There are times when the plight of others comes into sharp focus; at no time is that more true than Christmas. The urge to do good by your fellow people inspires many of us to lend a sympathetic ear or make a charitable donation. But for five Beijing residents, they don’t need a time of year or a tradition to inspire them – all they need is a good cause. Their sustained commitment, from the suburbs of Langfang to the heart of Beijing’s migrant worker communities, makes them worthy of charitable goodwill all year round.
Bread of Life Bakery
A few years ago, Cheryl Wyse and her husband Keith were looking for a way to spread the word about their work with orphans and raise some much-needed funds. They hit on the idea of selling brownies and carrot cake at an expat bazaar, thinking that if bake sales worked in their native Ohio, why not in Beijing?
Soon they had more orders than they could keep up with, prompting the couple to open a bakery full-time. For the past four years, the business has operated out of a small property in the town of Langfang, located between Beijing and Tianjin. In the same building complex, Cheryl and Keith also run a foster home for children with orthopedic disabilities. “We are a home and a family,” says Cheryl. “All the children call us mom and dad.”
The bakery also provides employment for six young adults, all of whom have an orthopedic disability and might otherwise have a hard time finding work. “It’s a threefold project,” Cheryl explains. “By keeping the young adults working, you are supporting their medical needs, and you get to eat really good bakery products!”
Working at the bakery not only provides a livelihood for the orphans, it also builds up their confidence. Cheryl tells the story of Cindy, a girl the couple took in from another orphanage. She had no orthopedic needs but her time in institutionalized care had left her withdrawn. Cheryl and Keith were told that the child couldn’t do anything for herself. As soon as Cindy started contributing to the bakery, she began to open up. Now she bakes and cooks for herself and others, and Cheryl says she’s become “quite charming to say the least.”
How to help: Donate directly or order baked goods online via the website. Deliveries are made every Tuesday morning (minimum RMB 200) and special trips for large orders can be arranged (minimum RMB 1,200). Try the carrot cake (RMB 138), cinnamon rolls (RMB 120), or apple crumb pie (RMB 65). Their baked treats are also available at Smallville Café in Shunyi (see Directory for listing).
Compassion for Migrant Children
Beijing is home to an estimated four million migrants. According to Compassion for Migrant Children (CMC), migrants live in “a legal world that is a no man’s land [lacking access to]basic health care, education, and other social services that so many of us take for granted.”
Jonathan Hursh had lived in Beijing for two years before his first visit to a migrant school in 2005. “It was if an engine that had lain dormant within me was suddenly switched on. I couldn’t sleep for a month.” At first, Hursh thought he could address the problem by encouraging local organizations to adapt their existing programs to meet the needs of migrant workers. But what the migrant community really needed was dedicated support – so in 2006, CMC was born.
Community centers form the core of CMC’s outreach programs. Hursh describes them as “lighthouses of value for those who have great potential but are lacking opportunities.” There are six community centers in China, including three in Beijing. “They provide a safe and welcoming place for migrants and their families, free from the stigma and marginalization they often otherwise face in society,” says Hursh. They offer afterschool programs for migrant children, vocational and life skills training for young adults, teacher training for teachers at migrant schools, parenting workshops, health awareness and other programs. A fourth Beijing center is scheduled to open soon.
In Hursh’s line of work, heartbreaking stories are commonplace. He remembers a student who was badly beaten by his father. “This young man said he had dreamed of living in a world where he was valued for who he was. What he had dreamed of finally came true; in his relationships with his teachers and fellow students at CMC, he had found an environment which was life-giving.”
How to help: CMC employs 28 full-time staff in Beijing and Shanghai, but volunteers are a vital part of the operation, investing up to 30,000 hours per year in migrant children and youth. CMC works with companies on corporate social responsibility goals and welcomes applications from interns. Donations of money, goods and services are welcomed and various other needs are itemized on CMC’s website.
Beijing Brooks Education Center
Hao Bing was a lecturer at Beijing Normal University when she first visited Yunnan province in 1996. She was on a campaign to protect the snub-nosed monkey but “the beauty of nature and the poverty of people” are what left a lasting impression.
In the years following, Hao dedicated her time to teaching students and teachers in some of China’s most impoverished communities about environmental protection. People in these isolated regions often overlook the fact that preserving the environment could help keep their local economies alive. Gradually, Hao realized the power of education to “give a person identity and roots, and change his behavior to improve the environment.”
