Do you think that only Fundamentalist Christians adopt one special needs child after another, beyond their means, and without carefully planning each new addition's future? It is easy to shake your head and say, Oh, they are just religious nutcases. Anyway, it can't be good for that many special needs children to live in one home, they can't possibly get all the attention they need. Etc. etc.
Meet Mama Kong.
She is secular, poor, and has a disability herself (she is hunchbacked).
She is 63 years old.
She and her husband have adopted over 30 children, all with special needs, ranging from cleft lip/palate to severe cerebral palsy.
They live in rural China, in a small rundown shack in a village with no running water. The children are all abandoned, the victims of China's "one child rule" and extreme pollution which results in one of the highest rates of birth defects in the world.
In addition to the intrinsic challenges of managing the health, emotional and educational needs of all these children, Mama Kong regularly has to stand up to the bureaucracy of the Communist Party itself.
Wow. Just wow.
Speak truth to power much?
(Ooops, forgot to Hat Tip Leah!)
I've heard this woman's story before and I'm staggered by her compassion and the strength of her will. She is a force of nature. Absolutely incredible. It's people like this who change a culture.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for bringing her to our attention (I forgot to give you the HatTip -- still a bit of a blogging novice....)
ReplyDeleteOops -- I'm Leah Z, not Leah E (blame my surprisingly common first name!).
ReplyDeleteHeh heh. Garden of Eagan is Leah S. Who is Leah E.?
ReplyDeleteLeah E is Leah S, whose last name I assumed was Eagan. Phew! Too many Leahs. I should change my name to Natasha or Persephone or something...
DeleteI think this is what we should encourage and I dare say, spend our money on: helping those who are willing to raise these children in their own culture and love them and really care for them, rather than depriving the children of their original culture and identity.
ReplyDeleteYes, but I think that international adoption can play a role in changing perceptions of children with disabilities in those cultures. When orphanage staff see that these children are wanted, they treat them differently. Eventually, these new points of view are related to birth parents, who then are more likely to reconsider the idea of relinquishing their "defective" children.
DeleteIf you understand Russian, check out this video of a Russian family adopting children with Down syndrome:
http://youtu.be/WLVvUhZsH_Q
Awesome point. I think both these things are true: international adoption should always be a last resort, but IA can (and should) galvanize sending countries into addressing the root causes of adoption (in this case, attitudes towards disability).
DeleteI also see that as a way to change attitudes here. We have made alot of progress but there is still alot of stigmatization of special needs. I actually made some headway in advocating for this issue with my congregation when I talked about this angle of it, because then it connects to the people with special needs who are already in our community, and how to be more inclusive.
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