The “Epic” task of the Love and Care Center

This text was written by Sister Jacqueline. She serves in the Love and Care Center in Hunan and is responsible for the manual workshops there.

For the first time the manual workshop of our Love and Care Center was asked to accomplish a task of great proportions: to produce 2000 wooden calendars was something impossible to imagine for us, but it was a challenge that we wanted to accept. We had only one purpose: to finish the task and make sure we had all the calendars done well and on time.

After we prepared all the materials needed we gathered to do a working plan: 1) to decide the number of persons needed to do the work; 2) to plan the progressive steps of the process; 3) to divide the work and to make sure everyone was aware of their responsibility.

Before we had to design the samples we didn’t realize how complex and detailed it was. But when we started doing it we found out that it would be much harder than we expected:

1.                  Two female patients, two volunteers and a sister were responsible for making 2000 auspicious Chinese calendars and 4000 buttons.

2.                  One sister, at the big wooden board, was responsible for drawing and measuring every small piece.

3.                  The patient in charge of the mechanical instruments was responsible for cutting and trimming all the parts.

4.                  Two sisters, at the small board, were in charge of duplicating the English and Chinese logo of Casa Ricci Social Services.

5.                  Two patients, using the electric iron machine, were in charge of ironing down the previously prepared characters.

6.                  Cooperating together, we used sand paper to polish the wooden border of the characters so that they would be completely smooth.

7.                  We all helped in painting the back side of the planks with oil colors.

8.                  Two female patients and the volunteers had to shape the patterns and print them separately into each bamboo tablet.

9.                  The person responsible for the mechanical instruments cut the 2000 pieces that were previously printed.

10.              We all cooperated in grinding the bamboo sticks into different thick and thin parts.

11.              The person in charge of the machines cut 6000 plaques for the top part of the pattern.

12.              We all used sand paper to polish these parts.

13.              Together, the patients and the sisters sprayed all the previously designed parts with different colors.

14.              One patient used the curved knife to carve the dark colored details of the frame.

15.              We all helped in polishing these parts.

16.               After that we all pasted the parts together.

17.              Then we polished again the margins and the surface so that they would be even.

18.              We pasted in the Chinese part of Casa Ricci’s logo.

19.              We made the holes to hang the Chinese auspicious calendar.

20.              Paint the final layer of color.

21.              Hang the calendar part and pack all in boxes.

Every task’s difficulty is different. To make Chinese calendars and buttons might seem a relaxing job. But to make them beautiful and resistant we had to use a string and pull hard to adjust the parts. Because of the friction and because we did it for such a long time the skin from our fingers was pulled off and our fingernails broken.

To cut bamboo plates correctly we need to measure the size and the angles very carefully, so each time we have to measure several times before cutting. The reason why we could finish such a big work is because Fr. Roberto offered the machines to us. We are very grateful to him. If we didn’t have these machines we would never dare to accept such a task. Right from the beginning we needed to cut 6000 parts, so the person who works with the machines spent 3 months from morning to night working at the machine. He said: “Being there all by myself with no one to talk to was very tiring and I often felt very sleepy”. In fact, because of the tiredness, there were a few times in which he almost fell asleep and injured is hand.

The process of ironing the characters is the hardest and most important part. Because the electric iron is so long it is very hard to control by hand, so after ironing each stroke of the characters our hand starts trembling. Moreover, because of their sickness, the patients often lose sensibility in their hands and feet, even to the point of burning themselves several times in their hands and arms. Even so, we did not want to lower our expectations regarding the quality of the calendars. Verifying the quality was, each time, the most painful moment for me because if we found some mistakes even in one single character we would throw away the whole piece. When I saw every one working so hard to iron those characters I really didn’t have the heart to throw them away just because of a few mistaken strokes, but they said to me: “No problem, it’s good to be a bit demanding with ourselves, you can throw them away. It’s much better to throw them away now then to have people throw them away latter because they are not well done.” Their attitude touched me very much, and at the same time encouraged me to continue trusting in ourselves. And so we threw away 700 pieces.

It took us one month and a half to iron all the characters, more than we had predicted, so I began to worry about not being able to finish the work in time. But then they told me: “Don’t worry, since we promised we will make it in time, we will take less time to rest and eat, and more time to work.” And indeed it was so; some of them start getting up at 4:30 in the morning to work, and kept working in spite of tiredness and discomfort. Normally they would go to bed early to rest and recover, but now they were moved by a strong will and wanted to finish their mission.

