A fire engulfed a privately run orphanage in Lankao, Henan Province, on January 4, claiming the lives of seven children. Following the incident, the public has started questioning Ms. Yuan Lihai, the charity home's owner, and expressed doubts over whether or not she had been profiting from taking in homeless children.

A disastrous fire struck an orphanage in Lankao, Henan Province, on Jan. 4, claiming the lives of seven children. Questions are now raised regarding the motives of Ms. Yuan Lihai, the owner, for running the home.[Photo/Yangcheng Evening News]

Online rumors emerged that Ms. Yuan might be cheating the government out of subsistence allowance by raising orphans in her house, a self-proclaimed charity home without the proper government licensing.

Upon hearing these claims, both Yuan's relatives and friends refuted the allegations by saying they are "impossible!"

"If it hadn't been for her, the children wouldn't have been alive today; they would have died on the streets a long time ago! She helped the children live on," an unnamed friend of Yuan said angrily.

Yuan's daughter, Ms. Du Juan, noted how her mother had recently been suffering from unfair criticism. She said, "How could such things happen to a person who has been doing good things all her life!"

By adopting an orphan child, the foster guardian is eligible for a monthly allowance of 70 yuan (US$11.25), as stipulated by local policy, according to people living in the same neighborhood.

A male neigbhor living across the street defended Yuan. He said 70 yuan would never be sufficient to cover a child's monthly expenses. "I wouldn't get myself into so much trouble [taking in homeless children] even if the allowance were several hundred yuan," he said.

Yuan's friend Ms. Wang Hua said the foster mother kept taking in children "because of the emotional bond," noting that she has known Yuan and her husband for years and was sure of Yuan's good personality. "I would find the undertaking too difficult if I was put in her position," she said.

Yuan's love for the abandoned children even affected her own son Du Ming. While he was too young to remember, Yuan left him in the care of her parents-in-law in rural Hebei Province, so that she could take better care of her orphanage. Du Ming said he did not return to his mother until he was 12 years' old, but showed understanding of his mother's persistence.

The orphans, many of whom have disabilities, all repeatedly said they loved their foster mother, and that they wish to grow up and "make big money," so that they could "build a big house for mother and their other siblings all under the same roof."

Twenty-year-old chubby boy Yuan Song has been living in Yuan's home since he was very young. His parents ditched him because he had cerebral palsy. He recalled one moment when he wanted to give his foster mother a cut of his first pay-check, but she declined the offer.

"Mother didn't take one penny and simply asked me not to ditch her when she grows old," said Yuan Song as he was holding back the tears.