Hopeful Hearts provides support to those children suffering with the most urgent and most complex heart conditions in both Nanjing Province, and Sichuan province.

This year Hopeful Hearts reached a wonderful milestone. Since its inception in 2003, Hopeful Hearts has been able to assist in the funding of over 200 heart operations.

Thanks to the support of donors within China and from overseas we were able to fund the treatment of 43 children in 2011. Of those children supported by Hopeful Hearts, 40 children underwent successful surgeries and are now living much improved lives. Unfortunately three children died from complications either during or after surgery, making our determination to reach these children earlier in life that much stronger.

2011 Annual Report

As we know in meanwhile, Chengdu is continuously in the process of becoming a more international city. To prove tis, there are a lot of big numbers and fancy graphics provided by the government, institutions and organizations, though these might be hard to interpret or “too far from your bed”.

That’s why I aim to provide insights and experiences how to measure this internationalization process in my future columns, showing how it’s visible in real life, what’s necessary to stimulate, which difficulties/ solutions expats encounter, etc.

For most expats, it is both an opportunity and a challenge to stay and work in China. Some hard decisions are unavoidable concerning the big move, especially when the whole family will come to the Middle Kingdom and the stress will be amplified exponentially. One of the questions causing prospective expats headaches and sleepless nights is: “Which school is the best option for the kids without putting the kids through the trouble of learning Chinese and saving them the culture shock?”

For this reason, this article highlights three of five well-respected English speaking international schools in Chengdu. The city in total counts 5 International Schools: CDIS, Eton House, Léman, Meishi and QSI International School.

Chengdu International School or CDIS offers a bilingual program for the elementary kids. The children are taken care of in Chinese but are also taught to develop a good foundation of learning the English language. The general elementary schools educational programme includes language arts, science, math, social studies, Chinese, PE, art as well as music. For the secondary school the children has the additional courses of English, fine arts and Chinese languages (for them required to study Chinese). Thorough the whole education process, the children are helped in positive character building and developing critical thinking.

QSI International School of Chengdu has small classes, so individual students can receive special care if needed. The school has in mind that some expat kids only are staying in Chengdu for one or less than one year, so the children have the possibility to take part in selected national studies (American, British, Dutch etc.). So the kids don’t have a hard time in adjusting to the school system if they return to their home countries. The curriculum includes appropriate topics for all students in intensive English, teachings of the Chinese language, literacy and computer courses. Beside this, the curriculum is complemented with various extracurricular activities.

The Léman International School’s primary school curriculum is based on the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) and its middle school has an extended version of IPC. The 9th and 10th grade include a high level academics education. The educational system is using the American grading system and endeavour to help the children out in building ethical awareness and critical thinking. Furthermore, students have the opportunity of learning the Chinese and German language and the school offers diverse high standard sports activities.

By Dieter Vanonckelen

China-wide Management Team, Maxxelli Real Estate

Board Member, European Chamber of Commerce

7-Eleven offer a range of different food courses, as well as drinks and convenience retail products. As of April, 2009, there were 591 7-Eleven outlets in mainland China and despite of its name 7-Eleven, indicating that would be its opening and closing hours, many outlets are open 24 hours per day.

If you have any questions or requests don’t hesitate to contact us at:
e-mail: info@maxxelli.net
tel: (86) 4000 150 600
or leave a comment on the blog

Hot Properties Chengdu April 2012_First Edition_ –

My deepest thanks to Peng Xiaohua who was indispensible in the whole process.

And to:

Vanessa Priestly, Ed Sander, Simon Brown, Prof. AI, Dieter Vanonckelen, Carmen Trias Horta, Frances Nichol, Arjen van Schaijk, Areeya Tivasuradej, Mark Treacher, Bonnie Mowery, Zeng Yali, 徐煊 Xuxuan, Li Duan

Xiaoyang (Chengrui’s mother)

Tian Jun, Wang Xiao Shi, Lianru, and all the CURA staff.

Dr. Roy Korn, Frederique Darragon, Nicholas Christiansen, 蓓蕾 Beilei, Chris Ganeff and so many more, forgive me if I haven’t listed you all here.
Community grows when people honour a commitment to laugh, shout, cry, argue, sing, and scream with, and at, one another without destroying one another or the earth in the process. We can’t ever honestly celebrate diversity if we pretend to bring in the harvest before we have tilled the ground together.
– “The Ethics of Inclusion: Three Common Delusions” by John O’Brien, Marsha Forest, Jack Pearpoint, Shafik Asante & Judith Snow

Mark

Hi All,

I am happy to let you know I will be having another show next Saturday, March 24th!!

