Musician has a lot of love to share with adopted children
In a four-story villa in the northern suburbs of Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, twenty-eight children are living happily together.
The love their father, Jin Fuzhong, showers on them has made them the envy of the neighborhood children.
Jin, a 48-year-old oboist with the Liaoning Opera, became a volunteer at the Shenyang Children's Welfare Home in 2000, and has been teaching the children to play violin and Go ever since.
Jin said he was so impressed by the children he met through his volunteer work that he decided to make his engagement more permanent by adopting a group of disabled children from the home. His mission was to give them a chance to live in a warm family setting and to teach them survival skills.
After careful consultation, Jin and his three brothers and sister decided to adopt one child for each of their families.
However, on Sep 2, 2003, Jin surprised everyone by bringing seven children back from the welfare home.
"They watched me with longing eyes, which inspired the hard decision to take three more back," he said.
Among the first group of children Jin adopted, one is severely disabled and three are mildly disabled. They range in age from three to 14.
In order to take better care of the children, Jin's wife, Si Mingfei, closed her kindergarten to work as a full-time nanny at home. And Jin's father, Jin Zemin, an 80-year-old retired official, moved out of a four-story villa to make room for the adopted children.
Jin's brood has since grown to 26 adopted children as well as his two sons.
Si embroiders the children's names into their clothes whenever she buys new outfits for them.
To make life comfortable for Shen Yong'en, a severely disabled boy, Jin has installed a special heater in the boy's room.
Jin's son Jin Fengxu and an adopted child named Shen Qingge are both naughty boys, but when they had quarrel with each other, the father punishes Jin Fengxu.
"I do not condone such behavior, but these disabled children who were abandoned are more sensitive and suspicious, and I have to pay more attention to protect them," Jin Fuzhong said.
When the adopted children first came to Jin's home, they called him and his wife teacher, but as their trust has grown, the children have come to think of them as their father and mother.
One day in 2005, Jin took the children to appear on CCTV, and the parents of one of the children, named Shen Qingyang, identified her and came to Jin's home to take her back. But two months later, Shen was back, saying her real father was not as caring as Jin.
In the Jin family, everyone has a duty: Jin Fuzhong teaches music; Si Mingfei takes care of food and clothing; Jin's eldest brother teaches photography and computers; Jin's second eldest brother teaches English and chess; his sister teaches culture and history; and Jin's 80-year-old parents take care of the children's ideological education.
Jin has also employed several professional teachers to help with the children's education.
"It is a hard job to give the children a proper education and provide them proper living conditions. I think it is harder than managing a firm because there are too many things to be managed," Jin said with smile.
For instance, washing clothes is a big job in the family. Each day, his three washing machines are in use all morning.
Jin previously employed a chef to make meals for the children, but, as the size of the household increased, he could not handle the workload and eventually left. When it became clear that it might be challenging to find another chef, some elder children said they could help Si make meals.
"Let us help our mother make meals. It will not only save money, but also give us a chance to learn the skill of making meals," one of the children told Jin.
Initially, few people understood Jin's actions and thought he might be using the children to make money. But, as time went by, people came to see how warmhearted the Jin family is, and some people have even offered to help take care of the children.
"I often receive donations from local residents and some even leave food and clothes at the gate of the villa," Jin said.
In the past years, Jin has spent some 300,000 yuan ($42,900) to buy teaching materials for the children. "I have made plans for the children, and I have given them a proper education and lessons in living skills. I want to launch an art performance troupe for the disabled children so they can support themselves one day," he said.
China Daily
(China Daily 04/30/2008 page6)
