Charity-minded billionaire gives not wisely, but too well

Jiang Huoxiang has devoted her billions to helping others, and now she faces financial troubles.

With only a primary school education, this hard-working 40-year-old from Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province, became a billionaire during the 1990s. And while her riches gave her comfort, they also helped her live her dream of helping others.

Her compassion was unlocked in 1995, when she adopted a little boy who had been abandoned at the gate of the city's children's hospital because he was seriously ill.

Over the years, Jiang has adopted 29 children ranging in age from several months to 10 years old. Among the children were orphans, disabled children who had been abandoned and children whose parents could not care for them because they were stricken by poverty.

Over the past 13 years, Jiang and her husband, Chen Guohua, have devoted most of their income to looking after their adopted children. At present, there are 16 children living in the couple's home.

"My financial situation is not so good now. Though I earn 5,000 yuan ($715) every month from an aquaculture experimental farm, it is also a hard job to feed 16 children," Jiang said.

Several recent accidents have complicated the task.

One of the children was injured and needed some 50,000 yuan worth of medical treatment, but Jiang had no money on hand to cover the fees.

She visited a local company to collect a debt of 300,000 yuan, which she was planning to use to help the child, but ended up quarrelling with the company's manager. He beat her, and Jiang suddenly found herself in hospital.

"I went to the company on April 1 and talked to Zhu, the deputy general manager, about getting 50,000 yuan of the debt they owed me so I could pay for my child's medical treatment, but the man did not want to pay and then attacked me," Jiang said from her hospital bed.

In his defense, Zhu said he only pushed Jiang and that his company has no money now to repay what it owes.

Doctors said Jiang is suffering from a lumber compression fracture and recommended she stay in hospital for medical treatment.

"I adopted the children because I want to help them and did not want anything in return. However, some people do not understand my actions," she said.

Local media have covered Jiang's story, but that only encouraged more children and poor people to come to her for help.

"I could not reject those who came for help and more people came, which meant I had to bear more pressure," Jiang said.

The many people who appealed to her kindness put a strain on her finances.

And not everyone agrees that her selflessness has always been reasonable.

Some people said she was a fool and just wanted to show off. And some have used this position as a pretext for not repaying the money they owe her.

Many others support Jiang and her charitable actions. Early this month, people in Hunan and Zhejiang provinces mailed her some money to help her out, which made Jiang happy.

"I did not want their money, but I felt happy that these people understood my situation," Jiang said.

Such shows of support have reaffirmed Jiang's resolve to face down her difficulties.

"I will continue to help the children no matter how hard it is, and I hope to build an orphanage to give the poor abandoned children a warm home," she said.

Wang Mingmei, director of the Sociology Research Institute at the Jiangxi provincial Academy of Social Sciences, said Jiang Huoxiang's efforts are commendable and deserve to be emulated.

"And we should also pay more attention to improving our social relief system. I would urge Jiang to go to the local government for help when her charitable giving starts to create problems," Wang said.

China Daily

(China Daily 04/15/2008 page6)