by Jane Anderson, Columnist & Featured Contributor
[su_dropcap style=”flat”]A[/su_dropcap] COUPLE YEARS AGO I read the book Lessons from China, also by Beau Sides. When I received my copy of this new book, Unseen Tears, I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be a continuation of the story. There is no need to read that book first because it’s not a prequel to this one, but it has the same characters and both are set in China. The protagonist, Jan Cross, first went to China as an English teacher from the United States, this time she goes back as a tourist, but her experiences are unparalleled by any vacation I’ve ever had! While Jan goes to China for the wedding of a friend she met as a teacher, her visit results in finding renewed passion for Chinese children, this time in orphanages. One of the most remarkable things about this book is the enormous amount of culture Beau Sides introduces us to through the experiences and dialog between the characters. This book is not a passive story written in the third person. This book involves readers as though they are watching, listening, and participating as the story unfolds.
From the first chapters in the book, we start learning about Chinese practices and culture, even about the wedding ceremony, which is vastly different from ours in the U.S. Jan Cross is reunited with friends she knew when living in China as a teacher, Canyon, the bride, Holly and Lizzy. The main reason for Jan’s return to China was to visit the orphans who had survived a fire in a fireworks factory that we learned about in the first book, Lessons from China. Since that time, Jan had been supporting the orphans whose parents were lost in the fire.
Meeting these orphans and visiting a local orphanage was at the top of Jan’s list and this is really where the story develops. Together, Jan, Holly, and Lizzy meet Anne, the director of the local orphanage, a caregiver to 20 children. Holly and Lizzy visited the orphanage on a regular basis, helping them with learning skills and entertaining the children. Jan discovered in her first visit that this orphanage was home to special needs orphans. Opportunities to invest in the lives of these children would be the underlying premise for Jan’s trips to China in the future. Special needs orphans have parents but they have been abandoned by them. China has a one-child policy. When a child is born imperfect, the parents can reject that child and try for another one that isn’t defective. Shocking, isn’t it? But that’s how Jan Cross, Holly, Lizzy and Anne come to have compassion for these little ones that have been rejected by parents and will likely never be adopted.
Anne started her home for special needs orphans due to the additional challenges of caring for them, and the fact that they couldn’t get that level of care in an overcrowded municipal orphanage. The Chinese government provides no financial assistance for Anne either. They don’t prevent her orphanage from receiving donations, but the government gives no funding. Anne is a strong advocate for the children, putting their needs first. She has been under fire for being outspoken and has even had the children taken from her home because of it. Anne is in constant alert mode because she knows people are watching her and waiting for a misstep that will result in her orphanage being closed down. She can’t let the children go outside to play often because of her fear of being watched and scrutinized.
One little girl, Xiao Ting was born with a hole in her heart. Jan becomes especially close to her and learns how difficult it is to be a patient in a hospital in China. There a bed is provided and medical procedures are done, but a family member or friend has to be there with the patient to tend to their needs. They have to take them to procedures, such as x-rays and the hospital provides no food, so someone has to bring food to the patient as well. Also, anything related to a medical procedure or doctor visit is paid in full prior to treatment. There is no payment plan. Besides the little girl Xiao Ting we learn about Meng He who has severe burn scars disfiguring his face and Jing Jing who has a cleft palate, and Paul who also had a cleft palate but was able to get 3 surgeries to repair it. We learned through this revelation of medical conditions that every person in China has to be registered at birth. If the child isn’t registered they cannot go to school or work. The registration card, much like our Social Security Card is called a Hukou. It’s a battle with the government to register someone if it’s not done at birth. We also meet Tammie who was born with spina bifida, and Ming Ming and Qing Qing who have spina bifida with tethered spine syndrome. These children will never be allowed to go to school because they wear diapers. We also learn through the dialog between Anne and Jan that children are supposed to be put out of orphanages at age 14 and put to work at low level jobs and share an apartment with several people.
Jan, at this point is filled with love for all these children in the orphanage. She has Anne give her a tour of the orphanage where she makes notes about things they need. From basic needs like toiletries, art supplies, medical devices, TV, DVD player, shelving units, and kitchen supplies. Anne said a dishwasher was on her wish list and replacement for broken tile, but the refrigerator had quit working months before and after repair was barely operating now. Jan’s immediate response was to go out and buy a refrigerator with the money she originally had planned for sightseeing.
Jan took it all in and even before she returned to the United States, got to work on formulating a plan to get donations. Visiting with Anne one last time before her flight home, Jan tells Anne of her plan.
When Jan is back in her office she is rewarded with unexpected great news. She has been given a promotion to a newly created job that will allow her to travel back to China. She will now be managing international work. During her trip to China Jan had been writing about her experiences and as a result, she will be traveling to China and training others to do the same things. To their credit, her organization had already collected all but $2800 of the needed $8000 to pay for the operation for Xiao Ting to repair the hole in her heart. The leadership team of her organization was also going to buy a van for the orphanage so Anne would always have her own transportation.
There is never a time when things settled down for Anne. Xiao Ting had the surgery she needed, but had to be put on a ventilator. While she was staying with this little girl at the hospital, the government made good on their threat, went to her house and removed seven children. In the meantime, Jan is interviewing individuals in China to work remotely for her U.S. organization and in the midst of her travels heard from Anne, the disheartening news about her orphanage.
Despite the negativity plaguing Anne and Jan over the children, shopping and negotiations for a van went on as planned. We find out much more about the differences in China. Jan was deemed a legal driver in China because a U.S. license is considered valid, and car seats for children are not required and, in fact, not normally available for purchase. Drivers show up in person at the insurance company you want to insure your vehicle. Yes, you drive uninsured over to buy insurance on your vehicle. As Anne said, “Drive carefully. And besides the van is so big nobody is going to hit us.” Have you seen the traffic in China? Just wondering.
It could get worse, and things take on a gloomy pretext as the book nears the end. When an independent orphanage was destroyed by fire, the government took action to investigate all independent orphanages, which included Anne’s. Since she had children from other provinces, she was at risk for them being removed. True to policy, the inspections happened and the children screaming and resisting were removed from the only stable, loving home they knew.
Jan’s friends and sponsors of Xiao Ting’s surgery donated more money for her continued intensive care. Jan was able to return to China and visit her in the hospital. She was also able to visit the orphanage again, now much quieter, almost eerie with the absence of children who had been taken away. Fast forward to the end of the book and we find out that Xiao Ting was removed from the ventilator for the 4th time and this time was a success.
Before Jan returned to the States, she asked Holly if she could see other orphanages. Holly arranged for them to visit a few of them ranging from very poor, operating on a Spartan budget to others who had very modern conveniences, large rooms, and good nutrition programs. Even the largest facilities were almost entirely staffed by volunteers.
This is a book that needed to be written. It doesn’t paint an unrealistic picture of an easy life, void of controversy. There are clashes in personality, and conflicts threaded through relationships. The stress level of raising children who many consider unadoptable carries is weighty and the needs are great.
This book ends exactly this way: Although this book is fictional, the story is based on what I have seen, heard, smelled, felt, and experienced during my time in China. – Beau Sides
There is a real Anne and her very real orphanage. It’s interesting and so explicit in teaching readers so much about China that may never be learned by any other channel. Treat yourself to a book that reads like a novel but teaches like a textbook.
As with his first book, Lessons from China, Beau has signed over all the intellectual rights for Unseen Tears to the non-profit organization, Global Partners in Life (GPiL).Because they own the rights, all royalties from the book sales will go back into GPiL and every book sold helps with their humanitarian and educational work with orphans and young people in China.
