no pictures of this adventure.  But check out the ‘squatty potty’ as we affectionately call many of the public restrooms here in China.