Guanyin Bridge: Baby Girl Sees the World

Author:WRIC Volunteer Li, Yuanlong                        Translator: WRIC Volunteer Harry Zhang

 

On the afternoon of October 28,2012, I rode my motorcycle to Bijie city’s Guanyin bridge to offer to register and photograph a group of mountain village girls.

There are two things worth  mentioning. The first comparison is upsetting. This is an Miao clan composed village, almost no one has a home, and they are all poor. Several recipients had baby girls and are receiving aid under the guidance of the local villagers. I registered and photographed a total of five girls and three pregnant women. Although I had told that same group of mountain village girls about the support plan, only three baby girls and three pregnant women had came.

 

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Why did the registration had two less baby girls?

In my original registration of this, there is a baby called Yang Zhong Yun. When she was a newborn, I had registered and taken a photo of her. Shun Kou Wen cried: is it a girl? Surprisingly, the answer was yes, this baby is a girl. Everyone rushes to help the baby’s mother. Huang Yan intercede: We know that you are registered with the baby, however, the situation is too special for the Huang family, I hope you can assist her child with applying for  a little subsidy.

Since Yang Zhong Yun’s birth, more people are worried, he hasn’t said a word. Yang Zhong Yun’s head seemed large, thin skinny, and looked very distressing. Huang Yan teared up as she opened the parcel of  Yang Zhong  Yun’s quilt. It allowed me to see how his body emaciated, and how disabled his hands and feet were. However, I really did not have the courage to see his disabled body, I had stopped them. I said,”you know, Chinese girls assistance program is only funding poor, rural baby girls and Yang Zhong Yun is a boy who is not eligible for funding. All I can do is to share your story and ask others for help”.

After I finished registering and taking a photograph of Ms. Wang’s child, I asked for Ms. Wang’s telephone number. Her uncle came in and look at me weirdly and then spoke to Ms. Wang in a different dialect. Because it began to seem as if they were beginning to suspect foul play, I showed them my business card along with a copy of the rural girl’s paper that stated her Chinese assistance planning purposes. After I also verbally explained to him the purpose in registering the child, I asked him again for Ms. Wang’s telephone number. At first Ms. Wang hesitated, but then she said that she did not have a telephone. I then declined to help them. All they had to do was tell me their phone number, but it seems that her uncle had said something to Ms. Wang that made her change her mind. Since she cannot trust me, there is no purpose in trying to register her child and to help them.

 So, I said: “If you have concerns, forget about it, don’t force yourself to cooperate. Then again, next month or when you can believe me, I will help you out.”