Malaika Hahne, Executive Director of Little Flower Projects, shares what it’s really like to work for a charity in China
Interview by Jennifer Thomé, photo provided by Little Flower Projects

Most people dream about quitting their corporate jobs and working at a charity, but few know what that really entails, especially in China. Malaika Hahne spends her day seeing to the well-being of nearly 100 special-needs orphans and the more than 60 nannies who take care of them, and took a moment out of her busy schedule to share what it’s like to oversee such an amazing organization.

I think many of us would like to know – what’s it like running an orphanage? The best part is definitely being with the children. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of desk work to do, so I cannot just be with the kids. But they make you remember why you do this. So, whenever I have a little time I just spend some time with the little ones. Moreover, it is a wonderful feeling when we learn that a child will get adopted or we were able to help a child with an urgent operation. Everyone in our house gets very excited and it feels like a family.

What are the major struggles you’re facing? Money Money Money. We are always in need of money. When people visit Little Flower they always ask “what do you need?” Well, besides some items like clothes, blankets, and a used microwave, we need money to keep Little Flower running. That means we have to pay for electricity, water, rent, school fees for the older kids, salary for our 60 nannies, diapers, daily medical care and supplies, milk powder and food, and we have to do it every month. And then we have to raise money for operations. Actually, to raise money for operations is harder than to find money for the everyday basic needs. I understand that very well. If you know you helped this one child with an operation it feels much more meaningful than giving money for our electricity. Also, donors can directly see where the money goes to and do not have to worry about misuse. We are very aware of the fact that donors want to be sure that their donation is used correctly. Therefore, we open our finances to the public. Additionally, Little Flower Projects has no overhead costs and donations go directly to the needs of the kids.

“Running this kind of nonprofit is a 24-hour job, especially since our babies never sleep”

What’s a day in the life of Malaika like? I hop in a car and make my way out to the airport. Little Flower is located near the airport, but I live near Chaoyang Park, so it is quite a ride. The first thing I do when I get there is a little round to see every nanny and baby. I still have problems remembering every nanny’s name, but I am working on it! [laughs] I believe our nannies must be happy and know that we care about them to make a good job. Spending every day so many hours changing diapers, feeding, and playing can be exhausting. After saying hello to everyone I go to the office to check my mails. During the day I will probably show two to three visitors around. They are usually interested in volunteering or just want to see what we do. Currently I am working on a volunteer and nanny training program. My work also includes being in touch with donors, potential donors and doing the normal admin work. Every day is very different and unexpected things happen. One day electricity stopped and we had to move two of our kids that urgently needed oxygen to another facility with electricity, another day somebody broke our window and another day one of our nannies burnt her face.

“To raise money for operations is easier than to find money for the everyday basic needs”

What are the stresses of running a nonprofit, and how do you deal with them? Besides getting the money to run a nonprofit, it’s also a big challenge to find good staff. Since we rely on donations to operate we cannot pay that much salary to our caretakers. To keep them happy and motivated to work with us is not always easy. Of course, getting permissions is another struggle for us. Getting staff, permission, and money all aligned at the same time is hard, but so critical to helping kids. Running this kind of nonprofit is a 24-hour job, especially since our babies never sleep and our nannies work in three shifts. Therefore, sometimes it is difficult to take a break, because you feel you could always do more and help more children.

Little Flower Projects is an outreach of China Little Flower, Inc., a 501c(3) nonprofit organization registered in the USA. Since 1995, these grassroots, small-scale, very effective, and cost-efficient projects in China have helped countless children in need. They focus on providing specialized care to abandoned infants and nurturing the growth and education of older disabled orphans. They operate in Beijing and Taiyuan, Shanxi, but the children come from all over China. Their projects include hospice care, group educational foster care for children ages four to 18, special care for infants, longterm care for severely disabled children and special causes. At the moment they take care of 45 infants and 40 older kids. You can learn more about them at www. littleflowerprojects.org.