Volunteer Reports

Volunteer Journals

An excerpt from a volunteer journal by Tiffany

Home Visiting the CHD Children

We are the children from big cities in the world; Shanghai, Beijing, and L.A.; they are the children of the countryside: Gansu, Huining.
A multi-floor building, a large garden, an automobile, and modern technology are the necessities; this is our home.

An earth house, a kale yard, a donkey cart, beds, and desks are the only furniture; this is their home.

We depend on others and live an easy life. We are pampered and spoiled like princesses and princes, never truly understanding the meaning of “cherish.”

They are poor, but work hard for a living. Having experienced too much while too young, they have the fortitude in their eyes that does not match their age.

We enjoy the conveniences modern technology brings; they barely have the necessities of life.

A Visit to their Home
…When we were waiting for the doctor who came with us to check the problem of one patient, Zhang Hongxia’s grandmother staggered towards us.Thrilled to see our group of volunteers, she held our hands with all her strength. Her eyes were filled with tears. Having lost most of her teeth, she spoke some words in a dialect that we could not understand. One of our volunteers from Lanzhou translated, “She is saying, ‘Thank you, thank you so much…'”

An excerpt from a volunteer journal by Phillip Ma

Diary of a Journey from Heart to Heart

              We are the volunteers of Angel Heart International, which is a non-profit organization serving to help children with congenital heart diseases (CHD) in China and other developing countries. We formed a team for the Angel Heart International, which is called “Beats of Angel Heart”, which included my dad, my brother Victor, my cousin Mark, and my dad’s friend’s kids, Henry and Margaret. We wanted the hearts of the children with CHD to have the same beats as ours and to pound vividly as the same rhythm as ours.

…Seeing, sensing and feeling all these sadness, pain and misery my heart was pouring out for them. I feel a sense of duty to help and support them. As Dr. Liu said: “Love changes everything.” Our love, our effort to help, no matter how little it might be, all together it would make a big difference. The children who were lucky enough to have the surgery were really grateful to the doctors, the volunteers, and the supporters; I saw their eyes filled with tears of gratitude.

…Throughout this trip, I have experienced something that I could never have imagined before. I’ve seen poverty, I see depression, I see desperation, but I also see the desire of life, love of life, and hope of life. I believe that with more and more support from every one of us we will put more smiles on those children’s faces.

A volunteer journal by Esther Wang