China Daily: Human rights foundation gets $13-m donation

From China Daily.

BEIJING – The China Foundation for Human Rights Development (CFHRD) has received over 82.5 million yuan ($13 million) from different donors this year, the foundation said at its second national council held here Friday.

In his speech, Huang Mengfu, president of the foundation and vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), hailed the country’s efforts and achievements in promoting human rights in the past year.

In 2011, the CFHRD hosted a series of international workshops and forums to promote cooperation and exchanges between Chinese human rights experts and their foreign counterparts. The foundation is expected to be developed into a think tank and charity fund in the future, he said.

Most of the donations were used for medical or educational charity programs, said Lin Bocheng, deputy head of the foundation.

The foundation helped manage the compensation paid by a Japanese company to 85 Chinese labors who were forced to work in Japan during World War II, Lin said, adding that all the compensation has been paid to the the victims or their family members.

The foundation has set its 2012 target to collect more than 100 million yuan ($15.8 million), Lin said. Next year, it will make greater efforts in boosting rural education, protection of women and children, energy-saving and environmental protection, and legal aid, he said.

Five Beijing Charities for the Sick, Disabled and Orphaned

Original article posted at Beijing-Kids.com.

The holidays are a time to be with family, but what about those who have none? Charitable organizations, volunteer groups, and NGOs are often the only source of care and comfort for orphans and critically endangered babies. There are several ways to help: volunteering, donating, organizing a fundraising event, or simply spreading the word. Read on about five local organizations that support sick, disadvantaged, or orphaned children. Give the gift of warmth, education, medical care, and a full belly this Christmas to those who need it most.

Notable projects: Providing critical medical care to babies is Little Flower’s priority. The charity also offers group foster homes for physically disabled children who are unlikely to get adopted, hospice care for children with incurable medical conditions, long-term care for physically and mentally disabled children, and help for special cases – such as children from poor families with medical or educational needs.

Organization size: Little Flower has a bit over 100 employees and volunteers. Though the organization may care for just 75 children at a time, they are looked after on a 24/7 basis. To manage the workload, Little Flower organizes three shifts per day.

How to volunteer: Volunteering is critical to Little Flower’s efforts, but the charity prefers serious volunteers who are willing to commit their time. Children are welcome, but they may need to be accompanied by their parents.

There are three types of volunteers: Care Volunteers, Team Volunteers, and Resident Volunteers. Care Volunteers go through a training program and are expected to make a regular time commitment. Little Flower usually has one full-time staff member for every two to three children; Care Volunteers are the ones who step in when this standard ratio cannot be kept. They comfort, feed, and care for the children, as well as provide play and stimulation. They usually live near Little Flower’s project sites.

Team Volunteers don’t necessarily live in China. They have specialized skills and take on a special role within the organization. It sometimes involves interacting with children, but it can also be a purely administrative or communication role. Team Volunteers must sign an agreement with Little Flower.

Last but not least, Resident Volunteers are those who have made a minimum time commitment of six months and actually live at a Little Flower project site. They care for the children, and also perform administration and communication tasks.

Other ways to help: Little Flower encourages interested parties to visit their project sites and see how they can help. Since the charity is a grassroots organization, it relies on the community for financial support. Though money donations are appreciated, Little Flower urges people to become a “fundraising machine” for them by hosting fundraising events and spreading the word about their mission.

Most pressing needs: Money to cover basic running costs like caregiver salaries (Little Flower’s biggest expense), medical costs, utilities, rent, transportation, and repairs.

English-speaking staff? The training program is offered in both English and Chinese, and there is always someone on the project sites who speaks English.

Little Flower Projects
Office: Assunta (Beijing) Culture Development Co Ltd, Rm 1748, Hyundai Motor Tower, 28 Xiaoyun Lu, Chaoyang District
(info@littleflowerprojects.org) www.littleflowerprojects.org
朝阳区霄云路28号现代汽车大厦1748室

 

Sarah Brasseur, Sonya Tetley, Polina Savelyeva, Ibrahim Abdi, Jordan Tetley

 

Packs of Hope
Packs of Hope operates out of the River of Grace Church near Sanyuan Qiao. The group provides backpacks filled with school supplies, toiletries, clothing, and small gifts to children in need in both Asia and Africa. Their projects in China focus on packpacks and used clothing distribution. Packs of Hope also collects donations and regularly sends containers to Africa for orphans and impoverished rural families. For a complete list of drop-off locations for backpacks, visit the church’s website.

Notable projects: Packs of Hope has distributed over 4,600 backpacks and gifts to disadvantaged children since their first donation drive in 2005. Since 2007, the charity has also sent three containers to Africa and is getting ready to send out another 40-foot container by the end of the year. In the past, Packs of Hope has also built a school for an orphanage in Liberia, Africa.

