Sunshine Homes provide ray of light
4/2/2007 11:57
The opening of the Sunshine Homes in Chongming County last year has
brought rays of happiness to many intellectually- challenged people on the
remote island.
At the homes, a total of 16 around the county, such
activities as table tennis, basketball and skipping are offered. Although their
skills are often not as coordinated as able-bodied people, one can see the
happiness that the center has brought to the handicapped.
At the Sunshine
Home for the Mentally Disabled in the west Gangxi neighborhood of this
eco-county, intellectually-challenged people are busy playing table tennis with
the volunteer teachers. Others are playing basketball outside the building's
courtyard while art classes are going on inside.
"Mastering simple skills
like threading beads and typing on a computer keyboard is already a tough task
for people with intellectual defects and autism, not to mention the skills
needed for playing sports," said Wu Zhixiang, the general director of the
Chongming Disabled People's Association.
"Since Shanghai will hold the
Special Olympics this year, we have added two hours of sporting exercises (to
our programs) every day to rejuvenate their strength and to make them more
active."
In Chongming, there are more than 960 intellectually-challenged
people that are under the umbrella of this project.
Sunshine Homes for
the Mentally Disabled were launched in 2005 as a major project of the city
government. The following year, Chongming County joined this city-wide project.
Now, every township on the island has a Sunshine Home with a total of 50
full-time staff, as well as volunteers.
The homes are designed for
unemployed intellectually-challenged persons, mostly aged 16 to 35, providing
them with training, education and entertainment.
Among the classes on
offer are Chinese, math, music, drawing, knitting and basic housework skills;
these are designed to explore a person's potential in various aspects of
communication skills, simple working abilities and sports, among
others.
The Sunshine Home in Gangxi is a model unit of Chongming County.
Each day, more than 40 intellectually-challenged people visit the three-storied
building.
Shi Yuemei, a seriously intellectually-disabled 25-year-old,
has difficulty in expressing herself verbally. But her excitement is obvious
when talking about her time at the Sunshine Home.
Shi's grandfather, Shi
Zhengfeng, said, "My granddaughter and all the other students were isolated from
the society for too long. Her daily routine has changed dramatically since
Yuemei went to the Sunshine Home."
At an age when her peers are starting
to plan their careers, Shi is only just learning how to swallow food and to say
"hello."
Her parents were killed in a car crash and her grandparents have
taken care of her since. Before she came to the home, she used to stand next to
the pillar in the courtyard of her home and stare at the sky all
day.
While she can not currently pronounce words clearly or say a
complete sentence, she can now express her feelings through smiling. "She is
more outgoing and thoughtful now," her 75-year-old grandfather
added.
Like Shi, many of Sunshine Home's members were previously
anti-social and not willing to talk; they would not respond to anybody when the
center first opened. "Most of the time they turned their backs on us and cried
to go home," said director Wu. "But slowly, they became more easy-going and
friendly."
It was a pleasant surprise to find some of the group singing
together with the volunteers. "It is hard to believe that those who couldn't say
a word previously are now able to sing these beautiful songs," one of the
volunteer said with a bright smile. "I found out that they love to do things
together in sports and singing. Being together gives them more courage and
support."
However, the Sunshine Homes cannot care for them all the time.
After they leave, they face the situation of finding a job like normal
people.
As a rural area, 75 percent of Chongming's land is for farming
and not all of the intellectually challenged can find a job after leaving the
Sunshine Home.
While teachers of the country's school children instill
knowledge and ambition into their young charges, those at the Gangxi Sunshine
Home concentrate on teaching basic survival skills.
As such, training in
farming skills has become an endeavor in Chongming's Sunshine Homes to help
their intellectually-challenged members.
"We hope they can at least cope
with some situations in life after graduation," said director Wu. "The path of
learning can be long and arduous for these people because they easily forget
those skills. It is rewarding to see a group of intellectually-challenged people
farming and pitching vegetables in the field," he added.
Shanghai Daily
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