Social Welfare: Report 2006

"One hundred years later, I will not care what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money was on my bank account, or what kind of clothes I wore. But it makes me feel proud and happy in a way that is unparalleled because I played an important role in the life change of a child and the world became a much more beautiful place. "

-Wu An’an, Director of the Social Welfare Division

Helping the disadvantaged groups in society to help themselves is the focus of Amity's Social Welfare work. Orphans, children/young adults with special needs and leprosy victims are the main target groups. Equality and quality-of-life are key themes. Amity seeks to provide the same opportunities to disadvantaged groups that people in mainstream society enjoy.

Orphanages

Amity works with a total of 66 orphanages located in 12 provinces throughout China (Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Xinjiang, Zhejiang, Ningxia, Fujian, Guangxi, Sichuan, Tibet). Amity seeks first and foremost to provide the love and care which all children need, within a family environment wherever possible. Where necessary, medical needs are taken care of and children are sent to study in local community schools. In this way, Amity hopes that the orphans it works with will grow into healthy adults with every confidence in their future.

• 863 children from 45 orphanages were placed with foster care families.
• 820 children from 60 orphanages were sponsored to attend regular local schools.
• 230 "Amity Grandmas", retired ladies who love children, worked in 43 orphanages providing supportive care to the children and some training to orphanage staff where appropriate.
• 50 children from 11 orphanages received medical treatment for conditions including congenital heart deformities, harelips and cleft palate, club feet and anus atresia, in addition to the project of “Tomorrow Plan” run by the government.
• 14 orphanages were provided with much-needed facilities such as rehabilitation equipment, playground equipment, incubators, kitchenware, washing machines, air conditioners and other items.
• Two Seminars were conducted for the Amity Grandmas from Hunan, Jiangxi, Wuhan, Anhui, Fujian and Nanjing in May, providing opportunities for the Amity Grandmas to share their experiences and to learn from each other. In the seminar, local experts were invited to give training in rehabilitation and special education skills.

“I have been an Amity Grandma for 6 years. The Changsha Social Welfare Institute came to our church and asked people to apply to become Amity Grandmas. 156 people applied. When we were told that this work would be voluntary without any pay, but would require much compassion, many backed out. I personally didn’t care about being compensated and continued to put forth my application. I could never frown on these disabled children. Aren't we taught by the Bible to "love others as we love ourselves?" More than a few of the orphans we have loved and cared for have been adopted by foreign families, and have gone to good homes. I want to keep working hard to show compassion to these children.”

-Amity Grandma from Changsha, Hunan Province

“I learned how to cut hair on my own. I sat in a hair salon for a whole day and observed where the haircutters started their cutting and where they ended. Then I applied with the director of the orphanage to buy hair cutting tools, and became the hairdresser for all the orphans here. Every year we can save quite a bit of money in haircutting expenses.”
- an Amity Grandma

Xie Jinren (Director of Special Education Division of the Ministry of Education of China) put much value on SigAm Bilingual Deaf Education Project. He said:

“You have good judgment in choosing project schools. The principals of the project schools attach great importance to the project; the teachers work with great enthusiasm and are devoted to the teaching and research in bilingual deaf education. The pilot project has made remarkable achievements in terms of the deaf children’s good development. The pilot classes can use the same teaching materials as ordinary primary school using and are in same progress with ordinary schools. It is really a challenging and tough job to achieve this.”

Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) and Special Education Projects

Children from poorer areas of China suffering from polio or cerebral palsy desperately need help to receive medical support and psychological counseling, as well as access to educational opportunities, vocational training and social rehabilitation. Amity seeks where possible to provide these things, encouraging the families, schools and communities around such children to accept them and support them in their special needs. In this way, it is hoped that these children can grow to become valued members of the wider community.

Amity seeks to provide CBR services to polio victims and children with cerebral palsy in Tancheng County (Shandong) and at the New Hope Centre in Pizhou County (Jiangsu Province).