Organization size: Packs of Hope is one of several charity projects run by the River of Grace Church. It’s not an NGO, but rather a seasonal or project-based organization. There is no full-time staff, but several volunteers work on Packs on Hope every year.

How to volunteer: When large donations come in, Packs of Hope gathers volunteers to pack and sort through the goods. Older kids are welcome to join.

Other ways to help: Packs of Hope encourages people to organize their own backpack drives. The church can supply empty backpacks for the applicant’s school, group, or company to fill. Backpacks can be stocked with school supplies, clothing, toiletry products, and small gifts.

Most pressing needs: In addition to filling backpacks, Packs of Hope needs donated clothing for its charitable projects. They are currently looking for winter clothes, blankets, and other supplies for the families of children who receive backpacks.

English-speaking staff? All of the organizers speak English.

“I came to the River of Grace Church in 2007. It was then that I first heard about the Packs of Hope project. That year, I was asked to help sort and pack backpacks so they could be sent to needy children. Several months later, we got pictures of the children receiving their donations. I was so touched when I saw their smiling faces. They were so happy to get new clothes, mosquito nets, school supplies and lots of other things they needed. It really touched my heart, and I realized that I’m able to do more to help these kids.”
– Ibrahim Abdi, Somalia

The River of Grace Church
The Great Hotel, 2/F, 1 Zuojiazhuang Lu, Chaoyang District (6466 1680, 131 2690 5684,info@theriverofgrace.com) www.theriverofgrace.com 朝阳区左家庄路1号，北京贵国酒店2层

 

Twenty-two-year old Bridget reads a book in braille at Bethel

 

Bethel China Foundation
Bethel is a national organization that provides training, education, and services to blind and visually impaired orphans in China. The charity was founded in 2002 by a French couple, Guillaume and Delphine Gauvain. Bethel is comprised of a foster home in Liugudao Village and a newly opened charity store in Shunyi.

Notable projects: The Love is Blind project gives education, foster care, and medical services to students at Bethel’s training centers in Beijing and Zhengzhou, Henan. The Beijing location covers 17 acres and produces its own eggs, fruits, and vegetables. The foster home’s self-sustained model allows children to garden and raise animals independently. Bethel also started a national initiative, called Project 555. It provides resources, professional training, and medical screenings to partner orphanages throughout China.

Organization size: Bethel has about 90 employees from all over the world. The organization has two to 200 volunteers at any given time, depending on how much time people have to contribute. Volunteers range from large group that help out on the farm for an afternoon or an individual who spends a few hours teaching a child a new skill.

How to volunteer: Bethel currently needs expert volunteers in fields like translation, education, and fundraising. In addition, Bethel is always looking for groups, organizations, and companies to help with physical projects like harvesting corn or building greenhouses. For details on how to contribute, visit the “Get Involved” section on Bethel’s website.

Other ways to help: Besides volunteering, people can also donate money or items, sponsor a child, or buy something from the Bethel charity store. Those interested in sponsoring a child can do so directly through Bethel’s website. The Bethel charity store carries original products made by groups like the Beijing Guild, a local handicraft club. Depending on the product, 40-100 percent of the proceeds will go to Bethel.

Most pressing needs: Bethel needs staple items like toilet paper, cooking oil, rice, paper towels, and diapers. Some of their children require ongoing medical attention. Other general health costs include vitamins, common medicines, and yearly check-ups for the students.

English-speaking staff? The entire administration and education staff speaks English. The children are taught in both English and Chinese; some can even speak a bit of French or Korean.

“The first day I was there, I remember tearing up as I sat in on a class and being painfully aware of the children’s’ disabilities. It did not take long at all to realize that the children, in spite of all of their difficulties, were happy. While I do believe that I had a large impact on them, I think that they had a larger impact on me. The memories I have of my time there and the people I met will forever have a warm spot in my heart.”
-Lynelle Chen, 19, US

The Love is Blind Project
Liugudao Village, Doudian Township, Fangshan District (8031 0383, info@bethelchina.org)www.bethelchina.org
房山区窦店镇交道六股道村

Bethel Charity Store
Store hours TBD. 3 Jingmi Lu (between Laiguangying Donglu and Xiangjiang Beilu), Shangpin Township, Shunyi District (8031 0383, shop@bethelchina.org)
顺义区尚品小镇京密路3号

Roundabout
Roundabout is a not-for-profit organization that acts as a bridge between people in need and those who’d like to donate to their cause. Roundabout supports around 48 charities in the Beijing area, as well as others throughout China and Mongolia. The group is well-known to the expat community for organizing charity book fairs in partnership with international schools. Roundabout doesn’t currently have a physical address, but they will continue to do charitable projects as they look for a new location.

