Cao YeBing would like to be a farmer!

Cao YeBing曹烨彬 (8) is from Cheng Zhou (郴州) in Hunan Province (湖南) in China. He has attended the deaf School in ChangSha for three years where he also lives. If he could not stay there with the other boarding pupils, he could probably not go to a school at all. For breakfast, he likes best to eat baozi (which is a type of doughnut filled with meat). His favourite subject is drawing, but he also loves to dance. When he grows up, he dreams of becoming a farmer. In the evenings, he likes to watch TV. On his day off school, Sunday, he likes to walk in the park with the student volunteers from the university who come to be with Cao YeBing and other boarding pupils.

Cao YeBings mother left him and his father when YeBing was small because the father is handicapped and has some mental problems. After YeBin started his studies at the centre and learned to speak etc.  his mother has been in contact with deaf centre and has resumed contact with both YeBin and his father. In this way, this deaf centre has helped to reconcile many families.

He dreams of becoming a farmer when he grows up. Growing up, he only saw farmers cultivating the land, growing grain, vegetables that can be eaten. He does not know of other work that would not let him be hungry, so he thinks that being a farmer is the best of all.

Chen ShuZhao dreams about becoming a nurse

Chen ShuZhao/陈述钊（6）is from ChaLing (茶陵) in Chuzhou (株洲) in Hunan province (湖南) in China. He has attended the deaf school in Changsha one and a half years. There he is day-student and lives with his parents. He gets up every day at 7am. First he washes his face then brushes his teeth and puts on clothes before he eats breakfast. For breakfast he eats noodles almost every day. Mum takes him to school almost every day. But on the day off, Sunday, his grandmother often takes him to the park. He likes very much! In his class, there are 13 students. The name of his teacher is Miss Zhou, but he also has individual lessons with a different teacher each day.

When he grows up, he wants to become a nurse. His favourite food is (Chinese) sausage and chicken. His favourite subject is drawing but he also thinks dancing is a lot of fun!

Unusual brothers

Huang-RuiJie(黄锐杰)(6) & Huang-YuQi(黄玉其)(2) are very special in China! Why? They are brothers! In most parts of China, it is illegal to have more than one child. Therefore, it is very unusual in Changsha City, where they live, to have siblings. The boys like Sundays especially because they have time off from school and can play with mum and dad. These guys are the only kids at the deaf centre in Changsha with siblings.

The reason their parents have been allowed to have two children is that they come from the countryside, where some places are allowed to have two children. YuQi (黄玉其)  thinks it is terrific to have a brother!

Huang-RuijJie said that when he grows up, he wants to be a father. In his impression, fathers are really great. His father earn money to support the family, enabling  him and his brother who is similarly hearing impaired to receive training at the deaf children rehabilitation centre.

Their father is a driver and their mother works in a grocery store.

His father is a truck driver and works very hard daily driving the truck. The thought of his precious two sons being able to speak and interact through the training, makes him happy.

Chu NiKe dreams of becoming an industrial worker

Chu NiKe/屈妮可(6) is a girl from LouDi (省娄底) in Hunan province(湖南 ) in China. She lives at the deaf Centre in Changsha because her dad works in ShenZhen and her mum works in Zhuzhou. Both cities are far away from Changsha City. But every Friday, her mum comes to be with her and on Sunday and holidays, they are together all the time! For breakfast, Nike likes to drink warm milk and eggs, but for lunch she prefers chicken. Otherwise she especially likes to eat sweets and cakes!

When she grows up, she wants to be a worker or teacher. Her parents are workers in a factory. She loves her father and mother, so she thinks that being a worker is brilliant! She is a resident student in the school. She has learnt a lot from her teacher, whom she really likes.

Sometimes, Nike actually teaches her mum things because NiKe has been learning so many fun things at the ChangSha deaf centre! She teaches her mum Chinese characters and sometimes mathematics. It is fun! Her favourite subject, however, is singing because she likes to sing.

Yin JinKang will celebrate with the headmaster.

