Our LSV children (and young adults) go back to school tomorrow.Just like any other students, they were excited about buying clothing and stationeries for the new school year.We accompany them to register and pay school fees and meal tickets on the first day of school.This year is very special for some of our children.Three children left primary school, two in fifth and one sixth.One enters high school eleventh grade and two going into tenth.

 

Good local schools are one big reason for our moving to the town of Nankang.While outwardly it is a countryside town, Nankang schools have a long history of excellence.Nankang was a center for government and education in the early 1900’s; thus the school quality remains high.Our LSV location is as ideal as possible.The schools are only 10-minute bike ride away, so we can keep close track of our kids.Last night we prepared the older kids for their dormitory life, by giving each of the new dorm students a new suitcase.They proudly carried the suitcase to their room to begin packing.

 

 

Our kids enjoy school and have adjusted well.Their positive attitude in returning to school stems largely from an enjoyable and educational summer vacation.They had improved so much in math because of the summer tutoring and one-on-one lesson in English.In August, we had daily craft time and cooking lesson, plus our special movie nights from our LSV DVD library.

As our new village moves closer to completion, more orphans will come to live and study at LSV.In two to three years, our first Nankang High School graduates will take the college entrance exam.We believe many LSV children, though fatherless, will be well-equipped to go on to colleges in Guangxi and beyond.

 

A short drive away from our new Village is Qingshantou, translated “Green Mountain Point” in English.  Located across the bay from the fishing town of Yingpan, this is a stretch of beach shadowed by green pine trees.  On one end of the beach is a small fishing village, and the other is the small village of Qingshan. 

Along the beach are some small thatched seafood restaurants, and places you can swim at high tide.  After a 20 minute drive from LSV, we stopped at one of these small places.  Walking a ways away from the people, we sat on the shady beach, and enjoyed the view.  The owner of the place approached us offering a hammock to take a nap.  At first we thought he wanted money, but then understood he offered to wave the 10yuan charge and let us use it for free.  He even tied it between two of the pine trees for us.

Under the shade, with a breeze coming through the trees, it was a pleasant place to take a nap.

Whether looking up at the green trees, or out at the gentle waves, it was a beautiful place.  The owner has just opened and the pine needle covered sand is raked clean.  That day the owner was hosting a group from a Beihai tour company.  As they sampled the seafood and hammocks, the owner hopes they will bring more people and business.

Next time we come, we will sample the seafood.  Better yet, we can bring our LSV kids and have a barbeque!  And afterwards we’ll take a nap too!

This summer vacation has been a good time for learning new things.  One of the enjoyable lessons (and delicious too) has been cooking.  We have learned how to make waffles, Tangyuan, and sandwiches. 

After finally finding a waffle maker in Beijing, we put it to use.  Flour and eggs are easy to find here.  Butter is more scarce, so we used peanut oil instead.  And the baking soda used for Chinese Mantou (steamed bread) worked fine for waffle making.  While the waffles themselves looked and tasted original, our toppings were quite unique.   

Kids could choose peanut butter,  honey, sweet condensed milk, canned tropical fruits (pineapple, mango, etc), or raisins.  It was almost like adding waffles to the toppings, rather than toppings to the waffles.  Everyone had a good time. 

Another dish the kids loved to make and eat were sandwiches.  After buying the bread and salad dressing in the big Beihai supermarket, we found the rest of the ingredients here in Nankang.  Oh, there was one more ingredient from outside- a gift of salmon from Canada! 

Our LSV sandwiches featured sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, egg salad, and salmon spread too.  Cut up into neat triangles, the kids happily shared their creations with the adult staff.  It was both a fun and delicious afternoon.

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China, LSV, and Swine Flu

 

Coming back from the US last week was a quick course in disease control.  At Seoul and Hong Kong airports, and China customs, everyone filled out special health declaration forms.  Also, each person had their individual temperature taken.   Although the process consumed extra time, it is assuring to know how serious officials are about protecting citizens.  There are no  cases in our area.

 

We also take extra precautions here at LSV, separating the sick children from healthy, and keeping everything clean.   Just as many travelers are wearing sanitary masks, any sniffling and coughing LSV children do the same.  Handrails and doorknobs are regularly cleaned and sanitized.  Hands are washed, and food preparation is always careful and clean.   Even before the current crisis, our bowls and utensils were always sterilized after use, separating those used by our Hepatitus B positive children. 

 

But colds and flu are not stopping us from having fun together.  This past weekend, we all made Cong You Bing, a kind of fried bread with onion and spices inside.  No one complained about keeping hands clean and wearing masks.  In fact, they kept mixing and kneading until all the flour disappeared.  We had all we could eat, with more to fry later on.   

 

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As Beihai and Nankang develop, our new village is in an ideal location.  We border the main road going south, connecting Nankang to the freeway to Beihai.  This road is being repaired and improved, with new apartment complexes being built next to LSV. 

 

Across the street, to the East, is Nankang’s largest gas station.  And across from our main entrance, facing north, is Nankang’s largest bus station.  As Nankang develops southward, this station should begin operations, and provide many customers to our Commercial Building.

Nankang's largest Gas station

Nankang’s largest bus station

new apartment complexes being built next to LSV

new apartment complexes being built next to LSV

 

Looking westward, are beautiful fields and Eucalyptus forests, making for our beautiful sunsets.  It is a wonderful area to take quiet walks, and enjoy the fresh air.  Everything is green and growing, just like our children and our new village. 

