OVERVIEW
This project supports children in central China who have a physical or mental disability – many of whom were abandoned as babies. We are helping restore their dignity and worth, providing them with love, hope and opportunity through enhanced occupational, therapeutic and educational support. Support services include residential care and a community support project to parents of children with disabilities within the community. This is the final year of a three year project designed to improve educational outcomes for these needy children.
WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT IT
The local team leading this project are on the cutting edge of providing quality, individually tailored care and personal development. This occurs through education to disabled children incorporating multiple learning methods. Our partners are setting a new standard for care and education of disabled children and have demonstrated the effectiveness of their program. This is being done in close cooperation with the Chinese Government who is eager to improve its standard of care based on what it is seeing! On top of residential programs, our partner is also working with parents, to educate them on how to keep their children at home and best care for them – a fairly radical departure from the norm, and a much needed service for these parents!
THE NEED
With a history of the “one child policy” Chinese families have a preference for male children to carry on the family name and provide for their parents in old age. Unfortunately this has led to the abandonment of children born with a disability. Our implementing partner’s practice seeks to not just put a ‘band-aid’ on what has happened, but rather show by example that all children have worth and need to be cared for well. This is having a major influence on the way disabled children are cared for and change has already begun across the nation of China. Parents who are willing to keep their children also lack the skills and knowledge to adequately care for them, and there is no other help for them to learn.
LIFE CHANGE:
