The teacher asked Kaidi, "Tell us Kaidi about someone you admire and why."
"I admire Sandra King, my 'first mother', who raised me from the time I was an infant until I was four years old."
Sandra is an inspiration and role model to me because of the selfless acts she has carried out in order to save others while risking her own life. As a woman with grown children, Sandra travelled alone from her native New Zealand to China with the goal to help orphan children with special needs. She raised money from New Zealand to support herself and up to thirty children she cared for in the first home. Over her twenty years in China, Sandra has had over 600 children go through her hands and homes.
While Sandra was caring for orphaned special needs children in China, she found five healthy infant girls, including myself. Although Sandra knew the dangers and consequences of taking care of non-special needs children in an orphanage, she cared for us out of the love in her heart.
On one momentous day, Sandra heard from a friend in her Chinese village that the government suspected her of caring for non-special needs children. (This was and is illegal in China unless you are under government supervision – and I wasn’t at the time.) I admire Sandra for her tremendous courage in risking her life for these children, including myself, and for taking care of them with immense care and love.
Sandra’s strength, bravery, and compassion are inspirational. I have been touched by Sandra’s selflessness and deep commitment to children. I hope to emulate Sandra by following in her footsteps to the orphanages.
Love, Kaidi