Letter from a Student at Father

(Text written by a student Lee Chi Fai who is receiving assitance and service from Casa Ricci)

Dear Fathers,

 

 

How are you?

 

Thank you so much for having built up this school which changed our lives, in this school we got teachers, sisters and also fathers who come often to visit us, all these make the school full of love, energy and life, boys are growing up happily and free  from the poverty.

 

I am one of those village boys, receiving care and education from the teachers and sisters, I learned responsibility and duty, struggle to make my dreams come true, I have difficult and hard moments, but I am happy that I am working hard for these.

 

I have spent already one year in the second school, I obtain correct education from the teachers, I have been learning more and more each day, understanding what is right in life and what is moral means, knowing more deeply about my dreams and ways to work on them.  

 

But, these are just all that the teachers can give, beside this, they cannot help me in need of economy, unfortunately economy is just the key which decide whether I can keep on studying or not.
 

 

My parents are old and are lepers people, their health are not good, they are weak, the only income of the family is farming, here is no any other incomes beside the farming, to keep me in continued studying is very hard for them.

 

Each time when I think about this, I feel like I was falling into a dark world, I feel sometimes desire to give up my study.


But suddenly, in one day, I realized that in the not too distant place there is a shooting star is shinning me and thank God and Casa Ricci for all the support offered me and I give and so was me I valued and I woke up and said: "I have to go to so much effort into my studio and someone is giving me this golden opportunity".

long to get helping hands from people to help me to finish my study, but after all, I just don’t know how to thank for their help, I believe that the best way is to turn the ‘village of recover’ into a real recover village, show to the whole world of the love and good will that you teach us.  

 

With my warmest regards,

 

李志飛

Lee Chi Fai

 

 

Ophthalmologists Doctors of mobile unit visit the homes of patients

Over ten years ago, the eye team worked in Guizhou, Xinyi. When to the homes to examine patients who cannot come to clinic, we found and elderly couple, both with bilateral blindness.

 

 

 

The place they lived was like a dark hole. They could not walk. They were waiting to die in this hole. I examined Mr. Huang and he had very complicated eyes. The cornea was damaged. I felt that I could save the eye very carefully by using ECC method which is a large incision and carefully extracting the cataract. The other eye ball was missing. Mrs. Huang’s eyes were also damaged. One eye ball missing, the other eye blind probably from iritis. So I made a decision al that time to do surgery on both husband and wife and give them some hope. The operation was successful. I gave cataract glasses to them.

Now over ten years later I came to Xinyi to do dental work. I met this couple and found that the eyes clear. We had extended their life more than ten years. The old glasses were broken but still were being worn. I was able to give them new glasses that I had received from Hong Kong years ago and now not available in China. They still held on the old glasses because they had become so precious to them. I gave them each two pair. When they took the glasses in their hands, they said “enough, enough” as if to say. “These will last until we die”. Now Mrs. Huang sits on a seat watching us do our dental clinic.

Mr. Huang’s wife who has had sight restored, but still does not have ability to walk. Besides these problems she dearly wants to be able to eat beef. But she only has one tooth. Mr. Huang has great concern and love for his wife and each time we have come to Xinyi he puts her on a stool to watch. She has some mental disability too which makes it difficult. Because of this we could not make a mold, but we removed her one tooth. Next time we will go and again try to make a mold.

We went to Lianjiang, XikangJang several time and this last time, I noticed a man sitting a distance away watching us work. He appeared to be very shy and I walked over and saw he had very stange eye glasses. His glasses which I formerly were prescribed as cataract glasses had broken. He only had one eye. He had taken then lens from the old cataract glasses and used scotch tape to repair them and then taped to his one eye without a frame. I asked him, “why is your eye glasses like this?” He was very shy and embarrassed to say that he had broken his glasses, tried often to find the similar on the outside, but could not. So he had used this method to stick one glass to his face in order to see. He did not know that I had brought glasses with me. I was happy to give him two new pair of glasses. He put the glasses on, went over to watch TV. I looked al him from a distance and he was laughing joyfully.

