Nancy was born in Shanghai during the 1940s. Her father worked as Asian General Manager for Colgate-Palmolive, a wonderful position...until the Communists took over in 1949. He fled first to Hong Kong, a British territory back then. The rest of the family , however, could not get exit visas. (See post one.) After seven years of waiting, they finally managed to get to Hong Kong. (See post two.)
Husband Peter fled from China for different reasons. His parents were part of the Nationalist Army that fought against the Japanese from 1937-45 and then the Communists from 1945-49. (See post three.) While Peter was safe from Communism, he realized upon college graduation that there weren't many job opportunities. Fortunately, he got a scholarship at the University of Texas. (See post four.) Meanwhile, Nancy struggled in Hong Kong. Her mother enrolled her in a Cantonese/English high school, two languages Nancy did not understand. Nancy only lasted three days. (See post five.)But she did well in college, and managed to get a scholarship to Southwestern University in Georgetown Texas. (see post six.) She started looking for a job, and ended up getting her Ph.D. (see post seven.) In 1981, when Nancy was a Professor of Pharmacology, China came knocking on her door. Would she come give some professional speeches to the Beijing Medical School and the Chinese Academy of Sciences? Although wary, she agreed. She and Peter then returned again a decade later. By then her old hometown was barely recognizable due to construction and modernization. (See post eight.)
As Nancy and Peter both neared retirement, they wondered about
their next phase in life. They had both been generous in giving donations to
various charities.
“But we really don’t know where the money goes," said Nancy. "We don’t know how they use it. When we were getting close to our retirement, we were thinking, ‘Well, we’d like to do a little bit more than write a check.’"
“But we really don’t know where the money goes," said Nancy. "We don’t know how they use it. When we were getting close to our retirement, we were thinking, ‘Well, we’d like to do a little bit more than write a check.’"
One of Peter’s classmates was building Hope Schools in
China, a project that entails building schools in places that have none. Peter
and Nancy jumped on that, suggesting they would provide the computers/audio
equipment for the schools.
“We built about five schools in Yunnan," said Nancy. "We also built one in
Hebei."
Nancy said that each time they would visit the school site,
they would receive the VIP treatment.
“There would be five or six SUV’s following us—from the central government, national government, local government, etc, etc…It was really nice. Any question you ask? ‘Yes.’ But after we left, nothing. No response. We write emails. They wouldn’t respond. They wouldn’t answer the phone.”
There’s a Chinese saying, “No sooner has a person left than the tea cools down.” Nancy and Peter discovered this to be the case. The initial enthusiasm with which they were greeted disappeared as soon as they boarded their plane home.
“There would be five or six SUV’s following us—from the central government, national government, local government, etc, etc…It was really nice. Any question you ask? ‘Yes.’ But after we left, nothing. No response. We write emails. They wouldn’t respond. They wouldn’t answer the phone.”
There’s a Chinese saying, “No sooner has a person left than the tea cools down.” Nancy and Peter discovered this to be the case. The initial enthusiasm with which they were greeted disappeared as soon as they boarded their plane home.
(To be continued. Next: Philanthropic Dream Turns to Nightmare.)
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