I've just returned from visiting our team and some of the children we support in China. People often ask how I go visiting up to five times per year, actually they are really asking how I feel coming back into Sydney life after seeing how the people we're serving are facing daily life.

Take for instance a doctor I spent some time with. He is appointed by the government to serve the medical needs of 176 families in a rural area. His clinic is one room, about 4.5m x 4.5m. He has a old desk, a couple of dusty chairs, a cupboard each for western and Chinese medicines. Drips are commonly given to treat many ailments, he has only one stand for a drip and so if two pople need one at the same time one of them has to just hold the bag.

His clinic is right beside an outdoor storage area for materials used in battery production. This is dusty and black like coal. People have to stand outside in this environment waiting to see the doctor or while they have their drip treatment. Having trained for three years the doctor earns a few hundred Australian dollars per year plus the profit on whatever medicines he sells.

We visited the children we support in that county. To visit some of them at home means a climb literally straight up the mountain. For children living in these situations they often stay at the school for up to two weeks before going back home. Some of our children live three or four hours walk from school.

One of these visits meant climbing for over an hour, this was the short climb and it was straight up, not along a road. The family has to do this every day to get to the village, school or work.

As I visited with Hong Yan I found myself chatting with a very thankful family. Their home had three rooms plus some storage area for crops. The kitchen had the usual woks over the fire. The loungroom also had a small fire burning in the corner. Not a fireplace really, just a fire providing some warmth. The rooms were dark from the smoke stained walls and the fact that the only light was a single 25 watt bulb. The house was built about 10 years ago but I would have guessed about 30 years at first.

We chatted about school, work and life in the mountains. Hong Yan (who has a brother too) is doing well in school despite having to wear very thick glasses. We actually organised for new glasses while we were there. Her parents clearly love their children very much and were extremely thankful for the help ChinaHeart is providing as they live in very poor circumstances.

How could we not support Hong Yan and her family...