China
New Hope Foundation is a capacity building development project, caring for abandoned disabled infants. It is aimed at improving the quality of health-services given to infants with disabilities with the goal of providing them with greater life opportunities in the future.
Working closely with local government departments, the project trains local staff in basic pediatric nursing methods based upon New Hope Foundations guidelines and provides specialized foster care for abandoned infants with disabilities. Through working closely with various government departments, the project has been able to offer some training and guidelines for government efforts to provide and improve this much needed service in China.
New Hope Foundation also provides training and support to prospective foster parents to ensure a sustainable and bright future for the child. In addition, the project also seeks out the very best medical solutions for the children’s handicaps and facilitates their treatment and rehabilitation for future success.
Chinese Orphans’ Assistance Team Inc (COAT) is a non-profit organisation founded to give the abandoned, disabled children of JiaoZuo (Henan Province, China) a better quality of life and future. COAT has 63 children legally in its care and aims to have the children soar above their disabilities.
COAT has six Eagles’ Wings foster homes and a school, employs and trains more than forty local staff (mainly women from lower socio-economic backgrounds). Some of our staff have received training in specialised areas such as the education and training of sight-impaired children to live in a sighted world and in delivering appropriate therapy to children with musculo-skeletal problems.
Western-trained volunteers have assessed the children who are in need of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, devised individual programs for them and trained the local staff to implement the programs. Some of our therapists who had been trained in Chinese massage methods and have willingly taken on the new ideas. As a result, the children are improving.
One success story is a girl who received COAT’s care at the age of six months is now living with her own family. She could only slightly distinguish between light and dark, but by the time she was 15 months old, she was toddling around the home with great confidence. If she heard the gate at the bottom of the stairs click - she would be there in a flash to try to get up them! She is the girl in the photo riding a horse. The family is still amazed at her development.
Crossroads Foundation and its Global Distribution arm is a NGO that uses Hong Kong’s strategic location, infrastructure, and wealth to collect and redistribute quality superseded goods globally to help alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions of people in need. Working in close partnership with local development NGOs, Crossroads is able to provide logistical support to help these organisations to fulfil their development goals by supporting them with resources such as computers, medical equipments, furniture, educational supplies, hygiene, and survival kits.
In addition to this, Crossroads also provides expert vocational training to volunteers and partners – many of whom come from developing countries. Training programs at Crossroads include Community Care training, Cantonese lessons and IT training. This type of training is not available in many of the participants’ home countries, and therefore they are able to learn skills that not only enhance their work with Crossroads but also benefit them and their home communities for future employment opportunities and technical expertise.
For more than seventeen years International China Concern (ICC) has partnered with the Chinese government to develop its programs for the abandoned and disabled. ICC is led by a dynamic team of dedicated individuals who have a wide range of expertise and influence, from business and financial management to the arts and international relations. They have a passion and a common vision to serve China’s abandoned and disabled.
GDG has three projects with ICC which focus on alleviating poverty and assisting marginalised groups in selected communities. These projects are located in the central Chinese cities of Changsha (Hunan Province), Hengyang (Hunan Province), and Sanmenxia (Henan Province). The work carried out by ICC in these projects includes:
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Implementing medical & therapy programmes,
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Seeking or providing educational opportunities,
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Training of local & national care personnel who work with the Chinese Government to establish projects and ultimately effect social change.
ICC employs a variety of development initiatives to achieve this work. This includes specialised foster care and group homes, sheltered workshops to provide educational opportunities, and capacity building in basic paediatric nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, special needs education and psychology for social welfare workers across China.
ICC’s holistic approach to its development activities is designed not only to assist the beneficiaries to improve their quality of life and future opportunities, but also to improve and develop the Chinese government’s capabilities in supporting this marginalised community.
