Society

A league of their own out to trace missing children

By Zhang Yuchen (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-28 07:08

A league of their own out to trace missing children

Cheng Zhu (third from left) and his wife Jin Lunju (far left) display photos of missing children in Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi province. Cheng has spent five years looking for his lost daughter, Cheng Ying, whom he believes was taken child traffickers as she walked home from school. He also set up the Parents of Lost Children League, which has brought together many other people in similar situations. PHOTOS BY YUAN JINGZHI / FOR CHINA DAILY

"I don't know how to persuade him (to stop looking)," said Jin, who does not work and stays at home to care for Cheng Baoyi. "In 2008, I finally went to pieces. Every day all I did was sit silently and cry. I could see no meaning to my life."

The debts combined with the trauma of losing a child have also put a huge strain on Cheng Zhu and Jin's relationship.

"We used to be a happy and affectionate couple," said Cheng Zhu. "After our daughter went missing, all that changed, and we quarreled to the edge of divorce. Now, we do not talk about our daughter when we are alone."

However, although his mission has badly affected his own marriage, the Parents of Lost Children League could help others to overcome their difficulties, say experts.

"The coalition of parents to some extent relieves stress and anxiety caused by losing children," said Zhang Baoyan, director-general of Baby Home, an organization with 20,000 volunteers that helps parents of missing children. "People feel more comfortable with others who share the same experiences and they support each other. It is the collective power that strengthens them."

Pictures of Cheng Ying with her family are spread out on her bed. The girl vanished when she was 5 years old.

Xing Guangzheng, whose 3-year-old boy was snatched from their home in 2009, also took part in the month-long tour with Cheng Zhu.

"Before knowing Cheng Zhu and the others, I felt very alone. If I stayed at home for more than five minutes, my wife and I would fight about whose fault it was that our 3-year-old son was taken."

On Feb 28, the league was even credited with helping to reunite a girl with her parents. Eight-year-old Cui Yiting was recovered in Fujian province on Feb 28 after being missing for a year.

Her abductor, Pang Youcheng, 25, who returned the girl to her family and then surrendered to police, said he was moved by her parents' pleas for help.

Cui Dongsheng, who teamed up with Cheng Zhu's van when he arrived in Southeast China, believes the league's efforts helped greatly in the return of his daughter. "I will still pay close attention to the coalition and hope they will find more children in the next tour," he said.

For the other parents in the league, the news was bittersweet.

"We are happy to know one child got back to her parents," said Li Yuhui, 40, who is the wife of Feng Shehong. "As I'm a parent, I understand how torturous the process of looking for a lost child is but I can't help wondering why I cannot find my son."

Feng and Li's son was 14 when he disappeared along with two other boys in Yan'an, Shaanxi province, in 2007. They fear he has been sold to an illegal factory as a child laborer.

"When my son disappeared, someone tried to persuade me to just have another child. No one can take his place in my heart," said Feng, who is now receiving treatment for lung disease. "I can't imagine him alone wandering in society. I can't let him go."

Cheng Zhu said Cui Yiting's return only steeled him further in his search for his lost daughter. "Every time my younger daughter is naughty, it reminds me of my lost daughter who was good and nice. I just need more help to find her," he said.

Solving the problem

Police cracked 4,420 cases related to the trafficking of women and children last year as part of a special operation to crack down on the problem, according to the Ministry of Public Security. The mission resulted in almost 1,000 gangs being rounded up and 6,200 arrests.