A woman with disabilities at the Huixinyuan Community in Beijing receives rehabilitation treatment at the community center for the disabled in October (MA LI)

Every morning at 9 o’clock, Song Enlan, who works at the Xiaoguan Street Office of the Huixinyuan Community in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, arrives at the Warm Homeland Center for people with disabilities. Her daily routine starts by greeting her friends who come for recovery training. "I've been here for almost two years, and I feel fulfilled by helping them and seeing they making improvements every day." By now, the 49-year-old Song has already made her work in assisting persons with disability as one of the most integral parts of her life.

There are currently 886 people with disabilities on record in Xiaoguan’s Warm Homeland Center--479 with physical disabilities, 122 with psychological problems, 72 mentally challenged, 55 who are hearing impaired or deaf, 94 visually impaired or blind, and 64 suffering from multiple disabilities. Some of the patients require quite a lot of recovery time after being treated in the hospital. And the center in Xiaoguan provides the optimum environment for them to do this. The work of Song and her colleagues appears to be quite essential.

People with disabilities at the Guoyuancun Community in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, receive baking training provided by the community management department in July (XIHUA)

Giving hope

You would never connect Wei Xing to a person with disability if you hadn’t seen her at the Warm Homeland. "I'm really happy. I've been here for almost two years and I feel like I’ve become another person. I hope to return to society as soon as possible and start anew." No one could have imagined such a nice woman standing before us has had severe psychological issues.

In 2000, Wei, who was then 25, moved with her ex-husband to the capital. "Back then, I had recently graduated from college and had a decent job before I went to Beijing. But I quit my job and came here with great hope to support my husband with his career."

Unfortunately, the reality was not as good as she imagined. "The first problem was the job. I thought I could find a decent one in Beijing, but failed. I started to doubt my choice," Wei told Beijing Review that being unable to find a work that she is satisfied with seriously affected her.

Just when she thought she had lost all dreams for the future, Wei was pregnant and she believed the baby would give her a chance to “reshuffle and restart." However, things went array. "My husband requested a divorce after the child was born because he had begun a relationship with another woman." Quitting her job in her hometown and being abandoned by her husband completely destroyed her.

"After the divorce I stayed at home alone and absent-minded. Sometimes I couldn't tell whether it was day or night. I didn't want to go out and was afraid of seeing other people." Wei told Beijing Review that she lived as a recluse in extreme anger and fear during those years.

Coincidently, Wei’s psychological condition was discovered when the household survey on people with disabilities in the community was taken in Xiaoguan two years ago. The staff persuaded Wei to go outside of her apartment and brought her to the center.

"At first, Wei just sat there and was unwilling to communicate with the trainers or other members. So we talked to her and encouraged her to sing, dance and play games, in order to regain her confidence and shake off her introverted nature. She will only be able to start afresh if she becomes more extraverted,” asserted Song.

How time flies. Over the last two years Wei gradually became more outgoing and active through psychological counseling and therapeutic intervention provided by the recovery trainers. "Now I only need to take some basic medicine, and I’m hoping to rid myself of this someday, return to society and start a new life," said Wei hopefully.

The Warm Homeland Center of Xiaoguan frequently holds various kinds of recovery activities for the psychologically and mentally challenged. The center hires professional training teachers and volunteers from Lead social work organization, which holds all kinds of activities during the week: sharing a film on Monday, drawing class on Tuesday, organizing a choir on Wednesday, paper-cutting on Thursday and performing comedy on Friday.

Each month, trainers from Lead also take some of them out to harness a greater connection with society and nature, such as trips to climb mountains and walking competitions in the Olympic park.

Specialized doctors conduct psychological recovery guides in Xiaoguan every month and give psychological counseling for those who need it. Moreover, an expert is invited every season to give lectures focusing on psychological recovery.

Sound recovery

"Happy lives are alike, while miserable lives are different," says Han Jun, a 52-year-old born with infantile paralysis. "A few years ago I was able to work a little, but later on I couldn't walk anymore and my vision deteriorated."

Every time he goes to the Warm Homeland, Han is pushed by friends in his wheelchair. "In the past, I was able to walk around the neighborhood, but after it became difficult to do so I merely stayed at home. I feel sorry for my mother who is now 75 years old and has to take care of a son with disability. My mother and I used to stare dully at each other day in day out, creating a gloomy atmosphere. It was a desperate time back then." In order to lighten his mood, Han’s mother brought him to the center.

During two years there, he met new friends and gradually improved his mood. He also underwent regular treatment, which helped to alleviate his weak limbs. "In the past when I was home, I felt like my life was wasting away. But now, I read, write and draw with others, and life is full of fun."

Like Han, many others with physical disabilities in the neighborhood are getting better through treatment provided at the Warm Homeland. The most critical thing is for them to attain recovery in their minds through service. Psychological recovery is often far more important than physical recovery.

Song told Beijing Review that Xiaoguan Street Office signed a contract with the third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine: Doctors are assigned by the recovery center of the hospital to provide professional services to people with disabilities in the local community regularly. Targeting the 30 people with specific recovery demands, Xiaoguan also established the Home-based Recovery Training Camp, providing them with one-on-one services.

Copyedited by Dominic James Madar

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