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UPDATED: September-5-2008  
The Disabled Become Useful Citizens
 
By GAO MIAO

The psychological trauma of China's disabled citizens is finally dispelled by the joy of earning their living and the warmth of a sympathizing society; their skill and wisdom in many fields are gaining recognition

IN china today, more and more people who are disabled no longer hide away at home, but have taken up jobs like anyone else, to help build their country.

Their skill and wisdom in many fields are gaining recognition. Departments concerned are lending greater assistance in their family life and spare-time studies than ever before.

Taking Up Jobs

No effort is spared to satisfy the handicapped people's growing desire to be useful members of society

IN China, the blind, deaf-mutes and other disabled persons enjoy the same rights to receive education, to have a family and to be gainfully employed as people without disabilities. Paragraph three under Article 45 of the Constitution says, "The state and society help make arrangements for the work, livelihood and education of the blind, deaf-mutes and other handicapped citizens." Accordingly, the state issues monthly allowances to disabled youngsters whose families are economically unable to support them.　Where conditions permit, they are sent to school at the government's expense.　When they come of age, except for those who cannot work and will be taken care of with social relief, they will be given jobs with the help of the local civil affairs departments.

In fact, most disabled people are anxious to become useful members of society by taking part in whatever productive activities they can.

At one time, many disabled people who were either junior or senior middle school graduates with the ability to work did not have the chance to get jobs, and lived idly at home depending upon their parents for support.　They felt depressed because they could not support themselves and had become a burden on their family and society. Some even lost the desire to live. Their parents, too, were very worried. Many of these young people wrote to the civil affairs departments that although they were physically handicapped, they still had sound minds and did not wish to live idly all their lives. They wanted to work for society.

In 1981, the International Year of the Disabled, many channels through which disabled people could get work were opened up. The government departments in charge of employment were directed to find jobs for them, the civil affairs departments to open factories, neighbourhood organizations in cities to organize people to run small factories or service trades to provide jobs, and the units where their parents worked (mainly large or medium-sized enterprises) to give them a chance to work there. Those who were able to run business on their own or find jobs themselves would be given help and encouragement from the civil affairs departments. The projects run by neighbourhood organizations are now the principal employers of the disabled.

To date, more than 70 per cent of the blind and deaf-mutes in the cities who can work are gainfully employed. In Beijing, about 10,000 out of the 14,000 blind and deaf-mutes who have the ability to work have jobs. More than 2,200 of them work in 13 welfare factories run by the state, more than 4,700 work in the enterprises and other undertakings, 980 are casual labourers, 1,785 work in welfare units run by neighbourhood organizations and many others run businesses on their own.

Social Welfare Factories

State-owned welfare factories are usually run by the civil affairs departments to provide jobs for the disabled who have a secondary school education. They also employ some people with no disabilities.

In these factories, workers receive regular wages and enjoy benefits such as free medical care.The handicapped generally make up 35 per cent of the workforce. These enterprises are tax exempt; the money must be used instead to assist the disabled workers,

By the end of 1982, there were 1,601 welfare factories, employing 180,953 workers. Of these, 64,063 were disabled--41 per cent of the workforce. We visited one of these factories in Zhaoqing, a city of 120,000 in Guangdong Province.

The social welfare factory started there in 1958 employed 80 per cent of the handicapped with the ability to work in the city. Together with the able-bodied workers (who make up 23 per cent of its workforce), they make 2.1million yuan worth of paper cement bags a year. They have the same political opportunities as ordinary workers. One blind worker has been awarded the title of model worker in the city, and another was elected to the city's people's congress. The average monthly wage for the 151 workers is 55 yuan, and they enjoy free medical care and pensions after retirement.

Disabled workers and staff at the Zhaoqing factory also receive some special benefits, although this is not yet the case in similar factories elsewhere in the country. Their production quota is half that　for　able-bodied　workers, while their pay per unit produced is 20 per cent higher. The only child of handicapped parents may attend the factory nursery free of charge, and is also entitled to free medical care. Tuition fees for these children are refunded to the parents.　Also, if a handicapped worker marries someone living in the countryside, the spouse may be transferred to work in the same factory.

Factory managers have seen to it that the handicapped workers are given a chance to use their wisdom and talents. There was a young deaf-mute maintenance worker named Luo Xiaoming who came up with an idea to renovate the factory's backward equipment through technical transformation. The factory leadership immediately set up an ad hoc team to help Luo, composed of other deaf-mute young people.　After visiting a number of technically advanced factories and working hard together, Luo and his team finally succeeded in technically improving some key machines, which greatly raised the output and quality of the products.

