Peng finds new friends at orphanage

Updated: 2015-12-03 07:52

By Zhao Huanxin in Harare and An Baijie in Beijing(China Daily USA)

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 Peng finds new friends at orphanage

First lady Peng Liyuan, accompanied by her Zimbabwean counterpart Grace Mugabe, pays a visit to Grace Mugabe Children's Home in Harare on Tuesday. Xie Huanchi / Xinhua

First lady Peng Liyuan was greeted with a Chinese song, Looking for a Friend, while visiting an orphanage founded by her Zimbabwean counterpart, Grace Mugabe, during President Xi Jinping's two-day visit to the country.

Looking for, looking for my friend. Do you want to be my friend? Nice to meet you, nice to meet you. Now you are my good friend, the children sang in Chinese on Tuesday afternoon as they welcomed Peng to the Grace Mugabe Children's Home.

The orphanage is in the Mazowe area about 30 kilometers west of Harare.

Accompanied by Zimba-bwe's first lady, Peng visited the children in the orphanage with her entourage. The home was founded by Mugabe to care for orphans and abandoned children. Early this year, Mugabe graduated from the University of Zim-babwe with a PhD in orphanages.

Peng praised the children's excellent performance of the song, and she expressed her wish that the students could grow up healthy and happy.

The Chinese first lady donated teaching facilities, as well as study and sports materials, worth 1 million yuan ($156,300) to the children. She was thanked by a child who accepted a panda toy as a gift.

A boy asked Peng whether he could select a gift from her donations, and she replied, "Of course". The boy took a badminton racket from the first lady and thanked her.

Orphans are the most vulnerable and at-risk community in a society, so it is the common responsibility for society to make them live a happy life and get a good education, as other children do, she said.

Peng said that she hoped the children all would experience a comfortable, safe and warm environment at the home.

Contact the writers at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn

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