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According to their motto - “Love, truth, and service to community” - Xingyang Volunteer Federation works to enhance people’s sense of social responsibility through providing them various volunteer opportunities. The office is in Xingyang, Henan province.
July 10, 2014 is a wonderful new day to me but really awful to brother “High mountain sky blue creek”. Even for a simple morning exercise, he was seriously injured in a car accident and stayed in the intensive care unit for 5 days. He joined Xingyang Volunteer Federation for nearly 5 years. Quite often he participated in various volunteer activities and we become quite well acquainted over time. In my mind, he is like a big brother to us … in various activities, he is our think tank, a hard working partner; In conversations, it brinsg out wisdom and harmony. As an administrator, he is always on top of what is going on. When there is disagreement or argument, he is always the impartial mediator, always shows his clear, calm mind. Therefore, everyone knows we have a dear brother called brother “High mountain sky blue creek”, or “Brother Mountain” in short. After the incident, I went to visit brother Mountain, that is his 4th day in the intensive care unit. My voice is a little choked when seeing him lying in bed with so many bandages, tubes, and monitoring equipment over his body. It is not easy for anyone to see such an energetic person turned into this in just a few days. I quickly adjusted my voice so brother Mountain can have a peaceful rest without thinking too much. My tears started to come out again when brother Mountain said this in weak voice : “I was unable to do the haircut”. His wife said on bed side : “Didn’t you just get haircut ?”. Brother Mountain said again : “ the one at the nursing home”. Now I understand this: about a week ago, Xingyang Volunteer Federation issued a message that they are looking for volunteers to help hair cut for elderlies in the nursing home on June 12th. Brother Mountain signed up for this event and then missed it due to the accident. I held back my tears and said with smile : “Brother Mountain, I know you’re unable to go. We all did it on your behalf. Please take easy and take care”. Knowing brother Mountain was doing okay, we decided to take off after passing on concerns from others so brother Mountain can get more rest. In the hallway outside the intensive care unit, brother Mountain’s wife told us that the first thing brother Mountain asked after waking up in the intensive unit is this “Did we forward to brother Zhuo the photos from visiting the war veterans ?”. That is the event of visiting war veterans on July 9th. Brother Mountain was responsible for taking photos and was supposed to turn over them to brother Zhuo on the following day. Brother Mountain is so attached to the work he volunteered even when he is in hospital bed. I am unable to express my feelings for what has been going on. All I can do is to put the real meaning of the word “volunteer” into action.  Longwan Caring Home is located in Dahua County, which was listed as one of the poorest counties in Guangxi Province. Longwan Caring Home is a big family consisting of orphans, single parents, and abandoned children. The normal expense of the Home is sustained by plantation, breeding, and small business.
This story started in 2012. That year, a charity worker MoMo came to Longwan Caring Home in Dahua County to assist teaching. Inadvertently, Longwan Caring Home teacher I-Hua Ban told MoMo about a high school freshman in the classroom : “This student is from a very poor family with many siblings. He has no money for breakfast, and basically no money for living expense. Quite often, he drinks water for breakfast so he won’t feel that much hungry. He suffers some serious illness. However, he is very determined to continue his education for a better future. He quite often came to our Longwan Caring Home to help other kids for their studies”. This student is Whei-Dung Ban. In 2010, Whei-Dung Ban was diagnosed with encephalopathy, accompanied by seizures. Because his family has no money for medical treatment, he had no choice but quit schooling and go out to work. He was already 19 when he was high school freshman. He is the oldest one in his class. However, academically he was ranked number one in his class. Later on, Whei-Dung Ban talked to MoMo and mentioned his drinking of water for breakfast. Nonetheless, he was optimistic and no complaint at all. The warm smile on his face was like sunshine in the winter. He said : “It is okay as long as I can study. Go