In 1982, the civil affairs bureau under the city government established another welfare factory to make clothing. Now, all the handicapped citizens of Zhaoqing who can work have been given jobs in state or neighbourhood-run welfare factories. And the two handicapped residents who cannot work are happily spending their remaining years in the Home for the Aged.

Large Factories Running Small Ones

Large and medium-sized mines, factories and some undertakings have now set up smaller factories to provide jobs for the disabled children of their employees.

In the spring of 1982, the Wuhan Iron and Steel Company, which has 120,000 workers, founded a welfare garment factory under collective ownership. It now employs 137 workers, of which 50 are young people, including the blind and deaf-mutes. The factory makes embroidery, woven plastic articles, and clothing, mostly cotton goods needed by Wuhan Steel, such as overalls,　hospital　gowns,　and canteen and hostel uniforms.

There are many benefits when a big enterprise runs a welfare factory. For instance, Wuhan Steel provided the financing, equipment and technical force for its garment factory, and gave it factory buildings, a circulating fund and some material aid without compensation, while exempting it from paying administrative expenses and business funds for the first year of operation. Wuhan Steel also sent two of its officials to head the factory and nine workers to train production technicians. These people were eager to help and showed great interest in the new factory. They also showed great concern for the disabled, bringing work to the homes of the four young men who could not walk.

The factory had the full support of the state departments concerned, which helped its leaders apply for a business license and income tax exemption.

But the factory management felt that rather than relying on Wuhan Steel, they should make their products more competitive.

All in the factory, whether disabled or not, worked together to make the factory prosper. The cost of production went down and the quality of the products went up. As profits rose, each worker earned 30 to 70 yuan a month, more than before. Their overalls cost 15 per cent less than the market price, and so were welcomed by Wuhan Steel. The factory also got orders from enterprises in Sichuan, Hunan and Hubei Provinces.

Factory managers also sponsored discussions with the able-bodied workers about what they would do if one of their family members were disabled. As a result, many of them came to regard the young handicapped workers as their own family members, bringing them help and friendship.

The disabled youths had discussions on how to make the best use of their right to work and contribute to the modernization drive. Their frustrations were eventually dispelled by the satisfaction of labour and the warmth of the collective.

Neighbourhood Welfare Factories

Social welfare production or service units are run by urban neighbourhood offices or the residents' committees, under collective ownership. They are another source of jobs for the disabled, when in recent years the state-owned enterprises and welfare factories have already recruited too many workers.　These small enterprises require little investment but yield quick returns. Scattered throughout a city, they have the advantage of employing handicapped workers near their homes.

Thanks to the official encouragement of the state, these units have developed very quickly. According to statistics, at the end of 1982 there were 8,591 neighbourhood welfare production units in the country employing some 230,000 workers, including more than 64,000 disabled.　Since the establishment of neighbourhood welfare factories in Beijing in 1980,they have employed nearly as many disabled workers as the state-owned welfare factories have for the past 20 years.

These factories have grown with the support of the government, the larger factories and the people. The Longtan Zip Factory in Beijing, for example, was given 30,000 yuan by the civil affairs department when it was founded. Another factory on Zhanlan Road, and still another outside Desheng Men got 40,000 and 20,000 yuan respectively to revamp their factory buildings. They were also all exempted from income tax.

These　factories　were　given machinery, work benches, overalls and technical advisers from state-owned factories. Some state-owned factories which were overloaded often asked the three welfare factories to process their semi-finished products. Production in these welfare factories grew, with a continuous supply of products to be processed for the Beijing No.2 Perambulator Works, No. 5 Zip Factory and No. 6 Toy Plant.

Some people, on hearing that the district where they lived was to found welfare factories for the handicapped, collected funds on their own as donations. The workers and staff of some factories in the Haidian District of Beijing donated more than 6,000 yuan. An old lady mailed five yuan to the Longtan Zip Factory with a letter saying, "For many years I have cherished the hope that a welfare factory would be founded for disabled youths. Now that you have done it, I am overjoyed. I wish you every success from the bottom of my heart."

Because these units were founded only recently, they all do not have enough accumulated funds to provide their workers with labour insurance and welfare facilities. This problem will gradually disappear as expanded reproduction increases accumulated funds.

Another problem is that in many of China's cities there are not enough welfare factories to employ all the handicapped. Many disabled young people, including graduates from schools for the blind and deaf-mutes, still have not found jobs. And factories, especially those not included in the state plan, have difficulties getting tax exempt status, obtaining the raw materials they need, and marketing their goods.

Family Life Enjoyed by the Disabled

Economic independence and social dignity brought by employment prompt many disabled to start their own families

WITH the economic independence and political status which employment gives them, many disabled people would like to get married. In the Zhaoqing factory, for instance, a lot of workers have started their own families.

