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Silent Tears: A Journey Of Hope In A Chinese Orphanage (2008)

by Kay Bratt(Favorite Author)

3.82 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1438238169 (ISBN13: 9781438238166)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

CreateSpace

review 1: This book has a lot to offer as far as information about the reality of orphanages in China. There was a lot of things I learned and even though some reviews were negative I do feel the author did try to make an effort to empathize with the workers there.Unfortunately it was poorly written. Long passages that were hard to follow and often confusing. So many different children and then her own personal family situation woven in. Right off the bat she talks in her introduction about China being a third world country. I was under the impression it was, in many ways, not a third world country so to state that as a fact rather than as an opinion made me question her judgement. As a mother I thought it was very strange that she is reaching out to all of these children in these h... moreorrific circumstances but she is divorced and leaves her own 13-year-old child at home with her dad. I realize she felt terrible about it and was torn and circumstances being what they were and whatever, but that is something I just don't think I could live with if I wasn't force to.I do think she has made a significant contribution to the awareness of the situation there. I think many people are in her debt for allowing them to understand how their own adopted children were treated and how this may have affected them. I think many more children lived and were placed in homes because of the important work she and other people did. There is no question that this woman has had a very important impact on the lives of these kids. Did she do China a favor by writing it? I don't know. I'm sure much of it is not viewed favorably, especially when she describes how women are treated, how she was stared at, how everything smelled, the beggars in the street, the overpopulation, etc. The whole thing with the work party for her husband where there were drunk and disorderly people was really weird and went on for way too long. I think she tried to give an honest view also sighting many things they began to notice that were good as far as how the people gardened, etc. but in many respects it certainly doesn't reflect well on the people of China as a whole. Obviously it is a particularly sensitive topic for the people of China and so if one were to judge them solely on the conditions of their orphanages, their often archaic and superstitious beliefs, and the overall handling of unwanted babies you might think of it as an awful place. But not everyone in China is like this, not all babies that have deformities or are not coveted boys are tossed away, not all people are still living in the dark ages in terms of their thinking, and positive changes are being made all over as the people become more educated and are able to live a higher standard of living.
review 2: Presented in the form of a personal journal, the author presents the deplorable conditions of the orphanage in which she volunteered. She enlisted other volunteers, and the team were able to make incremental improvements in the care of the helpless children who were abandoned at all ages when it was discovered by the birth parents that the child was imperfect in some way. Cleft palates, spinal bifida, loss of limbs or digits, heart problems. And the toll it took on her, personally! I'm sure publishing this journal was very cathartic, and it certainly reached other adoptive parents of foreign children, and helped them understand some of what their children were subject to in their previous life. Thank goodness for souls who have much to give to these children, who only need adequate food, medical care and a loving environment. less

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