First day at Bethel.
Before I came, I knew that Bethel was somewhat in the outskirts of the city, but I didn’t realize that it would actually be in the rural countryside. So as we left the skyscrapers and smoothly paved roads of Beijing and entered the vast wheat fields and dusty dirt roads of the small village of Fangshan, I suddenly realized that we were no longer in the Beijing that I know and love.
“You’re probably going to get lost when you get near the village, so just call me if you need help,” Matt, the volunteer manager, warned me over the phone. Sure enough, two hours, lots of asking local people for directions, and many bumpy side roads later, we arrived at Bethel Foster Home.
Matt is this 20-something year old guy from Holland who came to Bethel three months ago and is now planning to stay three years. As I walked up to the large salmon-colored building, I couldn’t help but notice how much the building stood out from the rest of the agricultural landscape. Like blond hair, blue eyed Matt, it seemed somewhat out of place in this rural, unknown corner of China.
Bethel was founded in 2003 by a French couple, Guillaume and Delphine, especially for visually impaired and blind orphans. From a mere three kids in a tiny building, it has grown to a large 17-acre complex helping over fifty kids. The kids take math, science, English, French, mobility, and social/life skills and music classes every day.
Just from the way the place looks, I could tell that this definitely wasn’t a typical Chinese orphanage. Perhaps the main difference is they just have higher standards, and because they are privately run, they are able to afford the higher standards. The classrooms and walls are all brightly decorated. “The kids can’t see them, but we still paint the walls pretty colors,” Matt said, “they deserve a nice environment.”
As Matt gave me a tour of Bethel, every time we passed by a kid in the hallway, they would come up to him, grab his leg and yell “Matt! How are you today?”
All the kids call Guillaume and Delphine their “Fa Guo Ba Ba” and “Fa Guo Ma Ma” or French daddy and mommy. In addition, all the kids live in one of the six huts with 7-8 other kids and their nannies. They all have “families” that they live with in the huts and they call all of their nannies “Ma” or mom.
After the tour, I met some of the other volunteers who were here. In addition to me and the other girls here through Harvard China Care, there are two other volunteers from France (one of whom has been here for a year!) and a blind girl named Crystal who was born in China but now goes to school in Sweden!
I’m so excited to be here and to get to start meeting the kids!!
The building where all the volunteers live.