On 10^th October 2009, Plan’s half-century-long sponsors Mr. Charles Zemach and his wife Mary together paid a visit to Plan China and the hometown of their sponsored child Xiao Bo—Chun Hua Program Unit (PU).  

On the morning of Oct.10, Mr. & Mrs. Zemach arrived at Chun Hua PU after 2-hour traveling; they showed no sign of tiredness and went straight to Xiao Bo’s village. They were not able to meet Xiao Bo because he was far away from home at the moment. However, they were warmly received by Xiao Bo’s aunt and invited to have dinner together. During the dinner, Mr. & Mrs. Zemach were so much affected to know that Xiao Bo was helping his father run a steamed-bread store in Wenzhou (Zhe Jiang Province). Looking at the steamed bread in hands, Mr. Zemach said, “Oh, what I am eating now is exactly what my child (sponsored child) is making far away, I should have more.” 

After dinner, Mr. & Mrs. Zemach were led to the primary school where Xiao Bo used to study—Wen Tang Primary School. They made some inquiries about the school situation while visiting the school sanitary latrines and sport facilities supported by Plan. Afterwards, they went to Ma Jia Centre Primary School where they got a hearty welcome. The children there performed singing as well as reading a long poem to express their gratitude for the guests coming from afar. Besides, they also presented hand-made gifts by themselves and by their families to the sponsors, such as a small bag, handcrafted tortoise and shoe-pads etc. Meanwhile, Mrs. Zemach read a story of “rabbit and black bear” to teach the children that they should keep working hard and help the needed whenever possible.   

When one child asked how they could maintain their sponsorship in Plan for decades of years, Mr. Zemach replied without hesitation, “We trust Plan that it can give possibilities for the development of children and that our sponsorship is worthwhile; we also hope that you will make efforts in your studies and try to be helpful persons to others in the future.”     

Apart from the sole purpose of visiting, Mr. & Mrs. Zemach also brought some books and clothes for the school; in return, the school presented a Chinese knot as a gift with best wishes for their kind deeds. In Ma Jia Central Primary School, the children showed Mr. & Mrs. Zemach around the school to see what Plan China had supported in their school, such as the school canteen, the computer room and the road-hardening initiative etc. At the end of the visit, Mr. & Mrs. Zemach expressed that they would think of how to better support Plan’s programs, like promoting Plan’s image in the local areas, so as to foster children’s development more effectively.   

Visited to Plan China’s Country Office

On the morning of 9^th October, Mr. & Mrs. Zemach came to Plan China’s Country Office as soon as they arrived in Xi’an by train. The couple was kindly welcomed here, and through communicating with the Sponsorship and Grant Support Manager Liu Zhongliang as well as the sponsorship staff, Mr. & Mrs. Zemach got a better understanding of Plan China’s operation with regard to the programs and the sponsorship. Meanwhile, the sponsorship team also learned what kind of information one sponsor might desire to know about the sponsored child, mainly his/her family, living environment, his/her school performance, interest etc.  

“There are still many people in dire need of help”

Mr. & Mrs. Zemach, both 79-year-old, started their sponsorship in Plan from 1960. Since then, they have never stopped for as long as 49 years sponsoring children from different countries, including Vietnam, Columbia, India, Sri Lanka, China and so on. Back in 1968, Mrs. Zemach began to work as a volunteer to help the poor, which lasted for more than 20 years. Then, her rich experience in association with charity work enabled her to come up with the idea of starting a thrift store. Therefore, in 1991, the couple set up a thrift store in their home town in New Mexico. There are many such stores for charitable purposes in American communities. A thrift store accepts goods donated by local citizens who no longer want or need them. The donations may be new or used, clothes, household items, furniture, books, toys, or anything. They are sold at very low prices to support a charity -- in this case, scholarships for needy students -- and to give access to poor people to these goods. What's more, the Zemach's thrift store also provides free necessities to those with special needs. “We are not able to give them everything they need, but we can help them with all that we have here.” said by Mr. & Mrs. Zemach, “every month, we will specially arrange one day as the “on-sale day” on which everything here is sold at a lower price and many people could only afford to buy things on such days.” At present, there are altogether 40 volunteers working for the thrift store, providing unpaid service three days per week.    

Such is Mr. & Mrs. Zemach’s life back in the America. They also clarified that the picture of the real US is not as rosy as imagined by the outside world: people all know that America is the super developed country, but they have no idea that New Mexico also live a number of poor people. When Plan staff asked Mr. & Mrs. Zemach how long was their sponsorship and how many children they have sponsored to the date, they simply said, “well, it has been a long time, but we can’t remember exactly, and neither the number of our sponsored children. Maybe Plan has a record for that.” Talking about the reason for their generosity, Mr. & Mrs. Zemach’s answer was also very simple, “nothing special, expect that helping others makes us much happier and more fulfilled than making fortune.” It is learned that Mr. & Mrs. Zemach also helped orphans with the local people.