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REGIONAL> Society
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Mother Anipa's remarkable family
By Lei Xiaoxun (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-28 17:29 It was a freezing cold day in 1977 when Anipa met 11-year old Wang Shuzhen, who was wandering in front of a local hospital with her siblings. Wang’s father died when she was young, then her mother died after her second marriage. After her mother’s death, Wang’s stepfather expelled Wang and her sister and two brothers. The four teenagers were left with nothing and had no one to rely on. Anipa took them home with her. When her children saw them, they suddenly covered their noses and ran. This was because Wang and her siblings had a “disgusting smell and a horrible look,” Anipa said. They had not bathed in a long time and their heads, faces and arms were full of wounds and sores, she said. Anipa could not help but cry when she heard of Wang’s sufferings. She cleaned them up and served them delicious homemade dishes. “I would not have survived if it were not for Mother Anipa. The chances were we might have died in the cold,” said Wang, who is now a middle-aged house wife. She can’t help but shed tears when she thinks back on how Anipa saved her and her siblins. In 1989, Wang’s stepfather, who was an ethnic Hui, passed away. He left three children, with no one to take care of them. Anipa heard about this and didn’t think twice to mother the three children. Anipa was aware of the difficulties involved with the procedures in order to adopt all 10 children, but she never turned back. Her perseverance finally paid off and she was able to keep all the orphans. Many people expressed objections toward Anipa’s actions—her youngest daughter Rahimam being one of them. “I used to hate her so much,”she admitted. “We were so impoverished that the family frequently ran out of food; we were short of every thing, except people.”
Why their mother kept doing this, they could not understand, Rahimam said. Children from other families had candies and new clothes, but Anipa’s own children had nothing but patched clothing passed down from their elder sisters and brothers. Anipa was especially “mean” to her own children, Rahimam recalled. “We looked for torn shoes in dustbins because we didn’t have money to buy shoes. Mom saved all her money for the adopted ones. And we were always hungry because my parents always fed the adopted children first,” she said. It was not until 1978 when their living conditions improved. Anipa found a job in a Muslim slaughterhouse, where she helped clean cattle organs. On most occasions, the job was done in knee-high cold river water. Due to the long hours standing in such cold water, Anipa contracted severe arthritis; she is now unable to stretch her legs. In return, she would earn a wage together with some free meat and cattle organs. “She worked in the slaughterhouse in the day, and cooked until late for the next day’s meal,” Rahimam explained. Nowadays, Rahimam and the people who opposed Anipa’s behaviour have changed their minds. “Now I understand how great my mom is,” said Rahimam. “If permitting, I will adopt a child by myself.” Anipa and her family are now enjoying a happy life, as most of the children are making progress in their respective careers. And the family continues to expand. Motivated by their mother’s heroic devotion to help others, Anipa’s sons and daughters also participate in similar philanthropic causes, adopting many orphans themselves. As someone pointed out, they are becoming new “remarkable mothers and fathers.” China Daily Xinjiang Bureau
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