In your childhood, what were you doing? Begging daddy to buy a
toy, being pressed by mommy to learn a foreign language, taking the
pocket change that grandma secretly gave you, sharing the bubblegum
you just bought with your friends… When you couldn’t get what you
wanted, did you sigh like a little adult: “It sucks being a child!”
However, A-Long wouldn’t. By himself, he washes his laundry and
makes his meals. Alone, he feeds the chickens and raises the dog.
Alone, he studies and learns to read. Alone, he goes to sleep.
A-Long never feels it sucks being himself, even though he is only
6-years-old this year.
Niuchepin Village at the foot of Liuzhou City’s Malu Mountain is
a village built on the mountain, the cement road beginning at the
foot of the mountain and spreading upward, both sides lined with
buildings. The further up the mountain you go, the narrower
the road becomes, and the scale of the buildings too become
smaller. Halfway up the mountain, all that is left is a dusty mud
road, with weeds all around. At the end of the road are 3 casually
built single story cement block cottages that don’t even have
windows. November 2, accompanied by a staff worker of the village
committee, this reporter saw the scene at the top [end of this
road].
Only one person to rely on
As it is understood, A-Long’s father was a villager of Niuchepin
Village and his mother married into the village. Six years ago,
A-Long’s parents built the house where they lived until they passed
away, leaving A-Long to live there alone until this day.
At the time, why did A-Long’s parents suddenly move onto the
mountain so far away from the village? The villagers all refuse to
say why.
A villager who knows said that A-Long’s father had spent over
ten years out of the village when he was young, and it is said that
it was because he had gone to jail. When it comes to just released
inmates, everyone will have some prejudices, “so maybe it was
because of this that they did not have very good relations with
everyone else.”
A one person “home”
This here is 6-year-old A-Long’s home, a one person “home”.
Amongst them, one stand-alone small building, owing to having a
“stove” made of several piled up cement block blocks and a ceramic
bed pan installed as a “toilet” and thus its “facilities” were
relatively complete, was A-long’s “bedroom”. For the other two
connected buildings, dilapidated wooden doors symbolically them
away, though there were no locks. As it is understood, A-Long once
lived in one of those [two] buildings, but because his father
passed away there, no one has gone near those two buildings since.
A-Long himself has not entered them again, only often walking back
and forth in front of the door. “Is it because you feel your dad is
still inside sleeping?” A-Long did not reply, hesitating for a
moment before running away.
In front of the small building is a very large open area. It is
the main area A-Long spends most of his time normally, and the one
thing that he does the most is embracing the dog he calls “Lao
Hei” ["Old Black", maybe like "Blackie"], staring blankly at
the road that leads to the outside world. After his father passed
away, A-Long has yet to go down the mountain again.
Seeing an uncle and auntie [not related, often simply means an
older man and woman] he recognizes from far away, A-Long appears
very happy. The village committee’s staff worker takes out a box of
cookies/crackers and bananas, very naturally places them in the
room, and warns A-Long not to eat the cookies as a meal, this
obviously not being the first time giving A-Long something. Hearing
what uncle said, A-Long adorably nodded his head, and grinned.
A one person future
The staff worker told this reporter that A-Long’s situation is
really worrisome, but all the village committee can do is guarantee
that he doesn’t have to worry about food and clothing at the
moment. Although they have already helped him apply for social
security/welfare benefits, 70 yuan a month plus the
support of some kind-hearted people alone is far from enough for
A-long to grow up on. “No food to eat or clothes to wear, that we
can buy. But A-Long’s medical care, education, and upbringing, what
we can do is not much.”
So what are other government departments doing?
A relevant representative of Liuzhou City’s disease control
center HIV prevention department told this reporter that with
regards to A-Long’s medical condition, as long as it involves
anti-HIV medication it is free, but they cannot do anything for any
medication outside of this.
