An American with A Chinese Heart

Home

Living in China

Foreigners in China

An American with A Chinese Heart

Foreigners in China

A woman from the United States in her 90s is devoting her love and energy to the development of a small Chinese village where she used to live as a small child.

In the early 20th century Eunice Moe Brock's parents came to the eastern Chinese province of Shandong where they gave birth to her. When she grew up during the Kuomintang Republic, Brock saw the poverty, plague and flames of war. And so when she left China at the age of 13, she was determined to come back to help the poor people of her birthplace, she told the People's Daily.

Following her husband's death in 1998, the old woman sold her house, her car, a 40-acre forest and other belongings and moved to China. She settled down at Liumiao Village in Liaocheng of Shandong, to follow through on her promise to help the local villagers.

In the past few years Brock has built a computer room for the primary school with her own money, and donated desk, chairs and books. She also paid the bills for people to have cataract surgery and has been trying to improve the medical care facilities in a number of villages. So far, she has donated more than 300,000 yuan.

Her work has been recognized not only by the people of Shandong, but also the nation. Brock was named China's Philanthropy Ambassador in 2003, and at the beginning of this year was awarded the title as one of the "10 People Who Touched Shandong 2006" for her affection and contributions towards the Chinese.

The woman regularly writes to her relatives in the US, talking about her life and the changes taking place in the small village and in the country."Several streets have been widened in Liumiao, and the main road is flanked with trees and shrubs," she wrote in the first letter.

In 2002 the local government invested 4 billion yuan to improve the power supply and began Internet service to villages, so Brock started to write e-mails."I am happy to have constant electricity, and I think the other villagers are happy, too," she said. "The Chinese government has made great efforts to improve basic utilities in rural areas to benefit poor people."

One of her neighbors, Aunt Zhang told Brock she received government-issued medical security compensation for the first time in a cooperative medication scheme for people living in rural areas. So Brock told her family: "The government will pay half of the villagers' medication if they join the project by paying a fee of only 10 yuan a year."

Brock said she was happy living in China, as she felt the various changes in the country were due to its increasing economic development.

She plants vegetables in the field herself, and puts up spring couplets on the door during the lunar new year.In Liumiao, every child plays with toys in Brock's home, and at Christmas she always brings a batch of candies and takes them by a donkey cart to schools for students.

"I hope to have a 'green card' so that I can live in China forever. I'm an American, but I have a Chinese heart," she said, promising to donate her organs to Chinese patients after her death.

一位90多岁的美国老人正将她的爱心和精力奉献给一个正在发展中的中国村庄，那正是她儿时生活过的地方。

20世纪初，尤妮斯莫布罗克的父母来到了中国东部的山东省并在那里生下了她。在她成长的民国时代里，她亲眼目睹了饥饿，瘟疫和战火连天。她告诉人民日报的记者说，13岁离开中国时，她已下定决心，有朝一日一定要回到出生地帮助那里的贫苦人民。

　　1998年布罗克的丈夫去世后，老人卖掉了房子、车、240多亩的森林和其他家当来到了中国。她在山东省聊城刘庙村定居下来，开始履行承诺，帮助当地村民。

　　在过去这几年里，布罗克自己出钱给村里小学建起了一个计算机房，捐献了桌椅和教材。她还资助村民做了白内障手术，并且努力改善几个村子里的医疗设施。到目前为止，她的捐款已超过30万人民币。

　　她的努力不仅得到了山东人民的人可，更得到了全中国人民的赞赏。布罗克被评为2003年中国慈善大使。在2007年年初，她因其对中国人民的深情厚谊和卓越贡献而获得了“感动山东”的荣誉称号。

　　老人时常给在美国的亲人们写信，向他们讲述她在中国的生活，以及在这个小乡村和这个国家里发生的变化。“刘庙的很多路都变宽了，主路两侧种有树木和灌木。”在第一封信里，她这样写道。

　　2002年，当地政府投资40亿元用以改善能源供应并将互联网服务引入农村。这样一来，布罗克开始写电子邮件了。“我很高兴现在能有恒定的电力供应，我想其他村民也和我一样高兴，”她说。“中国政府正在竭力改善农村的基础设施，提高贫困人民的生活质量。”

　　邻居张大婶告诉布罗克说，她第一次得到了政府的医保补助，这属于农村医疗合作制度的一部分。布罗克告诉她的家人：“如果村民每年交１０元钱加入农村医疗合作项目，政府就会为村民负担一半的医疗费用。”布罗克说她在中国生活很高兴，因为她能感受到经济的迅速发展给这个国家带来的众多变化。

　　她在自家的小院里种菜，农历新年里在门上贴春联。在刘庙，每个孩子都在布罗克的家里玩玩具。在圣诞节，她总是用驴车拉着一车糖果送到学校分给孩子们。

“我希望拿到 ‘绿卡’，这样我就能永远留在中国了。我是美国人，但我有一颗中国心。”她说，她已承诺死后将自己的器官捐献给那些需要它们的中国病人们。

< Prev		Next >

China Yellow Pages