By Chen Yi
Since retirement, Zhang Xinya has devoted herself to the cause of the disabled in the community through establishing a handicap-aid office, seventeen years like one day. By the end of 2020, she has served 410,000 people with disabilities for 480,000 hours. Even during the treatment of gastric cancer, she still didn't forget to visit disabled children. After the treatment, she continued to take part in the cause of helping the disabled…
On September 20, the "Glory and Strength: 2021 Top 10 Persons Moving Shanghai" was announced. Zhang, who was 70 years old, won the honor as the leader of Zhang Xinya Handicapped Service Office of Shanghai and became a hot spot again.
Watering the Children's Growth with Love and Patience
On September 16, when the reporter followed Zhang to visit the "Sunshine Home" in Quyang Sub-district, a volunteer teacher was putting the ice skin moon cakes made by the students into the refrigerator. As soon as they saw Zhang, the students shouted, "Mom Zhang, Mom Zhang..." and they rushed to let Zhang see their works.
Ma Yifei, 29 years old, told excitedly that she made two moon cakes and was going to take them home to her parents. "I want to give a surprise to them!" Who could imagine that this cheerful girl was thin and shy when she first came to the "Sunshine Home" 14 years ago, and she even needed help to eat and dress. But now, she has become a talent of the “Sunshine Home", and she was proficient in doing handwork, dancing, playing saxophone and so on. “I play treble saxophone, which is more difficult than ordinary alto saxophone", said Ma Yifei proudly.
"I can also play saxophone, and I can play drums", said a boy beside her. Zhang told with a smile, "His name is Qi Kan. He is also a 'little talent'. There are many music experts in the “Sunshine Band”.
In 2005, Zhang joined the "Sunshine House" in Quyang Road Sub-district and became one of the first batch of "special education teachers" of this special "family". She taught the children here to sing and dance every day, and helped them solve their difficulties in life. When the children first came to the "Sunshine House", their limbs were uncoordinated, and their words were not fluent. Teachers there had to teach each action over and over again and encouraged them calmly and continuously. With endless love and patience, Zhang has helped them build up confidence and overcome difficulties. Watching the children from being unable to take care of themselves to being able to eat with a spoon, from being slurred to singing and dancing, Zhang felt that all the efforts were worthy.
The Special Group Goes out of Home to Pay back to the Society
The road of serving the special group is not easy, but Zhang Xinya has been on it for 17 years and widened the road.
In 2012, Zhang set up the disabled service office. While helping the students of "Sunshine House", she expanded the service to the five categories of disabled people in Quyang Community. In 2015, the office was approved by the Civil Affairs Bureau as a private non-enterprise unit. Guided by the needs of the disabled, Zhang led the volunteers to set up seven teaching projects, including education, rehabilitation, literature and art, special olympics, law, skill, social co-construction and community integration. By the end of 2020, it had served 410,000 people times for 480,000 hours. The disabled learned to dance, sing, photograph, shake diabolos and do cross stitch, listen to lectures and learn simple self-care skills. A total of 21 people with intellectual disabilities have got jobs.
"We should not only help disabled children go out of home and feel the warmth of the social family, but also let them know how to be grateful, to pay and repay the society while receiving the social care", said Zhang. The office quarterly organized disabled people and volunteers with professional skills to provide services such as massage, haircut and charity sale for residents. Besides, it organizes them to actively participate in the convenience service activities themed “learning from Lei Feng” on March 5 and on the international volunteer day (December 5) every year, and feeds the society with public welfare services.
Keeping the pain of mentally retarded families in mind, Zhang has established the Love House Family and Friends Association with the parents of "Sunshine Gardens", "Sunshine Houses" and "Sunshine Bases" in the communities, in a bid to set up a platform for mutual communication and emotional relief. They invited professional psychological teachers to carry out theme salons, help them conduct psychological counseling, teach communication skills, so as to jointly build a harmonious family environment.
With the support of the District Disabled Persons' Federation, the office further expanded its service area in 2021 and radiated to the disabled people in the whole district based on the Quyang community. Up to now, it has sponsored more than 360 activities including themed salons, interest parks, health lectures, social integration activities in 8 sub-districts of Hongkou, serving nearly 7,700 people times. Since March 2021, the office has piloted the second diabolo shaking class in the "Sunshine House" of Jiaxing Road Sub-strict after that held in Quyang Road Sub-district. In the future, it will comprehensively launch regular courses for the disabled in all sub-districts according to the actual situation.
With the expansion of the service scope, the volunteer team accompanying Zhang has been also growing. Now, the office has 53 full-time volunteers and more than 400 social volunteers, including in-service teachers, retirees, sports instructors, intangible cultural heritage heirs, doctors, lawyers and photographers. Everyone is dedicated and sincere. Zhang knows that the voluntary service is not only a person's enthusiasm, nor a temporary passion, so she invites experts and professors to regularly carry out trainings and lectures for volunteers to improve team cohesion and combat effectiveness, with an aim to make the office’s cause of helping the disabled go steady and far.
Zhang says that the degree of care for vulnerable groups reflects the civilization of a city. She hopes that more people will participate in voluntary services to help the disabled, draw a "concentric circle" of love to co-build a warm and civilized city.