out work without education is a big disadvantage”. His smile and persistence impressed MoMo. After MoMo went back to her home in Nan-Ning, she sent $100 yuan to Whei-Dung Ban each month to pay for his breakfast. MoMo learned later that Whei-Dung Ban applied this $100 yuan to cover his daily meals for the whole month. ISeek Cultural Center is a public welfare organization initiated by patients with PAH (pulmonary artery hypertension), which aims to provide support and service for people with invisible disabilities as PAH. June 20th to 22nd, 2014, the 11th international pulmonary hypertension science conference was held in Indianapolis, the state capital of Indiana, which is a famous car racing city. Therefore, conference organizer designated “Racing toward the road of healing” as the theme of this event. This is the voice of two and half million patients worldwide and also the common goal of over 60 pulmonary hypertension patient organizations striving for. Of course, every one of our patients, their families, health care professionals, volunteers, and those engaged in this welfare are well aware of achieving this goal is just like car racing, full of challenges. In the evening of June 18, at the welcome party held for leaders of pulmonary hypertension organizations worldwide, representative Huan Huang of Iseek organization started with sharing his own illness, what has gone through in founding Iseek organization and the progress achieved in the past three years. Then followed up by similar experience sharing by organizations from South Africa, Israel, Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and other countries. "When my mother was diagnosed with this illness, I know only two such patients in Brazil. I know if I do not do it, nobody will", "In South Africa, we have only two treatments available for this disease", "I was diagnosed just a year ago. This is my first time to participate in International Pulmonary Hypertension Science Conference. I am very happy and I will bring back your stories back to Mexico ". Every face in the conference is new to us and yet their stories are so familiar. Although we are unable to communicate fluently in English or Spanish but we feel the understanding and caring from an old friend. "Hey, how is your daughter ?", "She is fine, and you?". Like Iseek organization, most pulmonary arterial hypertension organizations are founded by patients or their families.
 Father is a very diligent person, collecting recyclable garbage to subsidize his income 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.
In April 2014, Xiao Jun’s family got in touch with Little Red Scarf through the local health bureau. In that same month, had congenital heart surgery in LanZhou when she was only two years old. Five years later today, Xiao Jun is a beautiful 7 years old. Her father told us her immune system is relatively weak, got sick quite often in between season changes each and every year. Sometimes her family treated her with Chinese medicine. There are 4 in the family. Her father is 46 years old and works as gate security guard for some company. He gets paid $400 yuan a month, plus free room and board. 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. Lulu didn’t enjoy sports at all since childhood. Her family thought she was introverted. She was diagnosed with congenital heart disease when was in the hospital for treating flu. Her family was so poor that surgery was beyond their consideration. In July 2013, with the help of Little Red Scarf, Lulu had heart surgery and today her heart is healthy. Lulu’s family has five. Her father died of diabetes complications three months after her heart surgery.She was born in LanZhou. Her mother told us the whole family lived in LanZhou for over 10 hears.Due to the pass away of her father, they had no choice but to take LuLu from LanZhou back to their hometown in the country side to be with her grandma and for schooling.Grandma is 71 years old, suffers pain in her legs and lower back.Grandma takes care of 3 grandchildren back home and also needs to work in the field to plant crops. Several years ago, her ankle was badly hurt when working in the field. She had no money and never seen a doctor for her foot injury.Today, her ankle bone is deformed. After her father passed away, her mom is the sole bread earner for the family.She works for a lily factory in LanZhou. She was paid by pieces of work done. This job is available for 10 months per year. In a good month, she earns 3,200 yuan. In off season month, her income is 2,200 yuan. She sent 600 yuan each month back home to cover living expenses.
