Warm Love Home works with people with disabilities in the rural areas in China by means of online chat groups. The online chat groups give them courage and respond for their needs.
I live in a small village in Guizhou. My name is Lu Apple. I am congenitally disabled. One month after I was born, my parents found that my body was different from other babies. They took me to the hospital and the doctor told my parents that I had congenital rickets that could not be cured. The doctor said I might have to stay in bed for the rest of my life or die young. When I came back from the hospital, I weighed only 3 kg. It was Christmas Eve and we ate apples. My mum told the family I would be the apple of the family, which is where I got my nickname. My father found a job in a coal mining company. He earned 25RMB a day for digging coal. He worked hard to pay off the debts. It was not easy to find a job at that time. I began to grow teeth when I was 3 months old. My bones grew longer, but could not grow bigger or stronger. I am 24 now, but my arms and legs are as slim as a child's. When I was 2, I could not even sit up. My mom always had to carry me on her back. I could finally sit up when I was 6, but I could not eat on my own. My mum, brother and sister had to feed me until I was 8. Then I could eat on my own by holding a spoon with 2 hands. My brain grew well and I memorized everything I saw. My sister taught me some words when she came back from school. I also learned myself from my sister’s textbooks. When I was 9, I learned math. I was different from other children. They could walk and jump and play everywhere. They could make friends and have a lot of schoolmates. I had nothing. I had to stay in the bed every day. I wondered when I could run, jump, play and go to school like them. Why could I not walk like a normal child? I still remember one day when my mother helped me wash. I asked my mum why I could not walk, jump and play as other children. Why could they go to school and make friends? My mother said after a long silence, “Dear child, you are an apple bitten by God, so you are different. God will guard you and give you a bright future. ” I asked my mother what God was. Why did he bite me instead of other children? What does a bright future look like? Mum told me, “God is an immortal person living in heaven. He likes the sun and shines every day. God bit you because you are too lovely. God is busy every day. When He is not busy, He will come and visit you.” I asked my mother, “Is this true? Is there a God living in heaven? What does God look like?” Mum said, “Yes, this is true. God likes good children. He does not like children who like crying, so you should be cheerful and wait for God’s visit. ” I said, “I believe in what you havetold me, so I will be happy every day and wait for God’s visit.” Original article written by Haizhen Wang, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang Warm & Love Home works with people with disabilities in the rural areas in China by means of online chat groups. The online chat groups give them courage and respond for their needs.
The living conditions in the village were poor so my mum did not go and see a doctor. I got a high fever when I was 6 months old, and my superstitious grandmother did not allow my parents to take me to the hospital, instead, she cut a yellow paper figure and put it beneath my pillow. The high fever damaged my brain, which resulted in mixed cerebral palsy. My body could not keep its balance, and I could not walk. Mum was cursed and looked down upon by relatives, friends, and neighbors because of me so she had to stay with me at home. My dad had to work for the whole family, in order to pay my medical bills. Sometimes, we could not afford daily necessities. I was not able to go to school, so my mum taught me words at home. I like embroidery and I learned to do cross-stitch and bead embroidery with feet. I don't remember how many times my toes have been pierced. Later my works were selected to be shown in a provincial competition, and then they were chosen to attend the World Expo. I would like to let people know I am not a useless person. I want my parents to be proud of me. Now I have found opportunities via internet. Since 2012, I began to use Qzone and Micro-Blog to help deliver helpseek messages. In order to provide better help, I started a QQ Group for disabled people. Our group received attention and support from more and more people. Now the group has 200 members- we started with only 20! Some of these people are unable to move at all, they have to use their nose or mouth to hold a chopstick to type, or they have to seek help from their disabled friends. Some of these people have hemophilia, and some of them were disabled by an accident, but could not afford treatment. Some people experienced family violence or were dumped by their spouses. I feel pain and sorrow whenever I hear these situations. Warm & Love Home works with people with disabilities in the rural areas in China by means of online chat groups. The online chat groups give them courage and respond for their needs.
Xingxing (star) is 30, who suffers from severe scoliosis. She is strong mind, optimistic and indomitable. The family could not afford to treat her scoliosis earlier, so most of bones were transformed seriously. Her illness caused incontinence and she has been lying in bed for over 10 years. The transformed spinal pressed her nerves and she has to live with unbearable pains day and night. She often got fevers due to poor immunity. Bedsores on the body cannot be recovered well because of malnutrition. To save medical bills, she even learned some medical knowledge and made prescription for herself, but it costs about thousands of yuan for each prescription. She also wanted to help to ease the burden of her parents. She runs an online shop to sell cross-stitch pictures. She has to put up with the pain and make cross-stitch picture every day. In her shop, there are not only cross-stitch pictures, but hand-made bracelets and mobile phone recharge cards. With an old laptop on the bed, she earned not only her medical bills, but part of her brother’s school tuition. Original article written by Haizhen Wang, translated by Maggie Li, edited by Yanyan Zhang Warm & Love Home works with people with disabilities in the rural areas in China by means of online chat groups. The online chat groups give them courage and respond for their needs.
I have a home. When I think of her, I feel warm and encouragement deep in my heart. I have a home. When I come home, I feel her love and care, which always moves me to tears. She is a home of love and made up by a group of self-motivated people with disabilities. It is also a developing grass-root organization. We are from different parts of the country, but we are brothers and sisters. This is my home and a home full of love. I am a disabled girl. I used to be self-abased and depressed. I did not see any hope to live on. I could not even face the disability. I refused to go out and speak to strangers. I felt all people were mocking me and all people looked at me strangely. I had to face unemployment when I graduated from the college. The stress of survival made me out of breath. Seeing my classmates got married and started their careers one by one, I could not help thinking of being marginalized. I did not want to contact them and closed my heart to the outside world. I became numb and self-closing. Was I disabled physically and mentally? |
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