The city’s civil affairs bureau’s staff delivered to A-Long two
quilts, as well as a social security/welfare benefits account
passbook. The staff said, what A-Long applied for is rural social
security, which is 70 yuan every month right now, but
will increase to 100yuan a month next year. Other than
that, they will also often send A-Long some living supplies,
guaranteeing that he will not starve or suffer the cold. However,
owning to A-Long’s family situation being relatively complicated,
the social welfare organization is unable to adopt him, only able
to continue communicating with A-Long’s relatives, fighting for
A-Long’s rights and interests.
On the education side, though A-Long is of school age, for him
to sit in a classroom attending lessons like his peers is beset
with difficulties.
As it is understood, A-Long has previously attended one term at
the Malu Mountain primary school’s preschool class, but then
stopped. The school principal Chen Xiyou says the management of the
preschool class is different from the elementary classes, that the
preschool class at the time just happened to have a space, and thus
had allowed him to attend.
Principal Chen says that after A-Long’s father passed away, the
information that A-Long’s parents had died because of AIDS began
circulating in the village, and A-Long’s medical examination showed
that he was HIV-positive, so if A-Long were to really come to
school, then the school would face a lot of pressure [problems]
too. “The school’s preschool class plus the first and second grades
have one to two hundred people. With this many little children of
the same age, it is difficult to avoid the common arguments and
fights, so what would the parents of other students think?”
According to disclosures by someone familiar with the situation,
after school started in September, A-Long’s grandmother had wanted
to send A-Long to attend first grade, but when parents learned of
it, they sent a group letter in protest, the school succumbed to
the pressure and did not agree to admit A-Long to the school.
“Considering his real life situation, our school immediately
submitted a report to the education department concerning this
matter. The education department, the civil administration bureau,
and the village committee have all already held collective meetings
to discuss A-Long’s matter, but a decision/conclusion has not yet
been made.” As the school principal was saying this, a nearby
parent interrupted to say: “If he really comes to school to attend
class, then I can only transfer my own child to another school. I
would be too worried.”
After much effort, this reporter was able to get in touch with a
non-governmental organization in Nanning that take care of AIDS
orphans. A member of this organization expressed that they can
indeed accept AIDS orphans, but they have to see if A-Long’s
circumstances are suitable. The staff member said it is because
their method is to arrange foster care, but it isn’t the best way
of raising a child for the child. If A-Long has relatives, they
still hope that the relatives can be persuaded to adopt A-Long. “A
family’s warmth and the care of relatives is something that foster
care cannot give.” At the same time, the staff member also
expressed that they will go a step further in understanding
A-Long’s family situation, and if it is necessary, they can provide
A-Long help.
The only person who is close with A-Long is his 84-year-old
grandmother. His grandmother often comes to see him, but it is not
everyday that she comes. That afternoon, his grandmother happened
to come by, and so A-Long did not have to feed the chickens, nor
did he have to pick the vegetables himself, and could play a little
more. His grandmother had planted two plots of vegetables in the
open area beside the house, one plot of cabbage, one plot of
leeks/chives. She says this is normally enough for A-Long to
eat.
His grandmother lives in another of her son’s home, and it takes
her about 15 minutes to walk here where A-Long lives. She normally
comes in the afternoons, and cooks for A-Long before leaving. As
for things like bathing and the laundry, A-Long says he knows how
to do them himself, that he can wash [the laundry] clean, and as
long as he stands on a stool when drying the laundry, he can reach
the clothes drying line.
This reporter asked the grandmother if she was able to live here
and raise A-Long until he is big? She hesitantly said that she
herself is a little afraid of living here. Could she take A-Long to
his uncle’s place to live? The grandmother did not answer, lowered
her head, and sorted the cabbage she had just picked.
The village [committee's] staff workers are also people whom
A-Long has had relatively more contact with, and he knows that
these uncles and aunties really care about him. Every time they
come to see him, they will bring good things to eat and new
clothes. A while ago, the temperature had suddenly dropped
very sharply, and one auntie came on consecutive nights to deliver
quilts/blankets and winter clothing. Apart from this, there are
many kind-hearted anonymous city residents who will also come visit
A-Long, but almost no one has brought up the problem of raising
A-Long. A-Long says often there are people who will give him money,
but he doesn’t want to use [that money], saving it up instead.
