On March 26, 2003, four girls of different nationalities made a special trip to Beijing, and went straight to the Tongzhou District Care Center where they had volunteered to work with disabled orphans.
Sunny Lee Yang, Karine Teon, Ashwini Rao and Arisa Iizuka are from the USA, France, India and Japan respectively. They are all students at the Singapore International School. In February this year, they saw a report on the Tongzhou District Care Center on CCTV's "China Reports." They were all so deeply moved by the backgrounds of the members of this special "family," that all four girls decided to cancel their social practice in Vietnam and come to China instead, with stationery, toys and other goodies for the children.
The Tongzhou District Care Center is a non-government welfare organization. It is home to four mentally and physically challenged orphans. The youngest of these is just two and a half years old, and needs special care. Director Chang Meng is the matriarch of this "special family," whom the children call mama. The four girls were deeply touched by the stories Chang Meng told them about the children, and determined to do their utmost to help.
Although the internship period was just one week, their time with this special family made a deep impression on the girls. In their own words, "This trip to China has been memorable, especially these days spent with the children."
As Sunny Lee Yang knows more Chinese than her classmates, she was their leader. Every morning, she assigned work to the other girls after consultation with Chang Meng. The four girls then exceled themselves chopping vegetables, washing dishes, cooking and sweeping, doing everything they could to help the children.
(China Today June 3, 2003)
