Photos: This Homeless Man is Raising A Baby Girl He Found Abandoned in a Rubbish Bin 7 years ago

 Xiong Jianguo is a 50 year old homeless Chinese man and 7 years ago, he found his adopted daughter Yanyan, then a baby girl, in a rubbish bin. The pair now live under a bridge, and despite their difficult circumstances Jianguo is raising the youngster as his own, teaching little Yanyan how to read and write.

Speaking of when he found her, Jianguo told newsmen:

"I guess she was one of those children that was born to a family who didn't want a girl. I had lifted the top off the rubbish bin and was looking to see if there were any plastic bottles I could sell to recycle when I heard a baby. She was in a box in a blanket and I was absolutely stunned.  

She was so helpless that I bought a bottle and fed her, and I just knew then that I wanted to look after her and raise her. No matter how hard it is, I intend to make sure that I raise her until she is old enough to stand on her own two feet."

Jianguo said that he did not believe an orphanage could give her a good home, although he admits that by staying with him with no fixed address she could never have found a school place. However, despite being barely literate himself, he has enlisted the help of other homeless pals who have managed to teach the girl to read and write and understand basic maths.

She has also reportedly learned numerous poems and sagas she recites to other homeless people under the bridge.

Jianguo continued:

"She is really bright, she learns very quickly. Life here on the streets is not easy, but she never complains."

The pair earn enough money to live from recycling, and then together sit down to read books and study under the street light. A reporter that visited the pair noted that the child had mosquito bites all over her body and admits that they often don't have enough to eat.
But little Yanyan has this to say:

"Whatever happens, every year on my birthday which is the day dad rescued me I get a small cake, and a trip to a photo studio so that my picture can be taken when I get a birthday present, and so I can have a memory of the day."