Gaoyou Mayor Ni Wencai at the 2009 Reunion
On July 23rd thru 25th, 2009 25 families with children from Gaoyou gathered in Seattle for a reunion.
At a gathering on Friday night we were honored to have a web link-up with Gaoyou Mayor Ni Wencai. The event was covered in Gaoyou by the local
media. Below is a video of the coverage in Gaoyou and a translation of an article on a Gaoyou website.
A transcript of the mayor's address to the gathering is available
HERE
Translated text from the article published on
gytoday.cn
Thanks to Xiaoyuan Liu for the translation
In March of 2008, Love Across International Boundaries, which
is written by Mr. Wencai Ni (the Chairman of Gaoyou's Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference), had been published
in China.The loving stories in the book had deeply
touched the readers, also gained its popularity locally. A
year after the book, how are the children who lived on the other
side of Pacifica Ocean doing? At 10am of July 25th, 2009
(US Pacifica time 7pm), 25 families who adopted the Gaoyou girls
got together in Seattle, WA for their bi-yearly reunion. While Mr. Ni, as a dear friend from Gaoyou, tried without
success to attend this gathering in person , he “met” the group
via the internet and felt the love “across the international
boundaries” again.
Exactly 10am, within a blurry computer screen, the reporter
saw the happy and excited faces of the children and their
parents. They gathered by an open area, and talked to Mr.
Ni with the help of Ms. Cai as interpreter. Mr. Ni
first greeted all of them, “Da Jia Hao! (Hello everyone!)”, “Ni
Hao (Hello)”, replied from Seattle. The excited kids tried
to sneak their happy faces into the webcam. And Mr. Ni
pointed out couple of them, said, “I have their baby pictures.”
Then Mr. Ni continued with his speech, “Your reunion must be a
manifestation of your love - for your families, for each other,
and for Gaoyou. It is a reunion for sharing your
experiences and ideas, and for developing friendship. It
must be a very rich and colorful event, and extremely
meaningful.” Mr. Ni expressed his appreciation to the loving
families for taking care of the girls, and also mentioned that
the people of Gaoyou think about them all the time. He
hopes more foreign friends will convey their care through this
loving bridge.
Mr. Ni told the audience, “I would like to tell
you that Gaoyou has undergone tremendous development
in the past few years. Our economic level has
been growing at the rate of 20% annually. The
city has taken on a whole new look. If you have a
chance to see the CD that I sent you, I believe
those of you who have personally been to Gaoyou
before would realize how far Gaoyou has come along.
We warmly welcome all of you to revisit Gaoyou with
your children, to let them ‘come home’ to have a
look.” He also talked about the coming
event, the Fifth China’s Postal Culture Festival.
At the end, he invited the friends come to visit
Gaoyou, invest in Gaoyou and promote Gaoyou’s
development.
During the QA session, the children and their
parents asked the questions. - “Where does Gaoyou
come from?”, “What are you most proud of about
Gaoyou?”, “What kind of games do children play at
school?”, “When do children start to learn English
language at school?” Mr. Ni answered all of
them.
As the online conference came to the end, Mr. Charles Day and
his families came to the front, said “hi” to Mr. Ni, and also
announced the good news. For this reunion, the Gaoyou
world families had donated over $3,800 to the Half Sky
Foundation, which will sponsors five children at Gaoyou Social
Welfare Institute.
As the short, but exciting conversation drew to a close,
Mr. Ni mentioned to the reporters that Love Across
International Boundaries will be translated and published in
America soon, with the help of his American friends. He
wishes this love will transcend all the extraneous differences -
space, time, race and religious beliefs; also hope everyone will
continue to contribute to the charity community with their
warmest hearts.
Reunion keepsakes arrive in Gaoyou
On November 27th a box was sent to Mr. Ni in Gaoyou with a few keepsakes from the reunion and other items. Included were:
1 hardbound copies of the 2009 Gaoyou scrapbook; 1 each framed and matted 10 x 12 copies of the children and group photos from the reunion; 2 each unframed copies of the group photos;
3 reunion t-shirts of various sizes; a paper tablecloth from the reunion, signed by many of the families and children; and 2 copies of the 2007 scrapbook.
On December 17th Mayor Ni wrote me to say he'd received the package and was "extremely happy" to see the contents. He had also arranged coverage on the local TV station, and in the local paper, of the package's arrival.
He also confirmed that copies of the scrapbook and pictures were
also given to the orphanage staff.
Below is video clip from the TV news. Then a translated version of the news article.I've been told that the new clip voice over contains
roughly the same content as the article. The video does include a invitation for families to visit Gaoyou and meet with him while they are there
Gaoyou TV News clip from December 13, 2009
Gaoyou Today story from December 15, 2009
On the morning of December 10th, a very unusual shipment sent to
Municipal Political Consultative Conference Chairman Ni Wencai
arrived on hand. The sender's address is in Seattle. We opened
the package and a set of DVDs, several photo albums red printed
with "Gaoyou Family Reunion" and other words, T-shirts, and a
poster filled with warm words appeared in front of us.
Included in the package is a note: Honorable Mayor Ni Wencai, Please accept these gifts from the Families with Children from Gaoyou
as an expression or our gratitude to you…
NI Wencai’s book “Love across International Boundaries” was published in March last year. Through this book, we came to know Charles,
and through Charles came to know other families connected by love. One day in late July of this year, Charles’ family, and 24 other
families of children of Gaoyou adopted by American and Canadian families staged a reunion in Seattle including spectacular
recreational activities. The same day Ni Wencai, through a video connection and far away in a foreign country, had a special
"face to face" communication with the children. Under the bright blue sky the children, with their innocent smiles blossoming,
snuggled with their blond hair and blue eyed adoptive parents. Using the tender language and curiosity of the young the children
asked many questions that Ni Wencai was happy to answer.
The DVDs completely recorded the day of activities at the reunion (note: The DVD enclosed was the same given to reunion families.
It did not have reunion footage. CD). The photo album contained a record of these Gaoyou children and marked their progress as they grew up in the United States, with their photos at different periods of their life. The reporter noted that all the children are named "Gao". This common name indicates that they have the same blood, even though the other side of the body in the ocean, but they are still of one mind. A large yellow poster was full of a variety of colorful personal notes written
to Ni Wencai containing greetings and blessings. The parcel is not large, but is heavy and substantial when held in the hand.
"When I saw the kids look so happy, I know they are getting along very well, I feel very comforted, very happy."
Ni Wencai said. Ni Wencai, in cooperation with Charles, has built a bridge of more than just love. More importantly it is that
we allow these children to have the warmth of a foreign country, in Seattle, in the country across the Pacific, in their own beautiful
life. This instills in depths of these young hearts the understanding that: love knows no boundaries, life is worth cherishing.
