Auntie No 2 at her front door
If you're fed up of me harping on about Auntie, you should stop reading now. To tell the truth, I'm a little bit fed up of me harping on about Auntie, but she does lead me to reflect on so many aspects of life. After a visit to her house I felt thoroughly miserable - not (just) because of the enormous amount of junk she has surrounded herself with, nor the dirty, derelict house, caged animals that she thinks she is saving, virtually bare wooden bed even. It was something about her innocence and humility. Poverty can be absolute and/or relative. I'd like to think that Auntie's not that badly off relative to the rest of the population of China, but that's simply not true. By local standards she is poor. To what extent has she 'chosen' to live like that, and to what extent is she simply incapable of living another way? I know she likes to eat, rest and play at our house. She knows how to wash clothes and dishes, tidy things away. She shows a sense of understanding what is valuable, what is not. I can't help feeling that with a little bit more support and guidance, Auntie could have a better quality of life, in her own home. At the moment she is living in poverty and there is no safety net - no welfare state to offer an income or arrange home help. The good news is, Auntie seems to have found a way to cope, but when I visit I find it hard to walk away - I feel that a small input (guidance, support) could make such a big difference in Auntie's life.
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