Hunan Trip report No. 4 – A Tour of Amazing Grace Witnessing the Love, Hope and Opportunity that God has Bestowed to the Least Ones Through the Living Sacrifice by the ICC Team
16/6/2010: Visit to Hengyang International China Concern Projects
After an exhausting intensive Counselling Training Program at Yongzhou, we set off for a different kind of tour experiencing yet again the amazing grace God has bestowed on a group of the least ones in Christ, the born disabled and abandoned orphans which are now under the care of the God’s sent angels, the folks of International China Concern in the Changsha and Hengyang projects.
It was an irony that while we were feeling how hard we had given our all in the energy draining counselling camp through sharing in the last debriefing on our way to Hengyang, than we were hit hard how comparatively insignificant our contribution were in comparison to the long term commitment of those volunteer workers for taking care of the abandoned disabled orphans. They are here for the long haul and we are just there for a short intensive program. Most importantly, we could see the difference they have made for the children.
According to Kyla, who is the head of the Hengyang project, the fatality rate before ICC involvement in the orphanage was 85%. But now, even the worse degree of disability can live with dignity under the loving caring of the new generation of carers. What have made the difference? It is all about the transformation of the heart and mind of local people in their view of the sacred value of life and the fundamental belief of every human being is born equal.
Kyla is a registered nurse from Brisbane, being supported by her mother church Worship Centre, a local Australian church near mine, have already been serving in China for 9 years, almost 6 in Changsha and then 3 years in Hengyang. Her Mandarin is as good and fluent as local people, thus definitely better than me. Every time I called her on the phone, I always thought I got the wrong number of a local Chinese. In her life, you can see the incarnated Jesus. The willingness and determination to come with a mission, leaving her comfort zone at home, and coming to Hunan, China making herself home with the Chinese people. Certainly, she brought along with a lot of professional skills in nursing, caring, training and administration. But the greatest asset she brought is the feelings of love and respect for even the most vulnerable disabled kids’ life at her care. In counselling theory, this is the critical effect of a good therapeutic relationship that accounts most for a successful healing result. It actually helps me to explain the result of our counselling group therapy in my past two involvements of the Rapha Emotional Healing Program. Certainly we need to be equipped and prepared as best as we could, but the grace of God to make us a real comfort for the local people was far more crucial. We must have the empathy to identify with the clients’ feelings and make ourself one amongst them. Thus, I thank God that he made me look not a flawless group leader, but a figure with flesh and blood that can echo with the emotions of my group members walking down the path of life with them. There we could see the importance of the role of faith on top of any counselling theory and skills.
We finished the morning tour at the Hengyang orphanage in 1 and a half hour. It nevertheless left a deep imprint of the images of every precious life of the disabled orphans in the mind of our 10 Rapha group members. Every one would have received more number of hugs from all of the children who could have free mobility than they did lately in their own family life. The feeling of love and the need for being loved was so overwhelming there. It is a good sign of a new life with hope that the children now feel the need for equal opportunity to love and to be loved. I do pray that our Rapha group members would bring this vision back to give them a thought for continuous long term support of ICC cause in China. The visit ended with a very pleasant lunch organized by Kyla. The best meal we ever had in this trip. God is good to us caring for all our needs.
17/6/2010: Visit to Changsha International China Concern Projects
The visit to Changsha projects gave us a very different view on the way ICC works its impact into the community. This is the base of ICC starting its work here 17 years ago in 1993. Justin, the Team Life Coordinator, who has been in Changsha for also almost 10 years, has been the most indigenized overseas volunteers witnessing the changes and transformation that ICC has brought to the disabled orphans in Changsha.
Unlike Hengyang, with everything centralized in one single building complex, the projects of ICC in Changsha spread out in the suburban Changsha. It posts more difficulties for sharing of resources, coordination of activities and management of staff, but it also creates opportunity of greater impact to the society through this diversified facilities and services meeting different needs of the disabled children community.
Justin is a colourful person also from Brisbane. His dedication for the well being of the disabled orphans has earned him the honour of the ambassador of ICC’s overseas team. He was elected Outstanding Youth of Changsha and was given the honour to carry the Olympic torch in 2008. He is well recognized by ordinary Chinese, thus he receives warm greetings everywhere he goes, even at the airport car park check out point. With Justin as our local guide, we have the best use of our time in Changsha.
The five of us, were led first to the headquarter, as well as the general office of ICC in China where all the ICC projects were coordinated. We met Sam Hills the girl from Ipswich, Brisbane who is Community Outreach Project Manager; Eng Kwang Goh, the Research & Development Manager; Bruce Regier, from Canada, the new Head of the third ICC project in SanMenXiao, Henan; Lis Strahan, is a BSc in Occupational Therapy from New South Wales, she is now acting as a sensory therapist in ICC Changsha; Clare Sturdy from the UK and has a BA (Hons) in English with Business Management and is certified in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She is involving with children as their big sister and Linz who works for Butterfly Project which is a close affilliate of the ICC team providing decent palliative care (安寧照護 or 善終看顧) to terminally ill and dying disabled babies. Dr Katherine Kot gave a briefing of what Rapha is doing to help people of all backgrounds and age groups , with or without faith to better manage their suppressed emotions. From our observation, the ICC community should be able to benefit from the Rapha Emotions Mangement Program to treat and heal the life time hurt and wound so that they can really be set free to move on to reach the best potential in a positive manner. Sabrina, a partner of Katherine and a Neurologist, also contributed some ideas that her specialty can be useful for those children who are suffering born neuro-damages such as cerebral palsy大腦性麻痺. Baiscally, it was a very fruitful meeting and we do hope and pray that the ICC folks would take it on to develop more concrete training opportunity using the Rapha Program.
We were then led to visit the orphanage across the road where the initial ICC services started and has kept running till today, which is known as the Rainbow Project. Because of great needs, ICC raised fund in the past four years through Walk the Wall (走長城) to fund a new centre called the Light House Project where more disabled orphans are housed. The self-sustained facilities exclusively managed by ICC has provided a better enviroment for orphans who needs special cares. We then moved on to the Vocationl Training Centre where orphans or children with varied degrees and forms of disablity can receive special education and vocational training there. It also works well with the Community Outreach Projects that, children of lesser degree of disability can be sent there for day care giving their parents some sort of respite to rest or work then they are sent back home for family care with all sort of neccessary aids from ICC to overcome any obstacles in providing care by the parents to the disabled children at home.
We are appreciative of the quick but fruitful and informative local tour led by Justin. Again we finsihed our brief stay with a dumpling lunch and have more exchange of views with Justin, Sam, Wu Shuang, and Li Ming looking forwards for a possible Rapha Emontion management training be organized at Changsha at a three-self church venue liasied by Li Ming towards the end of 2010.
The overall impression of the visit to ICC Hengyang and Changsha was very inspirational. I could sense the grace of God’s work throughout the operations of ICC in China that, difficulties and barriers in language, cultures, and values system could all be lifted by a true Chinese serving heart as symoblized by the ICC logo. It certainly could continue to be a spark of fire in changing the view and mind of Chinese parents towards the caring for their born disabled babies and influencing the landscape of Government’s policy and facilities in caring for the disabled abandon orphans community giving them their deserved love, hope and equal opportunity to be a useful member in the society.
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