The New Hope Center (NHC) entered a new phase of development in 2006. Most of the nearly 600 polio children who have been supported by the NHC have finished 9-year basic education. Some are in high school, some in vocational schools. (Furthermore, some are playing in national wheelchair table tennis teams and, as a group, have won 35 awards in several different international competitions.) The NHC continues serving these youth as a resource center to 1) provide ongoing guidance and counseling; 2) provide braces repair; 3) arrange visits to their schools and their work places to help educate those people in their daily environment and give more specific rehabilitation instructions to the polio youth themselves according to their environment and situations.

The New Hope Center continues its micro-credit projects. 196 families have received loans for various small-business ventures.

Meanwhile, the Center has started to prepare for providing rehabilitation services for children with cerebral palsy by assessing local needs in this area and sending out their workers to receive specialized training.

Children with Cerebral Palsy: Training in Rehabilitation

Supported by China Partners Network (CPN) from Washington State of USA, with the professional team from the Children Therapy Unit (CTU) of Good Samaritan Hospital there, Amity, in collaboration with China Association of Rehabilitation Medicine, again organized four-day training courses in April on cerebral palsy treatment. There were two venues: Xi’an Children’s Hospital and Heilongjiang Children’s CP Prevention and Rehabilitation center. These were the 4th and 5th occasions of cooperation between CPN and Amity. The training course is designed to improve the knowledge and technique of the front line rehabilitation staff in orphanages, so as to benefit the children with CP under their care. This time, more than 120 participants from orphanages and community children’s hospitals in the country shared their questions and insights with the medical team from the USA.

Hearing-impairment and Deafness

The SigAm Project is a cooperation between Amity, the Jiangsu Provincial Professional Committee for Special Education and the Signo Foundation in Norway for promoting and pioneering bilingual education for deaf children in China. The project is being carried out in Nanjing, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou and Suzhou cities (all in Jiangsu Province) and aims to promote research into the localization of bilingual deaf education and an increase in its application in China.

The focus is now on both pre-school and first grade education. The pilot program with preschools began in four locations of Shandong Province in 2005. In 2006, the project has expanded to Sichuan and Guizhou Provinces.

The 2006 work included the following:

• Seminar conducted on SigAm Bilingual Deaf Education Project Research (scholars from China and Norway, teachers from project schools)
• Training in bilingual deaf education provided by Chinese specialists for principals and staff from deaf schools of western China. This included training in specific bilingual classes of Jiangsu pilot schools.
• SigAm Bilingual Deaf Education Summer Seminar (joint training by experts from China and Norway for seven days.)
• Training for parents of deaf children on bilingual deaf education.
• Supporting the pilot bilingual classes in preschool program and the first grade of primary school programs in the five target schools in Jiangsu Province and four target schools in Sichuan and Guizhou Provinces;
• Seminars and activities of collective preparation of lessons of the teachers from the pilot bilingual classes were conducted regularly on experience sharing on bilingual teaching in deaf education.
• Organizing experts to pay site visits to 9 pilot schools, carrying out supervising and evaluation activities.

Editing and publishing of Newsletter on SigAm Bilingual Deaf Education Project (two issues).
Editing and publishing of a book named “Reading pictures; Learning Sign Language and Chinese Characters”
Calendar: The SigAm Project, '07

Rehabilitation and Economic Development Projects for Leprosy Victims

Amity cooperates with the Centers for Disease Control in Jiangsu and Hunan Provinces in order to provide services to victims of leprosy and other infectious diseases. In 2006, these services included the following:

• Mobile Medical Teams to provide home-based rehabilitation services to the disabled leprosy victims in Jiangsu Province.
• Technical training and micro-credit loans to the families of leprosy victims in Yongshun County and Huaihua City (Hunan Province).
• 70 children from poor families having one or more leprosy victims were provided with scholarships to complete their basic education in Zhangjiajie, Huaihua and Wugang Cities (Hunan Province).
• In Xichou County (Yunnan Province), Amity conducted biogas projects for 40 poor families having leprosy victims. The project helped to save money and labor of the target people and contributed to environmental protection in the local area.
• In Huaihua leprosy village, the residents are enjoying clean drinking water and safe electricity, now that the reconstruction/renovation of 24 houses is complete.

Quick Access