Some found their spouses on their own while others had the help of the civil affairs department, their colleagues, relatives or friends. One such worker is Shi Baoqing, a blind man who met his wife through the civil affairs bureau. Now 31, he lost his sight when he was four.　He began working at 19 after finishing his primary school education.

We visited him at home on his day off. His wife and their daughter were not in. Shi's family has a bedroom with a twin bed and a desk, and a living room with a sofa, a wardrobe and a multi-purpose cabinet. He told me he and his wife bought all the furniture with savings from their wages.

"My wife isn't my first love, "he said candidly. "I had a girl friend when I was attending a braille school in Guangzhou. After graduation, she worked in Guangzhou and I returned to Zhaoqing. We could not take care of each other because we lived in two different places. Soon she got married. Because I am a blind man,I did not want to tell others that I too wanted to get married. Later Ma Fengying of the city bureau of civil affairs came to our factory and talked to me about this matter. She was very sincere, and so I told her what was on my mind. Soon she found Luo Huitao, a girl living in the countryside and four years younger than me, for me to make friends with. She had lost her sight at 14 and didn't know braille. So I began to teach her braille every day, and she taught me how to take care of myself in daily life. We began to love each other, and got married 12 months after we met.

"The factory management tried to help in every way. They employed Luo as a casual worker,and the year before last they helped her transfer from the countryside to Zhaoqing and alloted us a flat. We now live quite well on a combined monthly income of more than 100 yuan. Our four-year-old daughter attends the factory's nursery free."

Shi looked very happy at the mention of his daughter. He said, "She is quite smart. Every day after breakfast, she leads us by the hand to the factory. After work, she takes us to the shops and the food market. When we have forgotten where we put our things, she always finds them. With her we find life easier. Then I often tell myself, 'Our government has shown every concern for us as disabled people, so I must work twice as hard.' I am the leader of a paper bag making group, which exceeds quotas every month."

Continuing Education

Schooling opportunities are provided so that the disabled can work as competently as others

OUR factories do not regard their disabled workers as mere labour power. They try to provide them with educational opportunities, so that they can eventually become useful workers in their enterprises. A good example is the Beijing Woollen Mill.

The mill, located in the southeastern suburbs of Beijing, was first founded as a carpet factory run by deaf-mutes in 1958. Today,almost half of its 730 workers are deaf-mutes. They make more than 220,000 woollen sweaters and 40,000 square feet of carpet each year, which they sell to the United States, Britain, Switzerland, West Germany, Japan and eight other countries.

There is an evening school for the deaf-mute workers, financed by the factory management. All the teachers know sign language,and the curriculum includes Chinese, arithmetic, elementary science, politics and sign language,with optional courses such as basic law, mechanics, knitting, photography and the fine arts. Classes meet two evenings a week.

Wang Xishun, who is in charge of the school, said, "The majority of our workers attended schools for the deaf-mutes during the 'cultural revolution,' but they learnt practically nothing. Many know nothing about elementary physics and chemistry. We use charts, pictures and various visual aids for teaching as much as possible to arouse the students' desire for knowledge."

Those who received training at the evening school are technically more advanced and work more efficiently.　Since 1980, they and their fellow-workers without disabilities have created an average of 30 per cent more profit a year.The rugs they made. for export were commended in 1982 as among Beijing's top quality products. Thirty deaf-mute workers in the factory have been cited as model workers; 37 are group or team leaders or leading cadres at the workshop of factory levels.

Peng Huiping, 22, works in the woollen sweater workshop.　She attended evening school from 1978-81, when she averaged 95 marks for all her subjects.　She has been commended as a quality pace-setter for two years running,and as an advanced worker for five years in a row.

Peng, a fair girl with delicate features, lost her hearing when she was only 18 months old when she was improperly given certain medicines. Peng finished her schooling in 1978 when she was 17, and was given a job at the Beijing Woollen Mill.

Using sign language, Peng said.she used to find it very difficult to read technological drawings,and operated her machine without knowing any principles of mechanics. After she took two courses at the evening school to study knitting and mechanics, she was able to handle her machine with greater ease, and exceeded her production quota by 60 to 70 per cent every month. She now earns more than 90 yuan a month.

Jiang Yan, 27, of the carpet workshop was an amateur photographer. His skills in photography increased tremendously after he took a course in photography at the school. Last year, four of his photographs were chosen for an exhibition of photos by the deafmutes at Beijing's Working People's Cultural Palace. He said in sign language, "I want to become more experienced and someday become　a professional　photographer."

Another worker who took the photography class, Chen Ming,won Third Prize in a photography contest held in Beijing. Some of his photos have also been published in the magazine The Deaf of China. Last year Chen Ming, who was in charge of trade union affairs, was made a member of the Beijing Association of Photographers.

(Beijing Review p.24 No. 10, 1984)

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