Notable projects: Roundabout has helped fund life-saving medical surgeries for children; provided warm clothing, blankets, and food to elderly men and women in Hebei province; sponsored three elderly men to stay in safe and warm group homes; gave coal to heat several orphanages in Shaanxi and Hebei; and sent clothing to areas like Qinghai province that were struck by natural disasters.

Organization size: Roundabout has a paid staff of four local women and around 20 volunteers.

How to volunteer: Volunteers can help with fundraising, marketing, assisting with the store and merchandising, sorting donated items and books, and lending a hand at book fairs. Children can also help by leading their classmates in fundraising efforts; many high school students also get community service hours by working at the store or organizing fundraisers.

Other ways to help: People can donate good quality items they no longer need, such as books, toys, games, furniture, household foods, decorative items, baby products, and bicycles. They can also organize clothing drives at school or at work; Roundabout can help with sorting and transportation. Financial donations, sponsorships, and partnerships with specific organizations are welcome. Roundabout can also match organizations, families, or schools with specific interests to a relevant charitable group.

Most pressing needs: During the winter months, Roundabout’s priority buys coal for poor orphanages in Shaanxi and Hebei Provinces, and providing clothing and blankets to children and the elderly. At other times, it depends on the specific needs of the organizations supported by Roundabout. However, the team does provide school and art supplies to many migrant schools and orphanages.

English-speaking staff? Most of Roundabout’s volunteers are English-speaking.
(donations@roundaboutchina.com, volunteer@roundaboutchina.com)http://roundaboutchina.com

 

New Hope Foundation is home to around 300 Chinese babies

New Hope Foundation
New Hope Foundation was started by Americans Joyce and Robin Hill to provide care and medical attention to abandoned infants with physical deformities. Their children’s home in the northeast of Beijing takes in babies under 6 months of age and helps them find foster homes in the area. The foundation also works with local children’s welfare institutes to raise awareness of the children’s plight and ensure a future for their infants.

 

Notable projects: New Hope Foundation has helped thousands of people over the last ten years. They currently have five units caring for 300 babies from all over China.

Organization size: The foundation has four volunteers and 540 local staff members.

How to volunteer: There are limited volunteering opportunities in Beijing. Instead, people are encouraged to visit the home and see how they can help out.

Other ways to help: The foundation is always in need of financial support, food, and clothing.

Most pressing needs: The children’s home needs a range of medical supplies: over the counter medicines, creams/gels, prescription drugs, nutrition products, and more. They also need baby items like winter clothes, bottles, bibs, and double strollers in any quantities that people can provide. For more details, visit New Hope Foundation’s website.

English-speaking staff? Yes.
97 Zhongxin Jie, Guojiawu Village, Beiwu Township, Shunyi District
(6142 4156/76, info@hopefosterhome.com) www.hopefosterhome.com
顺义区北务镇郭家务村中心街97号

Little Flower Projects helps Special Needs Orphans Bloom

Malaika Hahne, Executive Director of Little Flower Projects, shares what it’s really like to work for a charity in China
Interview by Jennifer Thomé, photo provided by Little Flower Projects

Most people dream about quitting their corporate jobs and working at a charity, but few know what that really entails, especially in China. Malaika Hahne spends her day seeing to the well-being of nearly 100 special-needs orphans and the more than 60 nannies who take care of them, and took a moment out of her busy schedule to share what it’s like to oversee such an amazing organization.

I think many of us would like to know – what’s it like running an orphanage? The best part is definitely being with the children. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of desk work to do, so I cannot just be with the kids. But they make you remember why you do this. So, whenever I have a little time I just spend some time with the little ones. Moreover, it is a wonderful feeling when we learn that a child will get adopted or we were able to help a child with an urgent operation. Everyone in our house gets very excited and it feels like a family.

What are the major struggles you’re facing? Money Money Money. We are always in need of money. When people visit Little Flower they always ask “what do you need?” Well, besides some items like clothes, blankets, and a used microwave, we need money to keep Little Flower running. That means we have to pay for electricity, water, rent, school fees for the older kids, salary for our 60 nannies, diapers, daily medical care and supplies, milk powder and food, and we have to do it every month. And then we have to raise money for operations. Actually, to raise money for operations is harder than to find money for the everyday basic needs. I understand that very well. If you know you helped this one child with an operation it feels much more meaningful than giving money for our electricity. Also, donors can directly see where the money goes to and do not have to worry about misuse. We are very aware of the fact that donors want to be sure that their donation is used correctly. Therefore, we open our finances to the public. Additionally, Little Flower Projects has no overhead costs and donations go directly to the needs of the kids.

