The Story of the Abandoned Baby (Part 1)
This is a two-day-old male infant, with a delicate appearance and his red skin yet to fade. Due to having only two fingers on each hand and underdeveloped feet, he was abandoned by his parents in the grass by the roadside. He was found by a kind-hearted person who brought him to Yuan Lihai, a place that takes in abandoned babies. Although not wealthy, Yuan Lihai shelters dozens of children in her humble shack, ranging from two days old to twenty years old. The children are varied - some have snow-white hair, some suffer from cerebral palsy and cannot move, others have heads covered in oozing sores, some crawl on the ground as they cannot walk, and there are also deaf and mute children. Here, you can find almost every type of disability known to ordinary people. Of course, there are also healthy children.
The shack is dilapidated and dark, filled with donated clothes everywhere. Perhaps due to the smell, flies buzz around. Because of the limited space, regardless of age, each bed accommodates several children, especially newborns. In earlier years, some of the newborns sent here were healthy, but now most are disabled - some are blind, some have heart or other diseases. The less severe cases are cleft lips, while the more serious ones are incurable conditions. Standing in the dark, low shack, I see the newly arrived male infant without feet crying loudly, waving his tiny fists no bigger than garlic cloves, his head moving back and forth searching for his mother's nipple. Failing to find it, he begins sucking on his own little fists. After a couple of sucks, he cries again. Watching him wave his limbs helplessly and cry weakly, I wonder how his parents, who are also human, could bear to abandon him. He is so small, about the size of an adult's shoe. Though he has a nose, eyes, and mouth, he has no consciousness. He doesn't know that the story of the abandoned baby (part 1) means he will never find the nipple again. His mother, the woman who gave birth to him and gave him life, has already abandoned him. He himself doesn't know how fragile and tender he is - so fragile that a gust of wind could take his life, so tender that even slight neglect could lead to his death. He doesn't know that he was discarded in the wilderness just two days after being born, like a blade of grass, or perhaps worse, because for a newborn life, abandonment means death. He is so unfortunate to be abandoned, but he is also so lucky to be discovered in time and sent to Sister Yuan.
He doesn't know that this place is the paradise for disabled children, their main base. Here, there is no discrimination, no abandonment. Sister Yuan treats him like her own child. Although the place is crowded with children and looks like hell on earth, there is love and family here. With these two things, it's enough.
The first time I came here, I couldn't help but burst into tears for all the abandoned babies - those either without hands, without feet, with heads full of ulcers, with cerebral palsy or cleft lips. Seeing the faces of these problematic children breaks one's heart. Children, the most touching word in this world, the most lovable little ones, God's angels, earthly treasures, capable of bringing endless joy, light, and hope, and inspiring boundless love, are given the best words by people, such as treasure, baby, sweetie, etc. But here, you don't see hope, beauty, or happiness; instead, you see endless sorrow, pain, and torment. These children might be a lifelong burden and debt, or the root cause of poverty and unhappiness throughout one's life. That's why their parents abandoned them - perhaps out of despair because they couldn't be cured, or perhaps out of poverty and lack of money for treatment.
People don't know that the survival rate for very young children, especially newborns, is very low because they are usually abandoned in the wild. This is tolerable in spring, but in summer or winter, such fragile lives can hardly withstand the cruelty of the world. According to Sister Yuan, in winter, some children are brought in covered in snow, and in summer, some are covered in flies. Those who survive are considered lucky because their fates are strong. However, the conditions here aren't ideal - just a large shack that leaks rainwater. With so many children and few caretakers, in winter, bricks are used to hold down the blankets to prevent the children from kicking them off and catching colds. Although there are plenty of donated clothes, money is still scarce. Sister Yuan has no funds to treat the children, despite the hospital being right next door - a luxurious hospital resembling a hotel. But "no money, no treatment" is the rule. Because this hospital is nearby, there are more abandoned babies, many of whom were confirmed to have serious illnesses at this hospital and then abandoned due to the high medical costs. Although only separated by a wall, one side seems like heaven, and the other like hell. But this isn't the fault of the hospital staff, as inability to afford medical care is a nationwide issue, a systemic problem rather than an individual's. It's just that Lankao is poorer, making these problems more prominent.
Although the current state of national healthcare reform remains unsatisfactory, and the difficulty of accessing medical care hasn't been thoroughly resolved, it's encouraging that while major illnesses remain untreatable, conditions like cleft lips are now treated for free in many places. Several children at Sister Yuan's place have been treated for free by hospitals in Zhengzhou. Although the social impact isn't significant, the meaning is enormous. At the very least, it shows that our country's medical institutions aren't entirely driven by money; they still have a conscience. Doctors don't all wield knives to exploit people; some use them to save lives. Recently, I heard that heart disease can also be treated for free. I sighed with relief, hoping that the speed of national healthcare reform could accelerate, allowing hospitals across the country to be less luxurious and medical expenses lower, so that everyone, when sick, can receive treatment in a hospital and not die at home. I also hope that knowledge of eugenics can spread like sunlight to all villages and remote areas, including those planning to get married. Of course, what I hope for most is that medical insurance can first cover the group of children and infants who need it the most.