After numerous meetings, and a few disagreements I’m almost at the end of this amazing journey, just one more meeting to go with the ‘brass’ and then I’m on my way home. But I couldn’t be in Beijing and not see that icon of China – the Great Wall.On my way back into Beijing today we stopped off at the Bandaling Great Wall precinct. It’s here that there is a fortress from which the wall extends for miles north and south. The fortress has now become one of the bases of the Wall Climb, the ticket office and tourist precinct (with the obligatory tourist stalls and Starbucks).
What an awesome sight. I only had 1.5 hours (the unfortunate obligation of work) so went for a walk down the southern leg of the wall. It took us about 30 minutes to climb to the second ‘turret’ thingy which was only the third highest point of the wall that I could see, but that was strenuous enough. The stone steps have been worn down over the centuries and at places are quite narrow, but the climb is worth it – from our vantage point we could see the wall disappear into the mist miles away in both directions.
Tonight I had the amazing privilege of meeting with a number of Chinese Salvation Army Officer’s children. Most of them are in their 70s now: amongst the group was John Yin (the son of Major Yin Hun Shun about whom the book Yin: The Mountain the Wind Blew Here was written), most had seen their parents interned for their Salvation Army allegiance, one saw his mother thrown out on the street to clean and beg. This is ‘the remnant’ of TSA in China and they are so thrilled to see the Army presence in their land again. When we sat around the table and sang together and told some of the stories they were so very passionate and thankful. This was just an amazing end to my journey in China.
Tomorrow I’m in the air back to Aotearoa and family.
There have been many lessons learnt and a few recommendations and decisions to make – but overall The Salvation Army is doing a great thing in Xinghe. There are families that today have more potential for a bright future because of the Army’s engagement. There are women that are receiving medical intervention and hygiene training for themselves and their children, there are men and women who are being helped to develop new skills in agriculture and animal husbandry (raising rabbits and cows). There are people whose lives have been transformed and with engagement with local government officials we are continuing to challenge the structures and concepts of normality that perpetuate poverty and marginalization.
For those that are Salvationists you can be proud of what the Army does in these kinds of places, and you can be certain that your money is well used (all of it).
