English
Since 1993 International China Concern (ICC) has enjoyed long standing joint venture cooperation with the Changsha No. 1 Welfare Centre. This joint venture has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of abandoned and disabled children and young adults.
A small and dedicated team of international Christian volunteers support and train more than 100 Chinese employees – from managers, cooks and cleaners to house parents, nurses and therapists. ICC is committed to empowering and training Chinese nationals to not only care for and love the abandoned and disabled, but also advocate for them. We want to see positive community attitudes toward those with disabilities. Our long term vision is to provide support services for families with special needs children, thereby reducing abandonment.
In 1997 the first care facility and home to 43 children, Oasis House, was established. The project soon expanded to include Hope House, jointly caring for more than 100 children and young adults. At that time, both homes were situated on the welfare centre grounds.
In 2004 ICC relocated both Oasis House and Hope House. The joint venture remains but those we care for now live in the community in homes with house parents trained to support and enable independence. The more profoundly disabled continue to receive 24 hour care and medical support.
The Changsha Project not only provides homes and care for disabled children but also excellent educational, therapy and medical services. Occupational therapy and physiotherapy are provided by Chinese employees who are trained and overseen by international volunteers. Conductive Education has been a huge success and through our programme, those with cerebral palsy are developing rapidly in their ability to care for themselves and reach their full potential. The children and young adults also receive medical care from local hospitals and a team of doctors and nurses. Through surgery many lives have literally been saved and the quality of life improved.
Established in June 2004, our Changsha Foster Care programme is small but of a very high standard. Special needs children are carefully matched and placed with families who have undergone extensive evaluation. It remains a challenge to find families in the city willing and able to care for those with disabilities and behavioural issues, but we have had some amazing success.
Some of our children and young adults have profound disabilities. They require intensive care, medical support and therapy. Hope House offers them a loving home with access to specialist care. ICC is committed to ‘care for life’, ensuring those unable to attain independence are given every opportunity to live healthy, happy lives.
Each group home has been purchased, renovated and equipped by ICC and is home to as many as 10 young adults. House parents have been trained to foster independence and teach skills for life. Residents are expected to participate in household chores, cooking, shopping and cleaning, according to ability. Community activities and outings are regularly scheduled and those able to attend local schools and colleges are encouraged to do so. We even have one of these young men working for us as a therapy assistant! Investing in the young adults is part of ICC’s commitment to care for life and opportunity for the future.
Those in our group homes not working or studying at local schools or colleges have the opportunity to learn new skills in our sheltered workshop. The workshop, ‘Flowers in the Desert’, gives 40 young adults the opportunity to expand their abilities. They design and produce greeting cards and jewellery. It can take as many as 4 young adults to produce one card. One folds, one cuts, one sticks and one packs – teamwork! The young adults take great pride in their work and receive a small monthly salary.
International China Concern’s Social Welfare Training centre provides training in basic paediatric nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, special needs education and psychology to social welfare workers across China. More than 500 individuals from 60 welfare centres have been trained since the centre was established in 1998. We want to inspire those working with special needs children and young adults, to show them what ‘can be’ and give them practical tools to achieve this. All trainers are foreign specialists who volunteer their time and the curriculum and training manuals have been compiled by them.
For many Chinese social welfare employees, training opportunities are rare. Here are some comments from previous participants:
“Thank you for giving me the chance to study. The lectures helped me to understand many things I previously didn’t know. I now realise the value of my work. You helped me master skills and it has been helpful.”
“During my work experience, I understood the importance of being a carer. We are the advocator in the disabled child’s life not just a care giver. When we understand the health and psychology of children we are able to initiate the right care.”
Changsha city, capital of Hunan Province, is a regional centre for culture and education and supports a population of more than 2 million. Inhabited as long as 3,000 years ago, the city was known as an important educational centre and the Yuelu Academy was founded in 976 as one of the country’s four imperial academies of higher learning.
Mao Zedong was also a student in Changsha from 1912 – 1918 and it was here that he became a communist. His observations of life in this area served as the basis of the most important of his early political essays, ‘Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan.’
If you happen to visit Changsha check out the Mawangdui mummy, said to be around 2,000 years old, on display at the Provincial Museum.