Yin JinKang尹金康(5) is from Huaihua (怀化) in south-west Hunan Province, China. He has attended the Changsha deaf centre for two years, where he also lives. For breakfast, he likes best to eat baozi, which is a type of donut or dumpling filled with meat. Otherwise he likes very much to eat apples and all foods with lots of chilli. His favourite subject is art.
In the evenings, he likes to watch TV. On his day off school, Sunday, he likes to walk in the park with the volunteers from the university who likes to hang out with Yin JinKang and other boarding students. Yin JinKang says that he loves going to school. He likes it even more than being at home!

Yin JinKang is her sitting on the lap of Jefrey Huseby, the  General  Secretary of NMS

When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up, he said that he wants to be a doctor because his mother is suffering from cancer and his father being old and disabled cannot take care of him. He hopes he can cure his mother's illness, so his mother can take care of him and he will not be sent to the orphanage.

Since he started studying at the ChangSha Deaf Centre, she has not been able to visit him more than once (for the Chinese New Year last year). Unfortunately, his mother is too sick to visit him for Chinese New Year this year due to her illness, so Yin JinKang will celebrate Chinese New Year with the headmaster Wang and her family tomorrow.

Yin JinKang does not have any family who can take care of him except his mum. His mum would not like JinKang to end up in one of the many orphanages. So, she is one of the parents who have asked the headmaster of the school, Mrs. Wang, if she can personally take care of her son after she dies.

Dreaming about a life without wood picking

The brothers Zandritiana Jean Martin (15 years old) & Zafinantenaina Jean Roger (14 years old) lives in Fianarantsoa province in Madagascar. Their mother, Raharivelo Soaimalala (36) and their father, Razafinantenaina Jean Philibert (37-my age!) are really interested in biogas because they have heard that the use of biogas radically reduces the smoke in the kitchen and because the organic fertilizer increases the yield of their crops by a lot!
For these brothers, on the other hand, the main appeal of biogas is the increase in their free time. Both of them gather wood at least one hour each, every single day independently of the weather (in the scorching sunshine, or the rainstorms that they are facing this week).
Just now, the two first biogas installations are being built here in Fianarantsoa province. With the help of our partner organisation in China, where NMS have run many biogas projects, we hope to be able to give biogas to 500 homes in Madagascar and a similar number in China in the course of the next 3 years. This family is one of the many families in Madagascar that is dreaming about getting biogas in their home.
Would you like to help make the dream of Martin and Jean Roger into a reality? You can give a biogas digester in Madagascar for Christmas to someone you know. You can also buy “carbon offset” for any flights you have taken in 2012 by supporting this project. If you are interested, please send us an e-mail.  

These are the twigs that each of the brothers need to pick every day. Zandritiana Jean Martin (15 years of age) is wearing the blue jumper and Zafinantenaina Jean Roger (14 years of age) is wearing the green jumper. To pick this amount of twigs and sticks they have to pick sticks for at least 1 hour each (every day), as it is now quite difficult to find sticks where they live.

Irene: Now found at a good University!

Some of you may remember a girl we called "Irene" who was thrown out by her parents because she was unable to speak due to the fact that she was hearing impaired. When I recently asked the headmaster of the ChangSha Deaf Centre, Mrs Wang, about "Irene" her face lit up with a warm smile. Irene has just been accepted at one of Chinas top 10 Universities. Quite the Christmas present! This in itself is amazing for a girl from the countryside in this vast country. When you remember that she is hearing impaired, this is even more incredible. Looking back, it now seems almost unreal for her incredibly proud parents to imagine that they only 12 years ago gave her to the headmaster of the deaf school and had no intention of seeing her again.

Without the Deaf Centre in Changasha, it is questionable if Irene would be alive, be able to speak or have any formal education. Irenes story is one of many life stories that shows how life can turn out when Gods love is poured on people and igniting hope really can change more than one can imagine!

If you would like to read the rest of her story, you can read about it in English or Norwegain depending on your preference. It is really a pleasure to see the joy in this deaf centre!