XI'AN, Shaanxi, China — Though members of the BYU-Hawaii Concert Choir that is currently touring China gave gifts to the children at an orphanage this morning, it's fair to say the students got more out of the experience than the kids.
As the group toured the four-story, government-funded Xi'an Handicapped Children's Rehabilitation & Training Center, they learned that many of the kids here had been anonymously abandoned, and some were sent here near death. The resident children range in age from infants to a few older teenagers. Nannies care for the infants in three-hour shifts, around the clock. The younger children have little dormitory-style rooms with appropriately sized beds and bathroom fixtures as well as little dining areas. The staff seems well trained and attentive; and the entire facility and grounds were clean and well appointed.
As the BYU-Hawaii students moved from room to room, they interacted with the children, picking them up, holding and playing with them, and also singing songs for them. The kids responded well to the attention, and especially to the toys the students brought from Hawaii as gifts.
But it was the emotional aspect of the visit that made a deeper impression on the students. Some of the mothers in the group, for example, said seeing the orphans made them think of their own children back home.
"The visit helped me to know there are always children who need our help," said Ming Lau, a junior music education major from Hong Kong, "but I feel so bad that we can't always give that help, so while I'm here I'll do my best to make them feel there are people who care for them — so they still have hope when they grow up."
Crying softly, Lau said the visit was a very emotional experience for her. "When I saw the babies, I knew they really need a mother. They have a right to parents and I worry about when they grow up and they ask where their parents are. I know it will be hard for them. I don't want them to think they don't have any hope because their parents didn't want them."
Louis Prescott II, a senior psychology and exercise science major from Hauula, Oahu, who is the oldest of seven children, seemed to know just what to do to get the toddler he was carrying to laugh. "But it was very emotional for me to see all the children here and dealing with so many challenges. It was really hard not to express any sadness or depression in their presence, because I knew to have all these people crying would be confusing to the children."
"I really commend the staff here — the nurses, assistants and physical therapists. I got to see what they're doing, and what they're able to do in spite of, perhaps, limited resources. I was just thinking I wish I could take every kid here in my arms and hold them for a day and forever," he continued, with tears in his own eyes.
"I was thinking, too, about my own family back home and how privileged I am and pretty much every one of us in this choir to have been raised in families and homes that nurture, take care of us, and love us. My own family is tight, and I know if I could bring my little brothers and sisters here, each one of them would share the same feelings and wouldn't hesitate for one second to pick every kid up, and teach and love them."
Gina Smith, a senior vocal performance major from Columbus, Ohio, also got emotional in talking about the visit. "I've always loved children. I just absorb them and their personalities — any type of child in any situation. I'm just drawn to them. I loved that we could just go and be with the kids. There was nothing holding us back from having fun with the children. The three kids that were on my lap wouldn't leave, and as I sang little lullabies to them, they held on closer when people would try to lift them away."
"After a while I had two of them fall asleep in my arms, and they got heavy, but I didn't want to let go, to the point that I got a glimpse of what a mother goes through." Now with tears in her eyes, she added, "I wanted to take them with me, and even for a minute have them feel that love — and have a woman nurture them," said Smith, who has five sisters and two brothers.
"When you sing to them, they know that sound. I just want to keep feeling these things," she continued, noting when she first came to BYU-Hawaii she got a glimpse of what it's like to be separated from her family "and people who knew me in any sense — past or present. No one knew me at all, in a situation I didn't know or understand."
"How grateful I am that I know the source to go to, that I don't have to feel alone; and when I do feel alone, it's because I'm not drawing on that strength. I wanted to bring that familiarity to the orphanage, that feeling of love; and as soon as they looked into my eyes and hugged me, I wanted them to feel that familiarity of love."
Before the choir left the orphanage, they lined up on the building's steps and exchanged songs with the kids, some of which both groups knew — the choir in English and the kids in Chinese.
— Photos by Mike Foley: (Upper left): Gina Smith; (middle): Louis Prescott II; (lower): the group and children at the orphanage.
