The ancient Chinese of Russia welcoming children

A village in the Russian Far East inhabited by the Nanai, an ethnic group in the Chinese world also called Hezhen or Samagir, has decided to fight for its survival by taking in orphans from the nearest town. Already 61 out of 500 inhabitants have been taken in. To guard one's own soul, starting by caring for those left behind.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - In a small village in the Khabarovsk region, in the Russian Far East, there is a village inhabited by the Nanai, an ethnic group from the Chinese world also called Hezhen or Samagir, who have decided to fight for their survival and their own history, making themselves open to welcome.

The Nanai, skilled fishermen and hunters of aquatic animals, are scattered along the Amur, Songhua and Ussuri rivers, on the border between Russia and China, and in the small village of Džuen on Lake Bolon', where only 500 inhabitants live, they have decided to take dozens of children for adoption, otherwise they would not be able to save the existence of their community.

In the Nanaic language Džuen means "at the bottom of the gulf", and Bolon' "place rich in fish", the fundamental food of the Nanai. The nearest city, Amursk, is almost a hundred kilometers away, and is connected only by a dirt road in the taiga, without any kind of public transport.

The few who have a car make themselves available to others for little money, in a WhatsApp chat dedicated to those who have to move towards the city, asking for up to a thousand rubles (10 euros) only if you want to get to the largest and most further away than Komsomolsk-na-Amur.

The main reason for going to the city is to visit the orphanages, from which you always return with some kid, who shortly afterwards, if you manage to "find the character", is officially adopted by one of the families of Džuen. They often stay even without getting along too well, hoping that relationships will improve over time, which in fact often happens. In the country today there are 28 reception families for 61 children.

One of the inhabitants, Galina Kile, 62 years old, lives with her husband who is ten years older, and together they decided among the first to start adopting, already in 2013: "We were both already retired, our two daughters they were already grown up and lived on their own, and it happened that a flood destroyed all our sheds, it no longer made sense to do field work, and so we decided to take someone into the house".

The first arrival is called Larisa, and she integrated into the new family without problems, immediately calling the two adults "grandmother and grandfather", making it clear that "I'm never leaving here again". Today she studies medicine in Nikolaevsk-na Amur, returning to Dzhuen for the holidays, even though she was assigned an apartment as an orphan, not far from the university.

The Nanai adoptive children are generally all very happy to live in this small remote village, as confirmed by 17-year-old Sereža Grigorev, welcomed five years ago, without any memory of his natural parents: "When I saw the vegetable patch and the garden, I felt like I had arrived in paradise, even though up until that moment I had always refused to go and live with a family."

It's true that you have to go and fill up water at the pump, collect wood and take on other tiring jobs, but "I tried hard to be accepted, and by now I'm used to it", says Sereža. He also managed to enroll in the technical institute of nautical mechanics in Komsomolsk, but continues to go "home".

Elena Blošenko is a 57-year-old history teacher, and in front of the very spacious house where she lives with her husband Vasilij there is a long row of shoes, which you take off before entering.

They had begun to take care of the children of their sister who died prematurely, then they even went to courses to prepare for adoptions and in 2013 they too took two girls, one aged 7 and one 13 years old. The following year they took in four more, all orphaned by the same parents, and they all call them directly mum and dad.

There are many similar stories collected by the Sibir.Realii investigation, which also concern other countries in the Khabarovsk region, where the adoption of minors is widespread and popular not only among ethnic minorities.

The Russian Far East keeps not only a geographical distance from the horrors of war, and does not want to be simply exploited or "colonized" either by the Russians or the Chinese, but to guard its own soul, starting to take care of those left without Nobody.