“What he needs is not only material help,” says one of the staff
workers.
One person’s sadness
The “problem” that Ms. Liang refers to is not only because
A-Long lacks the upbringing from two parents, but rather the more
important reason that A-Long is an HIV carrier.
According to those in the know, before A-Long’s mother passed
away last year, she was severely sick, her entire person becoming
very gaunt and at the time everyone though she had contracted
tuberculosis. Then not long after, A-Long’s father also had the
same symptoms, a robust man very quickly becoming nothing more than
a layer of skin. At this time, the rumors began in the village,
that the two of them had contracted AIDS. This rumor was confirmed
when A-Long’s father entered the hospital, and everyone also began
to suspect A-Long. Despite all this, young A-Long did not
understand, and he only knew that daddy had gotten the same
sickness as mommy, and was soon going to die.
According to the village committee staff worker, before A-Long’s
father passed away, he had become so weak that he could not get out
of bed, much less take care of A-Long. At that time, A-Long did not
yet know how to cook by himself, and could only depend on his
neighbors to give him some food to eat. A-Long’s father passed away
at noon one day in July, and at the time, apart from A-Long
watching over him by his side, no one else knew. Only until
dinner-time when neighbor Miss Liang did not see A-Long did she
discover that her old friend had already been dead for a long
time.
Based on the recollection of the staff worker on the scene at
the time, after receiving the news, they immediately rushed here
[to A-Long's home]. A-Long, who had been by his father’s side the
entire time, came out upon hearing movement, and then calmly told
him [the staff worker]: “Uncle, my daddy died, just like my mommy…”
Little A-Long did not cry, his silence breaking everyone’s
hearts.
Later, owning to some coordination issues, A-Long’s father’s
remains were not sent to the funeral parlor until the second day.
IN this time, A-Long continued to quietly stay by his father’s
side, watching the remains the entire night. From that moment on,
A-Long has never again talked about “daddy”.
As it is understood, there were people who wanted to adopt
A-Long at the time, but then when everything was finally prepared,
A-Long was examined and determined to be HIV-positive, which is to
say that A-Long is an HIV carrier.
The kind-hearted people backed out, and the villagers became
fearful.
A-Long doesn’t know what “AIDS” is, he only knows that his
playmates now will not come near him; that he was about to enter
first grade but has now been told to “stay home and await notice”;
that when his hand was burned by hot water, the doctor did not dare
treat the wound; even that his grandmother, the only person he
could count on, also isn’t willing to live with him. The only one
to be with him as always was Old Black.
Almost overnight, A-Long grew up a lot. Even though his family
has met misfortune after misfortune, A-Long has not shed any tears.
Only 6-years-old, he has learned how to cook and do the laundry,
has learned how to do things according to the time of day, has
learned how to read and write by himself, and has learned how to
live on alone.
One person’s happiness
When facing strangers coming to visit, at first A-Long was a
little shy, but as a child, he very quickly became excited,
striking poses for this reporter’s camera. Excitedly, he even
performed some “Chinese kungfu”. It is hard to believe that A-Long,
so innocent and lively, is someone who has lost both parents, and
an orphan that lives alone.
A-Long doesn’t actually believe that there is anything bad about
living alone, because he has “Old Black”.“Old Black” is a
black-colored female mutt that A-Long has raised for many years.
Ever since A-Long became aware, “Old Black” has been at his side,
and remains to this day as A-Long’s closest companion. At night
when A-Long goes to sleep, he never closes the door because “Old
Black” sometimes will sleep with him in the house and sometimes
sleeps at the door, guarding him. “Old Black” doesn’t like to bark
and when facing strangers that suddenly appear she even somewhat
shyly hides in the house. However, as long as A-Long calls “Old
Black”, she will immediately run to his side, and affectionately
run circles around him. A-Long holds up “Old Black’s two front
legs, his head near her’s, and smiles and laughs happily. A human
and a dog cannot talk with each other, but they also need not talk
with each other.
