Chapter 16 Children's Welfare Home
Chapter 16 Children's Welfare Home
The matter of paying tribute to the gods and fulfilling a vow cannot be delayed any longer. Nearly twenty-four hours of the forty-eight-hour limit have already passed, and the time for handling formalities must also be deducted.
The most convenient place to adopt a child is naturally the Anglican Children's Home in Hong Kong Island, an orphanage founded by Anglican Bishop Ho Ming-wah in 1935.
The original intention was to adopt war orphans, and the home was built on Tai Po Road. Later, it developed into the largest child welfare institution in Hong Kong Island, with children's homes in all districts of Hong Kong, and office buildings in Wan Chai, Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui East.
After Yin Zhaotang told the front desk that he wanted to adopt a child, the volunteer lady immediately looked at him differently: "Mr. Yin, the adoption application needs to be approved by the Social Welfare Department. According to the regulations, the adopter must be over 30 years old, have a fixed residence, a legal job, and be in good financial condition. Married people are preferred."
"Mr. Yin is too young, and the Social Welfare Department may not approve it. If Mr. Yin is interested, he can make a charitable donation instead of adopting."
The volunteers at the Anglican Children's Home are basically Christians, and their service attitude is absolutely very good.
Yin Zhaotang followed the young lady on a tour of the children's home and saw that there were only thirty or so children living in a five-story, 2,000-foot building, and a large number of rooms were reserved as classrooms.
There is also a covered sports field and a small amusement park. The rules are well-organized and the facilities are complete. There is nothing wrong with it, but it looks a bit empty, and you will feel something is not right while walking around.
When Yin Zhaotang saw the children taking music lessons, he suddenly realized what was wrong: "Ms. Jiang, there should be enough accommodation in the Children's Home, why are there only thirty or so children?"
Miss Jiang smiled and replied without minding, "Mr. Yin, the Social Welfare Department has strict restrictions on non-governmental welfare organizations. There is a quota limit on how many children each children's home can adopt."
"The Anglican Welfare Department's children's home can only take in 40 children at most, and there are 20 emergency relief places to help children who have suffered domestic violence and abandonment."
“Although there are not many children that can be adopted from one child home to another, the Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Department already has 13 children’s homes on Hong Kong Island, making it the charity with the largest number of children’s homes.”
Yin Zhaotang nodded and saw the children learning to sing through the glass window. Their voices were innocent and romantic.
In the teacher's corner stood a wooden piano with peeling paint. A short, thin female teacher wearing a floral headband and a white long skirt was playing the "Ave Maria" in a lowered key.
"I really want to rescue a child, and it has to be a disabled child. This is very important to me. Is there any way to circumvent the regulations of the Welfare Bureau?" Yin Zhaotang asked.
Miss Jiang, a volunteer, looked at him in surprise: "Mr. Yin, do you want to adopt a disabled child?"
"Please wait a moment. I will call the parents of the children's home."
Yin Zhaotang soon saw a middle-aged foreigner in a priest's robe. The managers of the Anglican Children's Home were all clergymen. In Hong Kong Island's Christianity, Catholic clergymen have always played a very important role in all walks of life.
In the movie "Young and Dangerous", Pastor Lam's words of asking people to surround the crows are a reflection of life. The prototype of the crows is Chan Sin-chi, the leader of the famous child gang "Tsz Wan Shan Thirteen Tigers" of the Number Gang.
A man who got addicted to drugs while wandering around the world, successfully quit drugs at the Gospel Society, and finally successfully cleans himself up and becomes one of the top ten outstanding young people in Hong Kong Island.
It is also very simple to circumvent the supervision of the Social Welfare Department. As long as you register as a foster family of a children's home, you can bring the child back to raise, but you are not an adopter in the legal sense.
Caring families who assist the children's home must receive regular follow-up visits from the children's home, and the children's home has the right to take the children back at any time.
"Mr. Yin, may I ask why you chose to adopt a disabled child?" asked Reverend Edward of the Anglican Church.
Yin Zhaotang's face was cold and he simply responded: "There is no special reason, I just want to." "Understood, Mr. Yin." Pastor Edward smiled gently. He was afraid of touching the inner pain of the caring people and did not ask the reason.
When Miss Jiang saw the pastor nod, she took out a file of children to be adopted and handed it to Yin Zhaotang with both hands: "Mr. Yin, this is Jiahui's file, you can take a look first."
"You can meet her later. Jiahui is very well behaved."
Yin Zhaotang opened the information and found only a simple page with a seven-year-old girl named Rong Jiahui. Her expression was a bit rigid and she must have cried when taking the photo. It was easy to awaken empathy in people's hearts when they saw it.
As for appearance, they have chubby cheeks. For children, we can only tell how well they are nourished and whether their clothes fit them. It is hard to say that they are ugly. If they are dressed neatly, every one of them is very cute.
To be honest, Yin Zhaotang was blind to the child's face, and after seeing her photo, he forgot it in a blink of an eye. The only thing he remembered was that Rong Jiahui had a hearing impairment, so she should be considered a standard disabled child.
"But why only one page?"
Miss Jiang smiled bitterly: "Mr. Yin, it is easy to find that healthy children are abandoned. In fact, many disabled children will not be abandoned."
"It will be considered an 'accidental' death, and the police will not investigate it. In addition, the Anglican Church is only a children's aid agency and lacks sufficient medical funds."
"The Hong Kong government's corresponding funding is also limited."
This unspoken passage reveals the cruel reality. In the 1980s when resources were scarce, even in Hong Kong Island, known as the Pearl of the Orient, welfare resources were distributed selectively.
Yin Zhaotang had a deep understanding of this and nodded slightly, saying, "Please ask Rong Jiahui if she wants to leave the orphanage."
"Mr. Yin, you can meet Jiahui in person." Pastor Edward said.
"Follow me." Miss Jiang led the way.
When Yin Zhaotang came to the classroom door accompanied by the pastor, the children inside were obviously attracted. Many of them began to pretend to straighten their postures and backs. The hymns in the classroom became more melodious and clear, and the pitch was much more accurate.
The teacher who was performing understood what he meant and began to lead the singing, his eyes subconsciously glancing towards the window.
I saw a young man in his teens in the corridor, wearing a white T-shirt, with a look of obvious surprise on his face.
Yin Zhaotang also felt the gaze and turned his head, just in time to see the appearance of the female teacher in front of the piano. His pupils immediately widened. He could not imagine that he would meet the future "Jade Girl Leader" Zhou Huimin in the Anglican Children's Welfare Institute, and he could not help but take a few more glances at her.
I secretly wondered how old Zhou Huimin was now. She was not yet an adult. She looked thin and weak, only about 16 or 17 years old.
When the song ended, Miss Jiang waved to Rong Jiahui in the corner of the classroom and said, "Jiahui, come here."
Zhou Huimin stood up from the piano, took Rong Jiahui's hand, and led her to the corner of the corridor. She half-knelt down, gestured with sign language, and said loudly: "Jiahui, do you want to stay at big brother's house for two days?"
There have been some changes to Zhou Huimin's age and name, which will not affect the reading.
(End of this chapter)