Event: The DongXi Shop Open House
When: Saturday March 24th from 11a.m. to 4p.m.
Where: 1 Wangjiang Rd., Greenwich Village 2-31-03, Wuhou Dist. 610041
涓浗鍥涘窛鎴愰兘姝︿警鍖烘湜姹熻矾1鍙锋牸鏋楀▉娌?/span>2鏍?/span>3103鍒锛岄偖缂?/span>:610041

It is getting harder and harder to find good pieces, prices are rising and supplies are diminishing as antiques are coming back in style in Mainland China. However, I am happy to report that I got some really great pieces in; benches, armoires, a long alter table, money boxes and more. In addition to the usual favorites, I also have new gifts such as mini silk makeup bags, Chinese cufflinks, and jewelry from Shanghai. To see what we have, you can check out the website at www.thedongxishop.com

Open Wine at the Open House:
Clara from Open Wine will be at the Open House. Open Wine is an up and coming importer and distributor of fine wines focused on mainland China. Their wines are carefully selected from the world鈥檚 finest wines and their core business principal is a commitment to providing quality wines and professional services to all customers. Please check out their website at www.openwine.com.cn

Giving Back:
Have fun shopping and do a good deed at the same time! A portion of the proceeds will go to Half the Sky Foundation. They help care for and nurture orphaned children in China. To learn more about their organization click on the link www.halfthesky.org

Directions:
I live at Greenwich Village by the Jiu Yan Qiao Bridge / Bar Street and across the river from the Waterfront. If you tell the taxi Jiu Yan Qiao zai Wang Jian Lu they should know where to take you. There are two banks on either side of the main entrance. After walking through the gates, it’s the first building on the left- Building 2, Floor 31, House 3. Please feel free to call me if you need help.

Stop by anytime – If you can’t make it Saturday, but still want to come by, you are welcome anytime after 5:30PM on weekdays. Just call and we can make arrangements to meet.

Please forward this to anyone who might be interested.

I will send out another reminder next week and look forward to seeing you there.

Lindsey Stolte

Cell: +18628132032
Email: chengdudongxishop@hotmail.com
Website: www.thedongxishop.com

If you have any questions or requests don’t hesitate to contact us at:
e-mail: info@maxxelli.net
tel: (86) 4000 150 600
or leave a comment on the blog

Chengdu Hot Properties March 2012 –

The cost for the whole operation, and also 5 days post-op recovery is ¥5,000 (or about £500 British Pound, or $785 Canadian dollars), which was mostly covered due to the generosity of the international community.

Last Saturday, Zeng Yali and Mark brought Chengrui and her mother Xiaoyang to the Eye Hospital to be admitted and for preliminary testing.

Takefman reminds: We arrived at 8:30am and there were few people there and no lines to see the doctors. After various eye tests were done they were given a bed in a three bed room. It was all neat and clean. All seemed to be going well and the mood was up. Shortly afterwards the happiness ended. It was time to take a blood sample from Chengrui. Let me cut to the chase, it took four nurses and her mother to hold her down, and even then she almost escaped. She was hysterical and it was as if she was fighting for her life. She did calm down as soon as the nurses left. A few hours later she had to have a needle to test for allergic reactions. She reacted as before but fortunately it was a quick jab and the nurse left. Only a three nurse job.

On Sunday, Takefman arrived early to see that she had an intravenous line in her hand. He tells: “I didn’t ask.
I was there just in time as Chengrui was being taken down to the pre-operation room. They weighed her in, did a blood pressure test, temperature and dressed her for surgery. So off she went in behind the closed doors and off we went to the waiting area. Peng Xiaohua arrived and we all began the wait.
About an hour later we were called. Chengrui was in a small wheelchair that was laid flat like a bed. They moved her to another larger bed and wheeled her back up to the fourth floor to a separate recovery room. Ok let’s move back in time. She arrives from the operation room all bandaged up, both eyes. If I thought she was hysterical and fighting yesterday, today was worse. She wanted the bandages off. She was actively trying to get up, trying to bite and gyrating her body. She was yelling, crying. The nurse told us this was a normal reaction! Well I suppose we could see it that way. She didn’t really have any idea what was about to happen to her. We did try to explain, but you know.”

As he goes on: “She falls asleep then wakes up blind and in pain. What would you do?
She went on in her hysterics for about an hour when one of the nurses suggested a sedative. I think we all needed one at that point! We also left the recovery room, except for Xiaoyang, as they thought our presence was aiding to her behaviour. When we went back later, she was quiet and resting with Xiaoyang sitting beside her. Xiaohua and I went for lunch and Xiaohua brought some food for Xiaoyang, and then we left the hospital.

I went back a few hours later to find mother and daughter both sleeping back in their hospital bed and so I left them and now the healing begins. 5 days more in the hospital and then it takes about a month and somewhere along the way the absorbable sutures (dissolving stitches) will disappear.
Xiaohua and I would like to thank all those who have helped pay for this operation demonstrating a loving concern for this young child that they don’t even know. I am in awe at the compassion of the community. Thank you.”

Sincerely thankful,
Mark

Giving Hand inspects and qualifies charities in China to ensure thorough follow-up with donations, and works closely with relevant government and non-government organizations to meet duty and custom-free regulations for importing donated goods to China.
Additionally, Giving Hand partners with logistics companies to arrange free or low-cost logistics services to ship donated goods to qualified charities.

Bellow follows their recent newsletter

Giving Hand Winter 2012 –