Zhang Ying - silently guarding AIDS children for three years, from businessmen to guardians of AIDS children

In 2006, the "Children of Yingzhou" won the Oscar for Best Documentary Award, and Zhang Ying, who has quietly guarded AIDS children for three years, quickly became famous. From merchants to guarding AIDS children, Zhang Ying said that he did not want to be famous. It is only from a "normal motherly love."

Before 2003, Zhang Ying's life was smooth. She studied, married, and had children in Beijing. She represented Li Ning brand store in her hometown of Fuyang, Anhui Province, with an annual income of over one million.

But an accidental opportunity has changed everything.

At the end of 2003, a professor of sociology at the University of the United States, Kay Joelson, came to Anhui Fuyang to inspect the situation of Chinese orphans. Under the entrustment of friends, Zhang Ying, who was in English, was invited to accompany the work.

After visiting the Xiangyang Welfare Institute and the Yingshang County Orphanage, the American professor proposed to look at the orphans living at home. Zhang Ying saw Lanlan infected with HIV. "Little girl hair is unkempt, face It’s a sore, and it’s also covered with a herpes-like sputum. It’s standing there without a word. The 13-year-old looks like five or six years old.”

Seeing such a scene, Zhang Ying was shocked. "I have just become a mother soon, and I am saddened by the appearance of Lan Lan."

Shortly after the visit, American professors returned to China to help Lan Lan find a treatable drug. Zhang Ying took Lan Lan and her sister to Beijing to check her body.

Zhang Ying, who was just a mother, admitted that she was very scared at the time.

"At that time, I didn't know enough about AIDS. It was just winter. I held my child and deliberately separated my clothes." Zhang Ying recalled.

During the inspection in Beijing, Zhang Ying took care of the children's daily life and became more and more close to the children's feelings. "When you become the only child in the world, the feelings are different." The Spring Festival is approaching, Zhang Ying bought new clothes and scarves for the children. On the way back to Fuyang, she took the child's hand.

Soon after returning to Fuyang, with the support of the local government, Zhang Ying put down her business and registered the Anhui Fuyang City AIDS Poor Children Relief Association. The life of Lan Lan and Zhang Ying has changed since then.

Fame of fame

After the establishment of the association, Zhang Ying has more and more children.

As of now, Zhang Ying said that there are about 1,000 children assisted by the association.

The way the association rescues children is mainly to distribute funds to the families of sick children and to help orphans find foster families. Some of the children who are assisted are infected with AIDS, and some are healthy orphans.

In 2006, a documentary film "Yingzhou's Children", which reflected the children and associations of Xiangyang, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Award of the year. Zhang Ying also became a celebrity and various media flocked.

What makes Zhang Ying seem to be passive is that the content of rural AIDS children who are friends with pigs in the film has caused the misunderstanding that “AIDS children are locked with pigs”.

"In fact, those people don't know much about rural life. The rural pigs and chickens are all kept in the yard. The children are placed in the yard with the pigs, not to say that they are closed with pigs." Zhang Ying explained.

Under this misunderstanding, Zhang Ying’s work sometimes seems to be very passive. “The association was established with the support of the government, but this film makes Fuyang famous for AIDS children, and the situation of AIDS children is misunderstood, so Later, when the friends of the government saw me, although they were also very good, they were not as polite as before." Zhang Ying said.

Although suffering from fame, the biggest trauma Zhang Ying has suffered so far comes from the death of a child. After a lapse of 10 years, when Zhang Ying mentioned it, tears quickly poured into the eyes.

"Fortunately, the child is not leaving the world in despair, and finally he sees us who help him." Zhang Ying said.

Difficult to go down

On July 10, Zhang Ying walked into the Beijing Natural History Museum with 30 children rescued by the association. The night before, her son called her at home in Beijing. One asked when she could see her mother, another thing. It is to remind her that there is rain in Beijing today, and do not take children out for outdoor activities.

“The family has always supported me.” For the family, Zhang Ying did not talk much. A “family support” explained the motivation for persistence in 10 years.

However, the development of the association has still been tested to a large extent.

Although he used to be a businessman, Zhang Ying still experienced many questions about the unprofessional use of money after focusing on public welfare.

"I didn't want to make big things, and I didn't want to be famous, but there was no way. Many people turned to step by step and went to today." Zhang Ying said.

Out of this "passiveness", Zhang Ying has injected more emotional factors into the management of the association, such as the number of children saved, which is often a rough figure.

This kind of affectionate approach also makes Zhang Ying face the reality of more institutional development. After 10 years of development, Zhang Ying thought about it. "Most donors are support once a year, and they are all project expenses. They don't support staff costs. The current staff expenses of the association plus rent, I have to take it myself one year. 100,000 yuan to make up."

This year, the China Red Ribbon Fund also provided project support to the association. Zhang Ying hopes that more loving institutions and individuals can provide long-term and stable attention to the association and help these AIDS children to live a stable and worry-free life.