Two-year-old Chun Yu is a beautiful girl who lives at Bethel Foster Home in Langfang, north China's Hebei Province. The toddler looks a little nervous as she feels a volunteer's pet dog, a Miniature Pinscher. And rightly so. She's never touched one before.

Chun Yu, like all the other children living at Bethel, is blind.

"Chun Yu was born blind, which was why her parents abandoned her in a hospital. She was then sent to a state orphanage. But, the orphanage was not equipped to deal with a blind orphan, so she was finally sent to us," said a caregiver or nanny who takes care of Chun Yu.

Chun Yu is one of the 27 children living in the Bethel Foster Home. Most of them are under the age of ten. The youngest recently turned one, and the oldest is 19.

There is a sad story behind each and every one of the children. But one stands out in particular.

When Xin Ju was a year and a half, she weighed no more than a six-month-old baby. The doctor at the state orphanage where she was previously was concerned. But he didn't know how to treat a blind baby. A member of staff at the orphanage decided to ask Guillaume and Delphine Gauvain for help.

In the care of the Gauvains, Xin Ju made a remarkable recovery. After only a month at Bethel, Xin Ju caught up on six months of development. She is now happy and healthy.

Bethel's French founders

Guillaume and Delphine Gauvain come from Lyons in the south of France. Husband and wife, both in their 20s, left France to study in the US for three years and then worked in Canada as drug-rehab consultants.

They moved to Hong Kong three years ago, which is where the idea of a home for blind orphans first germinated. Their aim is to eventually develop a network of foster homes for blind orphans in China. So, they headed for Beijing, intending to open the first home there. But Beijing proved to be a little too expensive, which is why they made the decision to relocate to Langfang, Hebei Province, where they established the current orphanage in March 2003.

To the children at Bethel, they are known as "French dad and mum".
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"Bethel's goal is to develop a network of foster homes for blind orphans in China. We work hand in hand with 10 state orphanages that trust us with the children's special needs. Our aim is to provide these children with a family environment. Nothing can replace a real family, but the reality is that blind orphans are rarely adopted or fostered out. That's where we come in," said Guillaume, whose Chinese name is Ji Yong.

When asked why he and his wife have devoted themselves to taking care of blind orphans, he replied simply: "I am a Christian. God told me to do so. I just follow what God says.

"We took in our first three children in December 2003 and hired three nannies to help us care for them. Today, we have 27 children in our care and 36 employees. Our goal is to teach these children independence," Guillaume added.

In China, the blind have few employment prospects. Many end up as massage therapists. However, Guillaume believes that the blind can do more than massage. They could, for example, earn very decent livings for themselves as interpreters or potters.

"We not only provide a proper environment for foster care, education and professional training for visually impaired orphans, but also surgery and/or medical follow up. Our overheads are about 70,000 yuan (US$8,457) per month. This includes rental, daily essentials, medical treatment and employee salaries.

"We are dependent on donations. About 60 percent of the donations we receive are from overseas individuals; 11 percent from Hong Kong and 29 percent from Chinese mainland,” Guillaume explained.

"We need more volunteers like Ma and Wang to teach kids more than just English and Braille," Guillaume added.

Ma Laoshi and Wang Xinyu are volunteers who have dedicated their time and effort to helping Bethel's children.

Ma Laoshi teaches Braille. He comes from Hefei City, Anhui Province. He is himself visually impaired. He graduated from a school for the visually impaired and was teaching at a state orphanage before he heard about Bethel.

Wang Xinyu is a dance and English teacher. She was previously a manager in a textile company on Saipan Island. She quit her job to devote her time to making a difference in these children's lives. Wang Xinyu is also Bethel's office manager.

According to Wang, some of the children also suffer from mental disorders, autism or are physically retarded.

Xiao Guang, for example, is 16, but he is thin and short. He

looks no more than 10. This is because the boy suffers from physical retardation. Responding cheerily to a question about what he would like to be when he grows up, he said: "I want to work and earn some money so that my French dad and mom don't need to work so hard."

Zhen Guang, 8, is autistic. His behavior is a little troublesome because he can be disobedient and he rarely talks to anyone. "We have to pay more attention to Zhen Guang, and be more patient with him," said a nanny.

"We've discovered that he quiets down a lot whenever there's music. So we taught him to sing. Now, he can sing a few simple tunes with the other kids. For Zhen Guang, it is really a big improvement," said the nanny.

At 19, Tian Lanlan is Bethel's oldest ward. She had this to say about Bethel: "I don't know how to express my appreciation to my French parents and nannies here. May be this song that Aunty Wang taught us can describe my feelings: I can see the sun in the sky. I can see moon at night. I can see red flowers and green trees in the garden. The world is not dark anymore for there is love in my heart."

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Wu Nanlan, June 27, 2005)