Grassroots delegate: A surrogate mother's dedication to 23 children

Zheng Zhongyan, a surrogate mother at the SOS Children's Village, an orphanage in Yantai, East China's Shandong province, poses for a group photo with two of her children. [Photo/jiaodong.net]

One of the children was dubbed "wild boy", as the lack of a parental figure after the death of his parents had led to him developing low self-esteem and behavior problems. After the boy's second day of school, his teacher met with Zheng and complained about the boy's bad performance.

After listening to the teacher, Zheng was determined to make her new son a well-behaved child. To boost the boy's self-confidence, the mother often encouraged and praised the boy if he made little bits of progress. She also bought educational books to enrich her knowledge about child raising.

Through Zheng's unremitting efforts, the boy became more aware of discipline and made great progress in his academic performance.

Zheng was also careful about discovering the unique aptitudes of every child and helping them develop their special talents.

After finding out that her second boy loved painting, Zheng sent him to a youth activity center to take painting lessons every day. Zheng's perseverance finally paid off. Now, her second son has now graduated from college and has opened a professional training school for painting lovers.

Zheng said that as long as you take notice, you will find that every child has great potential.