Each of us had different tasks but we all helped each other. Apart from the patients, the sisters, two volunteers and also the children all participated in making the calendars. Apart from the ironing of the characters and other tasks that need a machine operator, we all cooperated, for example in painting, pasting the frames and pictures, polishing, etc… To polish well the calendars, especially the small parts, is a hard process, and because it hearts our hands and fingernails it is also easy to lose patience while doing it. After we finished it they said: “To polish is really annoying, it makes you want to give up, but if we are not persistent here we will lose even more time”, and so they convinced themselves to keep working hard.

When we were pasting the pictures the children helped us very energetically. Even the smallest said to me while he was helping: “We have to be careful in choosing the right colors and sizes; we don’t want to use the wrong ones.”

One of the volunteers didn’t really know how to paint and so she was very slow, it took her a long time to paint just a few pieces. One of the patients told her: “Don’t worry about how many you can make. The important is that you are here with us and we are grateful for that.”

Thanks to everyone’s hard work and collaboration we could, in the end, finish our task in time. After we heard that all the calendars had reached the office in Macao and that they were very happy with the calendars we felt very relieved. We were all so happy: what was hardship and tiredness became joy and is now for us something we can always recall with joy. The next time we gathered we wanted to evaluate and summarize our experience.  Here are a few things we said at that meeting:

“We have learned things we never imagined before, I never thought we could still do such a fine work.”

“I couldn’t stand so much time sitting on the bench without moving from there and feeling my feet numb, but I still persisted!”

“When I was doing this work I felt my heart was at peace”.

“I think it helped me grow in patience”.

We all shared what was in our hearts and what we felt during this time. I could feel how much it had helped them build up their self confidence. I believe this experience will be something they will always cherish.

Maybe you found some imperfections on that present, but you can be certain that it was a present that we prepared the best we can, and that we offer you wholeheartedly.

December 2010

Sister Jacqueline

The Invitation

Written by Cecilia who, in Casa Ricci, is responsible for the programs of rehabilitation for HIV affected persons.

In mid-May, Fr. Fernando and I headed out for a 4-week long journey to Mainland. For more than a year we had been searching for an opportunity to lend our services to people with AIDS. We had rejected an earlier proposal by a local official to assist in a project when we discovered that he was only interested in the financial aspect but not the actual service of the people.

At our third stop, we visited an AIDS organization run by a man named Edward. What we found was something beyond our expectations. Edward gave us an overview of his organization’s operation which provides shelter for AIDS patients and advises their families. One of his best practices is to hire HIV carriers to work for him by providing counseling services inside the hospital. We exchanged experiences with Edward, briefing him on our leper projects, outreach programs, scholarship programs, and the AIDS work. Edward lamented that his organization has so many needs.  After a few discussions, we began to think about the possibility of collaboration.

In the afternoon, we visited one of his shelters for AIDS patients. Edward told us that once a hospital brought an orphan over to them because no one wanted to adopt him, not even his grandparents! His center serves adult AIDS patients only, and they are not set up to care for children. But Edward didn’t have the heart to turn the orphan down because he had no place to go. So the child stayed. Then one thing led to another and within two short months they had five HIV children. This has made the living conditions much worse and now they are very crowded. Edward is in desperate need of funds because if budget does not allow him to relocate the children.

We spoke to Edward about our HIV orphanage plan. After listening to us Edward said, “Do you think you can give us a Sister to care for the children?” At that moment my heart started singing, although my ears could hardly believe what I was hearing. “What?!” I said. He repeated that they needed a good caretaker for the children. I responded with joy that we would be happy to try to send him not only one Sister but two! When we least expect it HE opens the door for us!

After a month, I located five congregations and talked with each local superior to brief them on the HIV orphan project and idea of inviting the Sisters. Surprisingly, they all expressed a desire to work with us, and asked what qualifications the Sisters would need to have. Afterwards I drafted the following response and sent it to them.

 

We are not asking for the sister to have knowledge of AIDS care,

But we would like her to have patience and compassion;    

We do not require her to have medical expertise,

But, we would like her to be responsible;

Neither do we demand administrative talents,

But we would like her to be able to live her faith with joy. 

During the period of service, the sisters will learn from the children, and we will provide a training opportunity. We believe the technical skills can be learned, but the motivation of service has to be there from the beginning.    

If HE can plant a seed to nurture, it will grow and bloom. We believe we can provide parental love to the children, and help them reclaim the lost affection; regain their confidence, sense of virtue and the desire to study.                    

Since then, the music has not stopped, and I cannot stop singing!

As of now, we are setting up our fourth HIV orphanage.

