People with leprosy are sent to isolated villages where they are abandoned and forgotten by society. The Shalom Leprosy Compassion Ministry has a special place in its heart for these people and organizes groups of volunteers to travel to villages plagued with leprosy in order to provide medical, living, and psychological assistance. The Shalom Leprosy Compassion Ministry is located in Kunming, Yunnan. In the middle of October, when we got to know Mr. Zhao would come to Kunming and found time to visit village with leprosy people. Considering his schedule and other factors, we selected a site—Yanggou village of Yiliang county. At 8:30 of 22nd, we picked up Mr. and Mrs.Zhao and Yunyun at the hotel and left for Yanggou village. We arrived at the village at 10:00 in the morning. Hearing the sound of the van, the villagers went out to greet Mr. and Mrs. Zhao. They would like to know what their donors look like. Mr. and Mrs. Zhao cares about the lepers. They met and talked with them. They congratulated Lao Wu, for his granddaughter was admitted by a university. Lao Wu expressed this gratitude to the help of TFish. Mr. Zhao chatted with Baocai’s grandfather. Mr. and Mrs. Zhao care about the life of the villagers with serious disabilities. They checked drinking water pool, hoping they have a flush toilet to improve their living environment. Mr. and Mrs. Zhao also checked the solar-powered bath room built by American volunteers. They took picture with Liang Ping and encouraged him to work for the benefit of the lepers. Mrs. Zhao gave fully affirm for Liang Ping’s efforts. She accompanied Liang Ping to treat female lepers and gave them encouragement. Mr. and Mrs. Zhao walked around the village. Though they did not speak very much, we still sensed their cares. The schedule of Mr. and Mrs. Zhao was tight, so they could not stay long at the village. The villagers felt their love and care, because their love has been deeply printed in the heart of the lepers through Shalom’s work. On behalf of 117 lepers from 9 villages, Shalom team thank Mr. and Mrs. Zhao and TFish for your love. We hope to get more help from TFish and all the best to Mr. and Mrs. Zhao. Original article written by Ping Liang, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang Grounded on core values of respect, love, and service to the elderly, the Xin Yue Senior Citizen Service Center of Chongqing, China, promotes social work services for senior citizens and builds harmonious living environment for them. We planned a birthday party for those who were born in October for the senior citizens. We invited 2 senior citizens to participate in planning. According to their advices, we invited children with artistic skills to perform in the party. In the afternoon of October 19, the activity opened with the support of TFish. 37 senior citizens born in October attended party. Each of senior citizens introduced themselves and shred their stories. Grandpa’s story moved me a lot. “Though I cannot walk, but I can sit in the wheelchair. Even if the wheelchair cannot move, my heart is still beating,” He said. The little volunteers performed wonderful dancing, singing and allegro, which made all senior citizens smile happily. Then the children gave their greetings by sending an oil painting drew with spare time to 6 senior citizens. The painting showed their respects and caring for the elderly around them. We sent birthday cake to the senior citizens together. The senior citizens made their wishes. After the celebration party, we visited over 20 senior citizens with poor health and sent them birthday cakes and milk. We hope each senior citizen born in October can receive greetings from TFish and the children. For young guys, birthday is a kind of celebration, but for senior citizens, birthday seems more like a connection of the life, reviewing the experience until the graduation of the life.
