More Than a Body

What do you see when you look at a child with Cerebral Palsy?  Someone whose body is too small for his age, can’t get around like a `normal’ child,  and cannot communicate with you?  Or do you see a normal child who is trapped in a body which restricts him from fulfilling his potential?

How anyone cares for such a child depends very heavily on how they see him.   And how they see him and care for him inevitably means that he either remains trapped in his almost useless body, or he is freed from many of the restrictions that hold him captive.  We had that choice when Chen came to Xining Children’s Home five years ago.

When Chen arrived nobody thought he would live to see another year. Like many children living in institutional care, he caught whatever bug happened to be going around. It meant that he spent many days confined to his bed. Chest infections rapidly turned into pneumonia.

A few years ago staff wouldn’t have spent time on him because in their minds severely disabled children had no chance of improving, so why prolong the inevitable?  There was stiff resistance to any suggestion of truly caring for the person within.

Then Christian Action brought in an excellent nursing consultant who was able to show staff that even severely disabled children can learn, respond,  and even assist staff when they are being dressed, fed, and so on.   Attitudes began to change when local staff saw changes in the children that freed staff to do other tasks and encouraged them to see the potential within every child.  Now our child care workers look forward to their monthly training sessions!

Unfortunately qualified child care workers are a rarity as it is an underdeveloped industry in China.  It’s up to us to provide training so that every child who arrives at Xining Children’s Home receives the help they so desperately need if their quality of life is to improve.   We provide salary subsidies in an effort to slow the rate of staff turnover, and we place a full time nursing consultant and trainer on site.  Frankly, this costs money, so please picture a lovely child like Chen – still alive five years after his expected death – and make a donation to this valuable work.   It really does make a difference to a child trapped in a disabled body.