Cecilia

Given Happiness

This text was written by Liu Huixian, young Chinese volunteer that spent nearly 6 months living and serving in one of our Children’s homes.

I come from Hebei Province, will be 22 years old this year, and my name is Liu Huixian. I was born in a Catholic family. From the generation of my grandparents on we already had Catholics in the family, and I also have an uncle who is a priest. Because I grew in this Catholic familiar environment, it was very natural for me to think of going and do something for people who need help.

  I am very glad that this year such an opportunity came up. My uncle helped and encouraged me to sign up, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to grow, and to learn many things, and so I signed up and came to the Children’s Home.

At the Children’s home, I would start to work at 6:30. In the morning, after getting out of bed, the first thing was to help the children with their hygiene, and also to clean up their rooms. The children have to take their medicine everyday at 7:30, and after they all finished I would take them to school. One of the schools they attend does not prepare lunch for them, so I had to go pick some of the children, bring them back home for lunch and then accompany back to school in the afternoon. After I left them at school I would return home and start taking care of their clothes, so that when they returned they would each have their own cloth in order and ready to wear. After I finished arranging the clothes, I would rest a bit and then leave again to go pick them up from school and bring them home. In the evening we would do the homework together. I was in charge of helping all the children of primary school age to do their homework. Because the children are so many, when it’s time for them to take their medicine they have to form a line and go one by one not to make any mistakes. At first I would not help with this, but after I got more familiar with the process I also stared to help giving them their medicine.

There, each time I took the children to school I had to do it in two turns, because in the electric bike I drive I could only take 2 children each time. Even so, the process of bringing them to school and back home each day always made me feel happy because I would go all the way talking very joyfully with them. In the evening, they especially liked to call me and to have me helping them doing the homework. And while they were doing it, my brain would always start to work, and I would think a lot about all this I was living. Also they often asked me many questions, very interesting and even deep questions, and this would force to think even harder in search for answers.

One of the experiences that impressed me more was to meet one of our little boys. At home he was very active and lively, but _ I had never would imagined it _ in school he would suddenly become very silent and would not talk to anyone. Even during the long class breaks he would not even call the other classmates to play. So I asked him: “When you are at school with whom do you play? What do you do during the breaks?” He answered: “In the breaks I always stay inside the classroom doing my homework and reading the book, I don’t play with them.” Then I asked: “Why don’t you play with the other children? You spend such a long time in school, with whom do you speak?” He said: “They are bad, so I don’t play with them. I stay and talk with myself.” When I heard this I was shocked. It was obvious that he was closing himself. After this I talked with one of the teachers about this and she was also very worried about it. Then we decided to give him a special mission: he would have to talk with his classmates in school; it was new a rule for him. If this is not “corrected” now, then when he grows up it will be impossible to do. Now he is much better, he is just shy and a bit insecure about talking with others, but much better. After seeing this kind of situations I think that the help we give is not only material help, but more importantly the psychological and “human help” that we can give by giving them the care they need most.

There is also a small girl (still in Kindergarten) that was participating in a drawing class. Whenever she drew a new painting she would come home and offer it to me. But she wouldn’t give it to me directly. First she would come and tell me that she had made a new painting. Then she would wait for me to ask her if I could see it, and only then would she let me see it. This was very important for her self-respect. She came from an orphanage, and she doesn’t know who her parents are, but she would invent many things about her “imaginary” parents. Before I left them and came back to my home, she came to me and told me very seriously not to forget to take all her drawings with me. I told her not to worry, and that I would treasure every one of them. She really needs our care and attention, and because her personality is so special (and complicated) every time we were together I always needed to think really hard of ways of helping her without hurting her feelings.

To be honest, I must say that when I arrived at the Children’s home and during the first weeks I was really afraid. I was afraid of contracting some decease form the Children (they all suffer from AIDS), and during the first month I often had nightmares because of this. I was worried that I might get infected and often thought about how bad that would be for my family and of course for me. So, I tried to find a balanced way of helping the children while protecting my security at the same time. But, as the time passed, my fears slowly disappeared and the more time I spent with them, the more I would forget about those fears and bad thoughts. And even if many of them are very naughty and would make me angry sometimes, I also feel that they brought me much joy. They would pull my hand to go and play games with them, and be near them. To their eyes I am like an older sister, and even if they were told to call me “aunt”, they would not agree and continue to call me “big sister”.

At the Children’s home I learned many things that are not in books, I learned a little more about what it means to grow as a person, and how much helping others also helps us to grow. I am very grateful for the time I spent there, and especially for the feeling that my life is more meaningful because of that.

28/Jan/2011

Liu Huixian