A 6-year-old little boy should have many playmates with whom to
get into trouble with, but A-Long doesn’t. This reporter asked
A-Long what friends he normally plays with? He was quiet for a long
time before quietly saying that there was a little kid surnamed
Liang that occasionally will come and play with him, but that none
of his previous schoolmates will play with him anymore. A-Long also
doesn’t want to go out and play with the village children, because
he is not familiar with them. Even though he says this, A-Long
still stares at the road outside [his home], his expression
sad.
The child surnamed Liang is Miss Liang’s relative. She told this
reporter that it was her family who does not allow her to come play
with A-Long, because they are afraid of “an accident happening”.
“Other little children probably also are afraid of this”.
A one person dinner
When the sky turned dark, A-Long started to prepare dinner.
“You know how to cook by yourself?” A-Long nodded his head, and
even raised his left hand to show this reporter. On his left hand
between the thumb and index finger was a very large scab, shocking
on such a small little hand. A-Long however was nonchalant, saying
that he had accidentally burned himself a few days ago when
cooking, but now it is almost healed.
“Did you go to the hospital to have it looked at?” A-Long did
not respond. The staff worker that had accompanied this reporter
helplessly related: “When he was injured, no one knew. It was only
the day after that someone took him to the clinic after finding
out, but they weren’t willing to tend to it, so all we could do was
dab some Merbromin…”
At this time, A-Long was busy in the “kitchen”, putting rice in
the aluminum pot, pouring in water. This reporter reminded him:
“That’s too much water, right? You’ll be making rice porridge this
way!” He didn’t make a sound, and placed the pot on the “stove”.
The speed at which A-Long started a fire was amazing, snapping a
few dry twigs and stuffing them under the pot, then lighting some
waste paper and stuffing it in, and within a few seconds, the dry
twigs were alight.
After over 10 minutes, the rice was almost done. A-Long opened
the lid and threw in several cabbage hearts. The extra water
earlier was just enough to cook the cabbage hearts. Very quickly,
dinner was ready. Plain rice mixed with some cabbage hearts, no oil
nor salt, much less any other condiments, yet A-Long bite after
bite still ate with relish. He said that it was too much for one
person to finish, that the leftovers are for “Old Black” to
eat.
Even though there is no oil nor salt, for A-Long, being able to
have dinner is already a very blessed thing. Recently, A-Long had
just received 20kg of rice and 5kg of noodles from a kind-hearted
person, which is enough for him to eat for some time. However, when
he is out of food, he can only rely on neighbor Miss Liang’s family
for support. Liang was A-Long’s father’s old friend, three years
ago opening a cement brick site nearby, and the people A-Long sees
the most are Miss Liang’s family.
“Ever since his daddy passed away, A-Long himself has not left
this yard. There have been kind-hearted people who have come and
given money, and we tell him to go out and buy some thing to eat,
but he isn’t willing to go. Sometimes he will look around at our
door/entrance, and we guess that he is out of food, so we will have
him bring a bowl over, and fill a bowl of rice and vegetables, as
well as give him a few apples that we normally buy,” Liang
said.
(you can click on any of the photos
to enlarge them)
Playing with Lao Hei (老黑）..which
means Old Black or Blackie
The place that he would rather live
in, as compared to the other more proper building..where his father
passed away
Every month this 6y/o, Ah Long, is entitled to 70 yuan (about
USD$10) by the government. Next year, it will be raised to 100 yuan
(about USD$14)
This is his form of a playground
His grandmother grew these
vegetables .. the ones that he usually eats
He would walk down the mountain to
look for pieces of wood to make fire with..
This is a burn from lighting a fire
to cook. For a small hand, this scar is very big.
