Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
When I was little, my father was in prison for a crime. In those days, when the father was not home, the mother made all the decisions for the family. Mother was the pillar of this house. My brother and I were very young then. We needed tuition for the school. Mother had to work during the day, and care for us in the evenings in this very cold house.
My mother borrowed money to release my father from prison. Our family was somewhat comforted; at least there was a man in the house. After his release, he went to work. One day he suddenly fell ill and was sent to the hospital, where they found him to be half paralyzed. We had no savings, so mother had to borrow money again, for father’s treatment. Father was never healed and remained disabled. He could not speak clearly, and one arm and one leg could not function. Again mother had to shoulder the family responsibilities. In the past, there was only my brother and I to care for, now she had an adult to care for as well. Our family was financially strapped. Fortunately, the neighbors were considerate, which took a little stress off of my mother.
Some time passed, and one day, mother dressed up and said she was going out. She told my brother and me to stay at home and to be good. Mother did not return home that evening. We were not worried at first, and then several days passed without anyone seeing or hearing from her. Our uncles asked where the mother went and why she wasn’t home. I told them the situation, and several more days passed with no word. Later on, others told us mother ran away with someone else, abandoning us. At the time, I was too young to comprehend. I had an outgoing personality, so I was not too bothered by this. I thought, if she does not want us, then so be it, I would live on my own. Therefore, I started living independently at age 6 or 7. My brother and I went to school every day and cared for my father after returning home. Although this type of life got boring after a while, I was still pretty happy every day. These days did not last long though. The moment before father departed, his eyes were still wide open; no matter how hard we tried to close them. I knew he could not rest because of us. Finally, the aunties said, “Brother, go in peace. I know you could not let go of the two children. We will care for them for you”. Father thus left in peace.
Either I was too optimistic or too strong for adversity, as there was not much mourning in watching my father pass away. It did not feel different than any normal day. Now I only needed to take care of myself, so it was much less stress. Due to my experience, I developed quite a hardheaded personality. Several years passed. The government found an orphan training school, and asked my brother and me if we would be willing to go. Without thinking anything, I agreed right away. Perhaps I believe from the deepest in my heart that this is the time to change my fate. After coming to Angel Training School, when I saw my bed, clothes, and so on, all the lifestyle products are new, I was so glad. I finally got something that would belong to me. There are also many aunts and uncles loving us and caring for us. Here I felt a kind of love that I have never felt before. In the training school, I experienced my first birthday in my life, I was very touched. They made me feel the feeling of people caring about me. I had something that my village kids never had. I saw something they never seen. We also had very rich extracurricular activities; we got to see different people in society, and visited many different places.
We enjoyed the kinship and friendship in ATS. We felt concern and warmth from different people in society. Many people are jealous of our life now. They just see our shiny side, but never see our pain. This is what people always say, that God closes a door and opens a window. We are the ones chosen by God. For God’s love brought us together. God gave me this opportunity for life, and I won’t give up.
I am in senior one of vocational school. I really like this school. I have made a plan for the next eight years. Now all my expenses can be paid by my part time job. I think I have grown up and can now be independent. I decided to work my way through school. After school, I work at a catering company, Huang Ji Huang, as a server at one of the branches. I think being a waitress can build up my patience and willpower.
To take control of myself, I need to handle learning and working properly. I trust myself. In my working life, I understand a lot. It is unavoidable that the superiors bully and blame the lower levels in daily work. That is true, but it also gives me a precious lesson. It makes me understand that when someone is criticizing or you are listening to the opinions of others, you must be calm. That shows you are listening to them and you accept their criticism. In this way you can learn lessons from failure, and prepare the way for the future success. We should learn to start again from the place where we fall down. If you wish to be the best man, you must be prepared to suffer the bitterest of the bitter.
No matter what you do, you must have enthusiasm and initiative and be confident of success. You need to learn to communicate with people around you, concern about others, support others. I think vocational students should change their concepts, it is not simply as a summer time job to earn money or as means of accumulating social experience, and the more important is to have the opportunity to develop their own entrepreneurial and social practice capacity. This is what I have gained from these years of working, I put my own life to be very tight, I felt tired, but I know I can be strong after my hard working. I trust myself.
Living Hope International is a 501(c) (3) charitable organization and all gifts are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
P.O. BOX 183, Fort Washington, PA 19034 | (215) 540-8810 info@livinghopeintl.org
© 2020 All rights reserved.
Power by Living Hope International