In 2003, Hao established the Beijing Brooks Education Center. Its programs are diverse, but all reflect Hao’s passionate belief that education and environmental preservation go hand in hand. One ongoing collaborative effort creates science and culture curricula in schools near wetland crane habitats. The approach builds community alliances that promote “healthy, productive landscapes that can support people and wildlife.”
Closer to home, Beijing Brooks organizes eco-working holidays for companies and nature guide trips for urban kids. Hao is on a mission to get city dwellers reunited with nature or as she says, “to inspire their soul and spirit.” This year, Beijing Brooks started a family Waldorf kindergarten near Olympic Forest Park, which gives children extra time to play freely in nature.
How to help: Beijing Brooks accepts donations of money and books, which go to help develop small libraries in rural villages and schools. Volunteers are also welcome to help organize nature-themed activities for children in Beijing.
China-Dolls Care and Support Association
Osteogenesis imperfect (OI), sometimes known as brittle bone disease, is a genetic condition that causes frequent bone fractures, among other symptoms. Wang Yiou, who has the condition herself, refers to people with OI as “China dolls.” Wang Yiou and fellow patient Huang Rufang founded the China-Dolls Care and Support Association in May 2008.
Many China dolls are abandoned to orphanages, in part because the cost of treatment is beyond the means of most ordinary Chinese families. OI cannot be cured, but treatment can dramatically improve patients’ quality of life. With regular treatment, bone density improves and the chance of debilitating, painful fractures is reduced. Orthopedic surgery is also often needed to correct bone deformations left over from previous fractures.
For operations under RMB 10,000, China-Dolls covers costs via donations to patients’ families. Around 40 young patients have taken advantage of these funds so far, but at least 20 more are on a waiting list until more money becomes available. Donors can also pledge RMB 100-200 per month to a low-income family; approximately 70 patients are currently involved in this program.
Not limited to hospital care, China-Dolls’ other ventures include a bimonthly journal and psychological support programs for mothers. “The bones may be weak,” says Wang Yiou, “but as China-Dolls’ slogan says, ‘Love is still strong.'”
How to help: Over half of China-Dolls’ financial support comes from personal donations. One of Wang Yiou’s long-term goals is to attract corporate sponsors to support medical care for more patients. People who are interested in volunteering should contact China-Dolls for more information.
Charly’s Cats
Charlotte Landwehr, a local high school student at Western Academy of Beijing, has cared for a colony of homeless cats since the tender age of 13. Four years ago, a friendly neighbor taught her how to trap and neuter strays. “I was pretty panicked about it,” says Charlotte, “but [my neighbor]did the trapping and neutering there for me, and after that I did all the trapping myself.”
Beijing’s cats are often tossed out onto the street by owners who’ve grown tired of them, by people who leave town, or by well-meaning owners who suddenly find out that their home countries don’t accept any furry companions from China. However they get there, cats have a rough life on the streets. Because many aren’t spayed or neutered, stray cats frequently give birth to new litters, and thus the problem continues to multiply.
Too often, authorities try to control the cat population by trapping and killing the creatures. Young Charlotte realized that a trap-neuter-return (or TNR) program could not only help cats stay disease-free and keep them out of fights, but help protect humans from cat-borne illnesses like rabies.
Charlotte runs her TNR project, Charly’s Cats, in partnership with International Center for Veterinary Services (ICVS), an animal hospital that performs sterilization surgeries and offers TNR training workshops. Charlotte is a devoted caretaker of her own colony, but she’s realized that the cat population can’t be controlled without a community-wide effort. “My main goal is to teach people to do TNR,” she says. Charlotte lives up to her word, giving presentations to local community groups on a regular basis. “People should maybe look outside and start planning TNR programs in their own backyard.”
How to help: Check with ICVS for scheduled TNR training programs. Charlotte accepts donations to pay for the procedure; a cat can be spayed, ear-tipped and vaccinated against rabies for as little as RMB 160.
Bread of Life Bakery
(031 6608 3407, 137 2262 2865,
bread.of.life.bakery@gmail.com)
www.breadoflifebakery.org
Compassion for Migrant Children
(6465 6100, volunteer@cmc-china.org)
www.cmc-china.org
Beijing Brooks Education Center
(6235 2630, office@brooks.ngo.cn)
www.brooks.ngo.cn
China-Dolls Care and Support Association
(6345 8713, chinadollscn@gmail.com)
www.chinadolls.org.cn
Charly’s Cats
(charlybj@gmail.com) www.charlyscats.org
International Center for Veterinary
Services
(8456 1939, icvs_china@yahoo.com)
www.icvsasia.com