Little Red Scarf is in Lanzhou, Gansu and Yunnan province and provides financial support and encouragement to children suffering from congenital heart disease. In addition, they provide families with post-operative care and help the children sustain a healthy lifestyle. Little Mei is the 310th child to be supported by Little Red Scarf in collaboration with Lanzhou Military General Hospital. On January 2012, her parents accompanied Little Mei to the hospital. This child gave me a deep impression. When her parents took her to the hospital, 12-year-old Little Mei was skinny and small. Her family brought half a bag of oil bread. During their time in the hospital, her parents only bought food for Little Mei during meal times and drank water and ate bread themselves.During their time in the hospital, Little Mei’s father was talkative and optimistic. He says that, out of their three children, Little Mei is the smartest. When asked what he expects of Little Mei, her father responds, “Of course we want her to attend college. We invested so much in this child, she has to get into college.” (To learn more about Little Mei) Three years after her surgery, when we met Little Mei again, she changed dramatically. Little Mei is tall and healthy. She goes to middle school in the city. We waited for her in front of her school for her school to end. But the sky started raining. Although we were blocked by umbrellas, Little Mei and I recognized each other in the crowd at the same time. When I saw her, I screamed in surprise “How tall you’ve grown!”. She ran towards us, clearly taller than her classmates. Little Mei took us to her rental apartment near her school. Because the school did not have dorms or a cafeteria, the local rental apartments became the dorms for rural students attending school in the city. Rent from these apartments also became a main source of income for this village. Little Mei and her cousin rented an apartment together in this complex. The apartment is on the left side and is about 15 square meters. The cost is 950 yuan per semester. This small two story building houses 19 students in total. The landlady is a middle-aged woman, who is warm and caring. When she heard that we wanted to come in, she wanted to know who we are. She told us that all the parents of the kids live hard lives. She needs to care for these kids so they will have bright futures. We joked with her that her apartment complex is the cradle for future college students. The landlady provides all of the furniture in their room. The two small beds are very simple. The two children used old books to prop up a leg of the leg, which looks very unstable. They only have a two and a half hour break for lunch, so the two kids began preparing lunch as soon as they got home. They have clearly defined tasks: one cleans the vegetables and another cuts them. The two girls are very fast. The potatoes were cooks in a flash. Little Mei told us that the potatoes and cabbages are all from home. The cooking oil is also. The two would sometimes buy some noodles or buns. Cooking for two saves money overall. Each person only needs 28 yuan a week, an average of 4 yuan per day. In the mornings their school offers a free nutritional breakfast, including a bag of milk, an egg, and some bread. If they did not feel full in the morning, they will eat an extra bun. Little Mei’s older brother and sister go to high school elsewhere, where they do not offer free breakfast. Little Mei will save some milk to give to her siblings during the weekend. Little Red Scarf is in Lanzhou, Gansu and Yunnan province and provides financial support and encouragement to children suffering from congenital heart disease. In addition, they provide families with post-operative care and help the children sustain a healthy lifestyle. Little Zhuan is the 67th child to be supported by Little Red Scarf in Gansu Province. On May 31st, 2010, 8-year-old Little Zhuan successfully underwent surgery. From then on, her parents did not need to worry about her condition anymore. After the surgery, LRS staff communicates with the child’s parents each year to learn about how the child is recovering and her family and living conditions. (To learn more about Little Zhuan) During December of 2014, when LRS staff called Little Zhuan’s father for the fourth time, he says that Little Zhuan is 13 now and is pretty healthy. She just catches the cold more often than regular kids. Little Zhuan is in fifth grade now and has good grades. When our staff asked how Little Zhuan’s father was doing himself, he became sad and told us that two months before Little Zhuan’s surgery, he was diagnosed with diabetes. The doctor told him that, judging from the symptoms, he had the illness for at least three years. This proved the old proverb that “luckiness does not in pairs while bad luck never comes alone.” From that time on the child’s father could not do heavy work, so the weight of supporting the family had to be borne by Little Zhuan’s mother alone. On March 18th, 2015, my coworker Aiju and I visited Little Zhuan’s family. We passed Little Zhuan’s school on the way from the township to her home. Her elementary school is next to a temple dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy, so her school is named “Goddess of Mercy Elementary School.” We learned from the principal that Goddess of Mercy Elementary School is a complete elementary school, meaning that it offers 1st through 6th grade education for its students (most rural elementary schools are divided into primary elementary school and high elementary school, with primary elementary school being 1st to 3rd grade and high elementary school being 4th to 6th grade). |
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