SOS Children's Village: "The Most Beautiful Mother" Zhang Yuxiao raised 25 babies

The 10 children snuggled up next to "mother" Zhang Yuxiao, their faces full of happy smiles. Before coming to Yantai SOS Children's Village, these children had lost their parents, and some children did not have enough to eat, did not wear warm clothes, and some had leg pain.

Looking at this picture taken in 1990, Zhang Yuxiao, 66, recalled the past of SOS Children's Village to the reporter of Minsheng Weekly, "Under the care of SOS Children's Village, they were able to grow up healthily." ”

In the past 36 years, Zhang Yuxiao has brought 25 children, the oldest was born in 1975 and the youngest was born in 2013. At most, she has 9 children with her at the same time.

Founded in 1984, Sos Children's Village China is a member of the International SOS Children's Village Organization, managed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China, and is a public welfare organization for the rescue and shelter of orphans in society.

As of the end of December 2021, there were 127 families and 964 children in 10 SOS children's villages across the country, with a total of 3380 children taken in and raised. Among them, 2299 children have left the village and successively embarked on their respective jobs.

Zhang Yuxiao's Yantai SOS Children's Village was officially opened in June 1986 and began to recruit "loving mothers".

"Take care of these children who have lost their parents"

In the past 36 years, Zhang Yuxiao said that he had never taken a vacation or taken a nap.

In the evening, you have to get up at night to take care of your young children, get up at less than 5 o'clock in the morning to have breakfast, pick up the children who are still in elementary school in the afternoon, and take care of the high school children who have just come home from school late at night...

Although she never gave birth, Zhang Yuxiao took good care of the food, clothing, and living of many children.

During the interview, Zhang Yuxiao showed reporters a number of family portraits taken at different times. Behind the warm and happy picture, she confessed that she did not know how many times she cried, "Children do not obey to cry, children do not study seriously to cry, children also have to cry when they are sick." ”

To this day, she still remembers the hardships of the first time she brought up her children. It was the winter of 1986, and at 1 a.m., the child's leg pain recurred. At that time, the SOS Children's Village had just been completed, and there were no decent doctors in the village, nor was it equipped with transportation. The first time he encountered this situation, Zhang Yuxiao didn't know what to do.

Without thinking too much, Zhang Yuxiao picked up the child and ran to the hospital. When she arrived at the hospital, she still couldn't rest assured of the child and stayed by the bedside for a night. It was at that moment that she realized how difficult it was to be a mother.

As a traditional loving mother of SOS Children's Village, Zhang Yuxiao has never been married or had children. Before coming to the children's village, there was no experience in raising children. Because the conditions for recruiting loving mothers in the children's village at that time were very harsh, the first one was not to marry for life.

Although the marriage of male and female students was the mainstream concept of society at that time, Zhang Yuxiao did not hesitate to sign up. On the one hand, I have always liked my children; on the other hand, I feel pity for these children who have lost their parents.

When they heard the news, their sister and brother did not understand: "If you don't get married, if you don't have children, what will you do when you get old?" You're not afraid to lose face as a woman? ”

In the face of all kinds of obstruction at home, Zhang Yuxiao still insisted on his own ideas: "The family must not agree, but not getting married is nothing to me, my only idea is to take care of these children who have lost their parents." ”

10 SOS Children's Villages

"These children are not my own, but they are the same as those born to me." Zhang Yuxiao said that although these children are not related by blood, they are as close as their brothers and sisters, and they are particularly united and get together, which is a happy big family.

In 1949, Heilmann Gmenar, med., from Austria, decided to find a lifestyle that would suit the special needs of orphans.

In his meticulous exploration, he proposed the idea of raising and educating orphans in a family way, and founded the world's first SOS Children's Village. Through this lifestyle, those children who survived the disaster regained maternal love and family warmth.

SOS Children's Village consists of four parts: SOS Mom, Siblings, Family Housing and Village. The Children's Village and its youth facilities are designed to allow children to grow up healthy, gradually become self-reliant, and prepare for an independent life in the future.

Each children's village has 10 to 15 families, each with its own separate home. Orphans who are of school age can attend school nearby. Grow up in an atmosphere where you are no longer alone until you are completely independent and go to society.

With small family care, children's villages allow these children to regain family warmth and maternal love in the new type of family. Each family has 6 to 8 orphans of different ages and different genders, who are called siblings to each other, and an unmarried woman plays the role of mother in the family.

In such a home, children can gain a sense of security and belonging. Living together and learning from each other, children will also share the responsibilities of daily family life and share the joys and sorrows.

In November 1984, the Sos Children's Village International organization funded the establishment of the China SOS Children's Village in Yantai, Mainland China, and began to adopt orphans in October 1986. In that year, Zhang Yuxiao was recruited to become the first batch of loving mothers in SOS Children's Village.

Since the establishment of the village, Yantai SOS Children's Village has adopted a total of 340 orphans from 60 counties, cities and districts in 5 provinces of Shandong, Henan, Xinjiang, Heilongjiang and Liaoning, and more than 100 children living in the village all year round. Each family raises 7 to 8 children, and boys over the age of 14 live in youth apartments.

"In the families of the children's villages, these orphans who have lost their parents and families have experienced the warmth of motherhood and family, and can fully enjoy the rights of medical care and compulsory education like children in normal families." Zhang Yuxiao said.

After more than 30 years of development, there are 10 SOS children's villages in Tianjin, Yantai, Qiqihar, Nanchang, Kaifeng, Chengdu, Putian, Urumqi, Lhasa and Beijing.

▲ Family portraits of Zhang Yuxiao and children at different times.

I most want to see my children achieve results

In 2003, Zhang Yuxiao's family was named "Yantai Top Ten Civilized Families". Subsequently, she personally won the honors of "Top Ten NewsMakers Who Touched Yantai", "Top Ten Excellent Mothers of Shandong Province", "Top 100 Excellent Mothers of China" and so on.

Compared with these honors, Zhang Yuxiao said bluntly that 25 children is her greatest wealth. As a mom, what she most wants to see is for her children to achieve results.

Today, her children are all over the country, and most of them have settled down.

The eldest son, Zhang Jiancheng, was awarded the "Flood Warrior" in 1998 and was received by state leaders; Wu Yunlong, a well-paid piano teacher; a daughter who went to graduate school in the United States, settled in the United States after graduation, and is now a mother of two children...

When it comes to his children, Zhang Yuxiao's tone is full of pride. However, there are also children who make her feel at ease.

Among the 25 children, Yang Yang, who has low intelligence, is the most reassuring to Zhang Yuxiao. When Masculine first entered the house, he was not yet 4 years old, and the corners of his eyes were red and swollen with tears all year round, and he had severe asthma and drowned, and he could not even hold his rice bowl. Not only do you need to feed him, but you also need to take the bedpan to him every night.

"His brothers and sisters said that they would take good care of him in the future and would never let him suffer." Zhang Yuxiao said, "I often tell children that although there is no blood relationship, you are a bitter melon on a vine, and when you come to a family, you are brothers and sisters, and you must rely on each other and nourish each other." ”

Under the meticulous cultivation of SOS Children's Village, more and more children have become useful talents from all walks of life.

According to the materials released by the China SOS Children's Village Association, the 10 SOS Children's Villages on the mainland have trained a total of 758 college students, 291 undergraduates, 50 graduate students, and 16 foreign students. Since 2012, children living in SOS Children's Village have had a 100% college entrance examination promotion rate for 10 consecutive years.

(□ Zheng Zhiwei, reporter of Minsheng Weekly)