Rehei, the youngest daughter, one day raised a question with her father that had long bothered her: "Why do you take in so many orphans when life has been so difficult for us?" The man sat down and told the girl his story. Abibao was an orphan himself, and remained on the verge of starvation and freezing until he joined the communist army. On retirement in the 1950s he got a job in Qinghe County, where he met Anipa, who had lost both her parents not long ago. Similar experience drew the two together. "Your mother and I received generous help from many strangers during those years, who never thought of our ethnicity when giving us a hand. Hans, Uygurs or Hui Moslems, we are all family. Though we cannot provide an affluent life for your step brothers and sisters, at least we could give them a home, where they have some people to call mom and dad and don't feel lonely anymore."

The little girl never again complained after that talk, and later began to learn to give and be grateful.

Bounty Travels

Today all of Anipa and Abibao's 19 children have grown up, and entered various vocations. The deeds and words of their parents have had a lifelong impact on them. Several intermarried, extending the ethnic diversity of the family to six layers. And many have themselves adopted or offered regular assistance to dispossessed children.

After Aben died in the accident in 1994, his Hui brother Wang Zuolin took over the custody of his little daughter. Now the girl is close to college graduation. In 2007 Kaliman, Anipa's eldest daughter, learnt from her daughter that a Kazak student in the class considered dropping out of school after her father died and her jobless mother was devastated by grief. Kaliman immediately reached out to her, promising financial aid to help her go on to finish higher education.

After the massive earthquake in Sichuan in 2008 Anipa went to the local civil affairs authority, offering to adopt quake orphans. Following her example, a dozen other families filed applications.

As Anipa, Abibao and their children have demonstrated, love has the might to surmount any barrier of faith, language and region, and touches off the fountain of humanity in every heart around the world.

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