INTERNATIONAL CHINA CONCERN

REQUEST: $2,500 to provide a fun and restorative trip to the zoo for 4-6 boys with disabilities and their caregivers (includes train trip, lunch, and supplies), who reside in ICC’s Hengyang group homes located in a low-income area of Southern China.

Hengyang in Hunan Province, China.

  • Population: 1,397,897,720

  • Languages: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (official), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects

  • Religions: Buddhist 18.2%, Christian 5.1%, Muslim 1.8%, folk religion 21.9%, other 1%, unaffiliated 52.2%

  • Median Age: 38.4 years

INTERNATIONAL CHINA CONCERN

International China Concern (ICC) has been providing homes for life, support services and the love of a family for 27 years to children and youth with disabilities in China who have been abandoned. They give each person in their care the opportunity to live a life filled with love and hope—enabling them to live to their fullest potential.

ICC believes it is important for the children and youth in our care to experience the fullness of life for their physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. In the same ways that other children their age experience life, we create activities like family fun outings and educational opportunities as part of our daily care. Our group homes in Hengyang embrace the “Family Style Care Model” of small group family-type environments where children feel at home with caregivers who care for them with Christ’s love. The children often refer to their caregiver as “Ayi” (endearing Chinese term for Auntie). This allows each child to bond with Auntie, important toward building safety and trust.

The video of our “Family Style Care Model” below, highlights the interaction between two children and their beloved “Ayi.”

As part of our “Family Style Care Model”, the team in Hengyang would love to make the dream of a zoo trip come true for 4-6 boys in our care. With your funding, 4-6 boys from the Sunbird family group home will take an exciting train trip to Changsha to visit the zoo. Due to the special needs of the boys, they will require the support of at least 5-6 adults to ensure one-on-one support while on the trip. 

The idea for this trip came out of a recent “In-Person Centered Meeting” that is held for each child 1-2 times a year, where the care team (floor manager, house parents, teachers, coaches, therapists and medical staff) meet together with the child or young person and discuss their progress, goals, and dreams. In this meeting, Yang Heng Xin shared that he loved animals and had always wanted to visit the zoo in Changsha since he was a little boy.

Expected outcomes of the trip will include: 

  • Increased knowledge and learning about animals and their habitats
  • Enlarge the world for the boys, encouraging creativity and empathy
  • Life skills such as catching trains, train schedules, and budgeting
  • Increased confidence due to the experiences and encounters along the way 

Due to local government policies, these boys currently live in a very sheltered environment within the Hengyang Care Center, and their opportunities since Covid-19 have been even more limited. They have not traveled much outside the Care Center walls for more than a year.

Image Copyright: ICC

Family Care Model Video with Ayi

Heng Xin’s Story

At the age of 4, Yang Heng Xin (now 19 years old) was brought to the Hengyang Center to live and has been in our care ever since. He has cerebral palsy, a condition that affects body movement and muscle coordination and uses a frame to walk. Xin has learned to read and type, using gestures and technology to communicate with others. He loves playing board games with his family group, but his greatest love is animals of all shapes and sizes. For years, he was responsible for the fishpond in the center’s playground, making sure the fish were fed and their pond was cleaned regularly. Seeing the animals first-hand at the zoo will truly be life changing for Xin!

HEALTH / HYGIENE

FAMILY / COMMUNITY CARE

FOOD

THEOLOGY

EDUCATION / TRAINING

INFORMATION / RESEARCH

EQUIPMENT / TOOLS

MATERIALS

RENOVATION / MAINTENANCE

ADMINISTRATION

TRAVEL

OTHER

* Highlighted budget icons apply to this grant

Budget
Description Cost
Round-trip train tickets $1,000
Tickets to the zoo $900
Lunch at the zoo $360
Supplies (snacks, sun hats, notebooks, group t-shirts) $240
Total Budget Requested: $2,500

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