The Story of Wang
Wang Anxin came in contact with Morning Tears in 2005. One morning two off duty policemen brought her from a rural village to the big city Zhengzhou. They told her to wait in a children village of Morning Tears till they would come back from the downtown in the afternoon. Two days later she was told that this would be the place where she would spend the rest of her childhood.
Now, Wan Anxin is 'happy'. The caregivers of Morning Tears estimate that she was about 7 years old. A local school agreed to accept her for a reasonable fee although she has no papers, and thus no rights. The head teacher realizes that only few people should know about her background. Wang Anxin would be socially condemned and many parents would make their child change schools. The teacher says that she is bright, but regularly she looses attention.
In a monotonous way Wang explains how her mother killed her father. Wang believes her mother did the right thing. Before, her father killed her young sister and undertook two attempts to kill Wang as well by throwing her in the village well. Her mother was frequently beaten for not being able to deliver a son.
Wang's mother will not be executed. The judge perceived her act as self-defense so she will serve 22 years of prison.
What Wang likes most are her friends in Children Village and her birthday. Excited she explains how last month the other children sang for her and how they ate sweets together. The caregivers had chosen august 15 as her birthday.
What Wang does not like is the cold during the night and the toilets in Children Village. The city government decided that no more coal heating systems can be used in wider Xi'an to reduce pollution. With extra covers and sleeping with three in one bed the children try to fight against the minus 15 degrees Celsius. The toilet room is at the end of the corridor. Two months ago she stopped bed wetting. She is proud of it, but she does not like to go in the night to the toilet because she is afraid elder boys will come to her like they did with her friend Chu.
When asked if there is something special she would like, her eyes turn glossy. "Seeing my mother" she says with a stumbling voice. In one month China will celebrate the Moon festival. We are negotiating with the prison to allow that Wang Anxin visit her mother then. Maybe she can even sit on her lap for a while.