Touching Base

A few months ago while having dinner with one of my older relatives and some of her women friends, one of them mentioned Gladys Aylwood, a Protestant missionary to China in 1930. Gladys Aylwood was at first thwarted in her goal of becoming a missionary to China, she was told she was not clever enough but saved up her wages in order to buy herself a train ticket. Gladys ended up staying in China, learning to speak the language and becoming a Chinese Citizen, she died and was burried there. The woman I was speaking to, remembered when Gladys came back to the UK and gave a series of lectures around the country, one of which this elderly friend of my relative had attended.

This conversation over dinner, reminded me of watching a film about Gladys Aylwood in my childhood. The film, The Inn of the Sixth happiness was Hollywood's 1958 interpretation of Gladys Aylwood's life story as written by Alan Burgess. I had not realised until I started looking a little more closely and reading some accounts of her life, that Gladys had been unhappy with how the film portrayed her. Gladys didn't like her romantic involvement that the film suggested, and she thought that the film focused less on her missionary work in converting the Chinese to Christianity, and more on her heroic actions.The title of the film was also changed as the inn was in fact called The Inn of the Eighth Happiness, I haven't managed to find out why this was thought necessary.

As a child however I was simply inspired by the story of an ordinary woman who travelled across the world on her own and made a difference to the lives of orphaned and abandoned children in China. The film also focused on how also she was part of the enforcement of changes in the laws banning the practice of foot binding


Looking at why Gladys went to China in the first place, it is hard for many of us now, not to judge harshly the negative aspects of the legacy of missionary work, and to separate this out from Gladys Aylwood's heroic and important actions, which took place out of compassion for her fellow human beings.

This article from the New York Times following the Haiti earthquake, explores the motives that different modern day missionary groups might have had at the time. There is also an interesting discussion here that highlights the tension that must exist for religious groups in providing aid/development work without their main aim being about conversion.

Well this blog post seems to have run away with me! I wanted to post about Gladys Aylwood because my first encounter with China was through the film about her life. This blog has a place for stories of inspirational women, and to my child-like eyes she certainly was that. From a child's eye view the answers to the problems in our world can seem much more simple. Claiming your space in the world as an adult brings with it a huge responsibility to "do no harm and leave the world a better place than you found it". (Patricia Cornwell)

This past month the news has been even more heartbreaking than it usually is. In our world today there is always so much to be anxious about, feel angry and sad and powerless about. It's all right there in our living rooms, just a click away. This week we have had the shooting of peace activists by the Israeli Army, the shootings in Cumbria by an angry, isolated and disturbed man, the ongoing reports about the Gulf oil spill and countless other tragedies going on throughout our world.

We rarely hear about the massive amounts of positive action, taken by ordinary people all around the world everyday, we have to look for them. Small actions or big, they go on around us, often unnoticed and it's on days like these that we really need to notice each small voice. In these voices we are reminded of our true selves and are inspired to come together with others to make a difference and stand up for what we believe in. Touching base with individuals past and present, strangers and friends, who are inspirational in so many different ways, is one way for us to find some hope and peace again in a troubled world.

This is just one of these inspiring individuals Rupy Kaur. I am waiting to read about how she got on with her sky-dive yesterday. Hope all went well Rupy.