Our new LSV village is truly full of light.  Every building has large windows, to soothe our eyes and allow our fresh air to flow freely.  All the windows are cut to size and assembled on site by very skilled workmen.  As required by China’s building code, all windows have a heat resistant coating.  This cuts down the hot summer rays, and saves electricity.  This reflective coating also prohibits people from looking inside the buildings.

 

The Auditorium, Arts Building, and Commercial-Classroom Building walls are going up.   The Classrooms are spacious, with high ceilings, and wide corridors.  The Arts Building connects the three buildings together, and will serve for music, dance, and other fine arts.  Our Auditorium is designed for music and drama performances with optimal sound quality.  As construction speeds up, the buildings grow more impressive by the day.

Though mostly unseen, our water supply and waste water system are essential components of our village.  An important part of this system is a wastewater tank.  Wastewater is carried by underground pipes to this large, underground, concrete tank.  As this tank fills, the water then goes into the town’s drainage system.  Our building site fresh water now comes from a well.  In the future, we will also be connected to Nankang’s water supply.

 

When the windows are in, the walls are up, and the water turned on, we can move in!

In the current world financial crisis, there is a Chinese silver lining.  As foreign exports have decreased, Chinese companies are selling more to Chinese consumers.  At the same time, China is stimulating its economy by huge expenditures on infrastructure, housing, education, and social welfare projects.   We can see these policies translated into real life here in our home town of Nankang.

One critical area of investment is medical care.  Up until the 1980’s, China had state sponsored medical care for workers.  With the economic reforms, medical care became more privatized and expensive, leaving care unaffordable to many.  The government is now embarking on an ambitious plan to bring quality care to all, especially reaching into the rural areas.  Our local hospital has plans for an entire new, modern building.  All the old buildings will be removed, replaced by a spacious courtyard.  This means a higher level of medical care for our town and LSV.

Housing is also growing in Nankang.   The other day we heard sounds of heavy machinery outside our window.   Looking out, we saw a tractor clearing out another area to build a house.  

  

There are many new houses, similar to our own, being built around town.  And down the street, across from our primary school, an apartment building is rising into the sky.  This is the first private development of this kind in Nankang.   The complex will be 7 floors high, the maximum allowed without elevators.  Previous to this, the closest high-rise apartment housing of this kind was in Beihai city, 45 minutes drive away.

 

In anticipation of new retail customers, several new stores have opened near our main crossroads.   Two of them are dealers for top companies in China.  One is Media, among China’s best home appliance companies.  And yesterday, we saw a red banner announcing a new store with Siemens (German based company) products.   There are also brand name, expensive, clothing stores now opened here.  In the past, the closest dealers were in Beihai.

There is also investment in our education and schools.  Recently, a long row of shops was torn down, to build new apartment buildings for Nankang High School teachers.  And, our local school principals are young, capable, and eager to raise the level of education and improve living standards.

LSV benefits from all these efforts to make Nankang a better place to live.  And Nankang will also benefit from our new LSV community services.  Yes, Nankang, China and Living Stones Village are truly building together!

From a LSV Village Parent who now serves the fatherless at LSV

Summer is coming, and for most families that means taking a vacation.  This year’s challenges are how to fund your getaway, and not hurt our delicate environment.   More importantly, how will your vacation be a meaningful event that brings blessings to others?   The answer is easy, enjoy your vacation while experience the joy of giving to those who do not have such a priviledge!

Consider simplifying  your vacation and thus you can donate part of your vacation expense: the air tickets to Florida, the gas and hotel to LA, the cruise to Alaska or Mexico, the $80 ski lift tickets and rental costs, to the LSV children’s summer program and new home completion.  The joy of giving leaves you refreshed in a special way!  Other creative ideas to live simply and thus can give to others.

1. Use the money for Fresh Choice, or whatever buffet restaurant you think of, to make your own buffet at home.  Let the kids build a salad, make a burrito, or whatever.  Have a lot of dip and chips.  For the mornings, make your own pancakes and omelet or whatever you were going to have out.  Eggs are cheap, and so is flour.  The costs will not be too much more than usual.
2. How about switching houses with another family for a week?  Let the kids enjoy some new toys, another backyard, Neighborhood Park or whatever.  The kids will enjoy it more than a hotel and the price is right- free.
3. Instead of going to Disneyland, get some healthy DVDs and popcorn, and splurge!  Our kids always complained that we would never sit still to watch a movie at home.  Just offer a DVD every night and stay seated, and I guarantee happy kids!
4. Instead of eating out, buy some chicken and marinate it in hot sauce, and BBQ it at the park.  Bring a Frisbee and play together.   You can also drive a bit farther to a State Park in the woods or beach to hike together.  Some other ideas for small kids are camping in the backyard, going fishing at a local pond or lake, riding bikes on a bikeway, fly kites.  We live within an hour drive of several parks that allow wonderful hiking and camping.
5. Take pictures during the day and look at them together as a family at night.  At the same time take time to look at the LSV website and newsletters.  Read some of the stories together or to the younger kids.  You can look at the LSV video together too, and pray for the kids you see.

Bless you to have a wonderful and meaningful vacation!   And that you and your children will know the joy of helping others!