Woman from South China looks after five children at SOS Children's Village in Urumqi

Deng Qiong has no time for marriage or romance because she's busy being a "mother" to five orphans.

Deng, 45, is the mother of the No 9 family at the SOS Children's Village in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. She left her hometown in South China in 2001 to join the charitable organization, which provides orphans with family care.

There are 12 to 18 families in each SOS Children's Village, and each family usually fosters seven to eight orphans below the age of 14, with a single woman, such as Deng, recruited to act as "mother".

This year's Mother's Day, May 13, was the 17th she has spent as a "full-time mother" at the SOS Children's Village, during which time she has created a home for 12 orphans who have grown up and left.

"Every Mother's Day I receive different gifts from my children," Deng said. "They have included flowers, cards, a necklace, perfume and a makeup kit; not expensive but they mean a lot."

This year she received a note saying "I love you mom" from her youngest son.

Every day she gets up at 7:30 am and does not rest until 1:00 am the next day. She cooks, washes, teaches, and does all a mother needs to do at home. The workload is heavy because she has five children to attend to.

She insists on celebrating all the important festivals, such as the annual Chinese New Year holiday, with her children. Sticking to this schedule, she has little time to go back home to see her own parents.

Deng said her parents have never understood her job. A photo of Deng with her parents hangs on a wall, surrounded by photos of Deng's children. Her friends also advised her to quit, but she loves her children so much and is so touched by their love that she is determined to stay until she retires.

Deng admits taking care of the children is not easy. They have different backgrounds and personalities, and she looks for the best way to get on with each one. She has to deal with childhood traumas, teenage defiance and varying levels of academic achievement.

Some of her older children have left home for college and work. But they miss Deng a lot.

"They call me a lot and tell me everything, that they have fallen in love, that they had a fight with their boyfriends, or even that they were bitten by mosquitoes," Deng said. "I hope they can become more independent and capable. I hope they can grow up happily and start their own families."

In the village, 14 mothers, including Deng, look after 101 children from different ethnic groups from five provinces and regions across northwestern China.

They have raised 210 children since the village was established, and more than 40 of them have gone on to college, according to Wang Xinxiang, assistant to the village head.

"We work to give these children family care so that they can grow up with dignity and a sense of security," Wang said.

Deng's cellphone was flooded with messages and phone calls from her grown-up children in the days leading up to Mother's Day.

She sometimes imagines how she would celebrate Mother's Day if she'd taken a different job, got married and had children of her own, but she has no regrets.

"If someday I meet someone, I might think about leaving," she said, "But right now it seems less likely because I don't have many opportunities getting to make new friends. I will carry on with this for as long as I can."

Xinhua