“Running this kind of nonprofit is a 24-hour job, especially since our babies never sleep”

What’s a day in the life of Malaika like? I hop in a car and make my way out to the airport. Little Flower is located near the airport, but I live near Chaoyang Park, so it is quite a ride. The first thing I do when I get there is a little round to see every nanny and baby. I still have problems remembering every nanny’s name, but I am working on it! [laughs] I believe our nannies must be happy and know that we care about them to make a good job. Spending every day so many hours changing diapers, feeding, and playing can be exhausting. After saying hello to everyone I go to the office to check my mails. During the day I will probably show two to three visitors around. They are usually interested in volunteering or just want to see what we do. Currently I am working on a volunteer and nanny training program. My work also includes being in touch with donors, potential donors and doing the normal admin work. Every day is very different and unexpected things happen. One day electricity stopped and we had to move two of our kids that urgently needed oxygen to another facility with electricity, another day somebody broke our window and another day one of our nannies burnt her face.

“To raise money for operations is easier than to find money for the everyday basic needs”

What are the stresses of running a nonprofit, and how do you deal with them? Besides getting the money to run a nonprofit, it’s also a big challenge to find good staff. Since we rely on donations to operate we cannot pay that much salary to our caretakers. To keep them happy and motivated to work with us is not always easy. Of course, getting permissions is another struggle for us. Getting staff, permission, and money all aligned at the same time is hard, but so critical to helping kids. Running this kind of nonprofit is a 24-hour job, especially since our babies never sleep and our nannies work in three shifts. Therefore, sometimes it is difficult to take a break, because you feel you could always do more and help more children.

Little Flower Projects is an outreach of China Little Flower, Inc., a 501c(3) nonprofit organization registered in the USA. Since 1995, these grassroots, small-scale, very effective, and cost-efficient projects in China have helped countless children in need. They focus on providing specialized care to abandoned infants and nurturing the growth and education of older disabled orphans. They operate in Beijing and Taiyuan, Shanxi, but the children come from all over China. Their projects include hospice care, group educational foster care for children ages four to 18, special care for infants, longterm care for severely disabled children and special causes. At the moment they take care of 45 infants and 40 older kids. You can learn more about them at www. littleflowerprojects.org.

Teaching Our Children to Care: A visit to The Hope Healing Home in Shunyi

From Beijing-Kids.com.

Jennifer’s daughter Julia

 

We left for the Hope Healing Home early on Saturday morning and I literally had to drag my ten-year-old daughter, Julia, out of bed. She grumbled about the fact that it was a Saturday, one of the few days when she can sleep in. As a parent who has been conscientious about teaching my children that there are others less fortunate than ourselves, and wanting to instill a deep feeling in them about what is right – promoting family movie nights with films such as Gandhi, Hotel Rwanda, and The Killing Fields – I expected my daughter to jump out of bed wanting to save the world with the suggestion of visiting an orphanage. I found myself getting impatient with her lack of enthusiasm, but maybe it was because I was feeling guilty. Our son and daughter are getting iPads and a trip to Hawaii for Christmas, but what have we done recently as a family to make a difference in someone’s life?

A visit to the Hope Healing Home in Shunyi was a good lesson, for both Julia and me, in how one can make a difference in the world. Although in this case, the home has already made a difference in the lives of over 1000 babies who were orphaned, sick and physically disabled. Expats Dr. Joyce Hill and her husband Robin had a vision to care for abandoned babies by helping the local Chinese Children’s Welfare Institutes. In February 2000 the Hills opened their home to orphaned children with birth defects and provided care and medical treatment. Later, they opened the Hope Healing Home that cares for 56 babies, and is the center for babies that are fostered into local homes.

When we arrived at the Hope Healing Home I was immediately impressed with the facility. It was well organized, clean, the staff was friendly and the babies – separated in different playrooms with their nannies – seemed content and well cared for. Robin Hill greeted us warmly and gave us a tour and answered our questions. I was startled by the graphic before-and-after photos of some of the babies who had received surgeries for their deformities. Many had cases I had never heard of such as intestinal atresia, arthrogryposis, or esophageal atresia.

Julia held a baby or two and interacted with some of the playful toddlers. I could tell she was uneasy and not entirely sure she wanted to be there. But I was glad that I had dragged her out of bed that morning. I realized that it’s a start to just be aware. That’s why I have pointed out to my children the injustices in the world. (We are now watching the old epic drama series about slavery called Roots). Knowing and being aware of things that are unpleasant to us is sometimes necessary. When you can’t ignore it than you might think you can do something about it.

To learn about the story of the New Hope Foundation and how it got started read the bookThe House of Hope: God’s love for the abandoned orphans of China by Elisabeth Glifford.

If you want to help The Hope Foundation you can donate money, sponsor a child or nanny, or provide medical supplies. www.hopefosterhome.com