 According to their motto - “Love, truth, and service to community” - Xingyang Volunteer Federation works to enhance people’s sense of social responsibility through providing them various volunteer opportunities. The office is in Xingyang, Henan province. In January of 2015, 400 pairs of cotton stocks were donated by Shenzhen Engrave Public Service. We sent 180 pairs of stocks to 90 supported students on 19th. When we went to school, we saw some students were wearing thin stocks and shoes on the playground. Their shoes were shabby, too. When we distribute the stocks, we recorded their feet sizes. We discussed to raised winter shoes for the children. After the activity on Tuesday, a kind lady sent 20 pairs of winter shoes. We gave the shoes to 20 needy children. At each school, we asked the children to try the shoes and asked their feelings. We also care about their study and other difficulties. We told the children to cut hair, wash hair, take a bath or wash clothes. We still told the children to do some housework as cooking, washing or cleanings. We said we wanted to see them clean and neatly when we would meet next time. Wearing winter shoes, their feet no longer felt cold and we felt warm, too. Original article written by Lichun Liu, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang
 Seniors were showing their paper cuttings 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. On February 10, Senior Center held birthday party for 33 senior citizens with the support of TFish and Children’s Home. We also sent our new year greetings. Less than half year, teachers and children visited the senior citizens again. They warmed the senior citizens with their actions and love. Though they are orphans, they still have hopes for life with the love and care of the government and society. The children would never forget the love that other people gave them. They would like to return the society whenever they are able to. Granny Fu even recognized immediately one of the children, Xiao Lin, who had taken picture with her. They held each other’s hands and greetings as the family. Before the party, children did paper-buts with some senior citizens whose eyesight was not very good. With the help of the children, several senior citizens cut very nice patterns, which add something happy to the party. With the organization of the host, each leading senior citizens of the party introduced themselves and spoke something gratitude. Grandpa Xiong said, “when I was young, no one has ever celebrate the birthday for me. Only our closest person knew our birthday. I have never expected my birthday would be remembered. I would like to really thank the children.” When the children lighted the candles, the persons gave warm applauses. With birthday song, the senior citizens made their wishes. Then the children gave their gifts made by their own hands. Though they are not valuable, but they are special. Senior citizens need not much, they need some cares. A little gift can make them quite happy. After the activity, the children and social workers sent cakes and greetings to the rooms for those who are not convenient to move. With your help and love, we will harvest warm feelings. Original article written by Ling Feng, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang
Shalom Leprosy Compassion Ministry: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 February of 2015, we visited lepers from Yangquangou and Zhushan villages and we also made plans to visit our friends, Lisu people, in Moon Village of Nujiang prefecture. On February 14, we organized volunteers from abroad and domestic for the visit. We brought donated gifts and visited Yangquangou village, Yiliang county before Chinese Lunar New Year. They not only brought greetings, but performances to 18 lepers and their families. We would like to share some photos for this activity. Leprosy patients were waiting for the volunteers early in the morning. Volunteers of Shalom would like to communicate with them before Chinese New Year. People are greeting volunteers in the yard. They were talking and sharing with each other. The volunteers are ready to give performances. Volunteers were distributing gifts. According to the needs, the volunteers raised 18 induction cookers to the villagers. Liang Ping concerned about the health of the lepers. She brought a Chinese medicine doctor, hoping the doctor could relief the illness and give them a nice Chinese New Year.
Migrant Art School is a non-profit organization that offers art lessons for the children of migrant workers who otherwise would not have this opportunity. This update was written by Director Gu, the founder of and a teacher at the Art School in Beijing. It has been 2 years since Zhang Zhengwei came to the organization. With the education in art school, he improved in many aspects. I still remember the time he just came. It was a problem for him to communicate with teachers and classmates. Teacher Gu asked him to watch news, read more books and participate in activities. Teacher Gu developed some teaching methods individually, aiming to transform and improve him. According to Zhang Zhengwei, every day was fantastic for him during past 3 years. He said he improved academically. He had given up his dreams a long time ago and worked for living. He began to transform when he came to Migrant Art School. Everyone is free to think and with no tie in the school. He thanked a lot for his teacher who made his life turn. In the school, he found what fit him. According to him, he found back his confidence and changed his laziness. He said the school changed him and made him see wonderful aspects of life. With consistent efforts, he will step forward to success. Original article written by Xiaochen Gu, translated by Maggie Li, Edited by Yanyan Zhang
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.
March 2015 is a month not easy to forget for Shalom volunteers. Our vehicle visiting leprosy village involved in an accident during Chinese New Year. Volunteer Ping Liang and her family helped treat patient Shu-Fang Zhang. It was somehow troublesome due to the involvement of peoples injured in the accident. Even under this uneasy circumstance, Shalom still organized two visits to leprosy villages. In addition, Shalom took Mr. Wu from YangJuanGou rehabilitation village in YiLiang county to city Kunming for check-up and treatment. Below is a set of photos showing March activities by Shalom:
1, Treatment of the injured and vehicle repair: Since LiSu tribe autonomous prefecture along NuJiang river of Yunnan province is one of the most remote and under-developed prefecture, the only help we can get is from volunteers to transfer the injured and vehicle to the city of Kunming. |
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