These two stories are follow up of the eye work. I can check the eyes as we work in the dental clinic and see the success of the cataract surgery done. I have replaced many glasses in this way.

 

A sad story. This time is the second time we went to Sichuan, Dechang for dental clinic. The first time we did a mold for Mr. Ma and this time we were prepared to fit him with his new teeth. However, he was sick so we could not fit it. Instead we took him to the hospital and told him that the next we came we would fit his teeth. This time we returned and found he had passed away so he never got to enjoy his new teeth.

 

 

 

 

In Jiangxi, Fengcheng, Mr. Fan had strange teeth. All his teeth were loose, and every one had to be extracted before we could make the mold. Every time we went a few teeth were extracted. We went five or six times. Finally, the last time, the dentist was impatient with this man and his lose teeth, he suggested he go outside, have the teet extracted and then he would make the mold. The dentist on the outside also refused to pull his teeth unless he made the false teeth too.

 

This was too expensive. So finaly Mr. Fan was very discouraged and so were we. It was out last time to this place and we could not come again. I called the Skin clinic in charge of this village and suggested they make the arrangements to make the mold and teeth outside. They were happy to do this Mr. Fan was so happy to see his new looks after he got his new teeth because they made him look much younger and more attractive. He could also eat well now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philippine trip - workshop on "Social Enterprise"

Between 18^th to 21^st of July 2014, as like as the representative for the Casa Ricci social service Macau, the author of this article participated for the first time to the annual seminary “explore and develop social services in Asia” that was organized by the Society of Jesuit in Asia, topic of thel seminary for this year was "social enterprise."

 

 

The author of this article have great experience in social work relationships during these past years, so the question of "social enterprise" is not unfamiliar. But in this "trip to the Philippines", the biggest gain was to have the opportunity to know the different Jesuit communities of different countries and regions, and to understand their regional life, culture and working style.

 

Representatives participated in this annual seminary came from countries and regions as China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Spain, Australia and Philippines, Philippines was the organizer country and had accommodated adequately and effectively all the necessaries for the participated regions and countries,  topic of the seminary “social enterprise”  had been treated and discussed smoothly.

 

In conclusion, in the topic of "social enterprise", we could observe different ways that the regions and countries coming to develop, some of them preferred to make it more commercial and some chose to treat it as social service, the author of this article think that it would be necessary to analyze the different actituds of these countries and regions, on purpose for the future unification of Jusuit organizations in these countries, though it would be a hard mission, we still need to intend, to turn the "social enterprise" into really a social service for all.

"social enterprise” should be a service represents the Jesuits own image, service, mission and the principal philosophy.

 

                                                                                                      Pedro Leong

                                                                                          Macau Ricci Social Services
                                                                                                       2014/09/08

My First Visit to the Lepers

(Text written by a visiting Jesuit Fr. Federico)

Part of my visit to the Chinese province included a visit to two leprosaries in Mainland China: One in Anhui province, and the other in Shaanxi province. These two centers belong to the government. I went there with Fr. Fernando and one collaborator of Casa Ricci’s with a lot of experience in social services.

I had never visited a leprosary before, so this was a new experience for me, although serving sick people has been of my life as a Jesuit.

 

A nurse cleaning the wounds of a leper in Anhui

 I must confess that the first sensation I felt was disease: I was not afraid of the illness itself, I was told that it would not be a risk for me, but the sight of those big, open wounds refusing to heal even after years of treatment really impressed me. I wonder how they live it. I hope that the fact that they have jobs inside the leprosaries like working in the kitchen or in the fields helps them to maintain some dignity.

The service we provide to those people is “just” this: living among them and spending the mornings washing their wounds and medicating them, in sometimes very big institutions run by the Chinese government and by “we” I mean both Casa Ricci that manages our presence there, and the Sisters who actively work there.

 

In Shaanxi Province nurses sisters share their experiences

 
At first my western spirit was pretty critical towards a lot of things that need to be improved: hygiene, rules for the sake of the sick people, efficiency, etc. While there are in fact margins for improvements, I started to notice how much this smallness and imperfections are actually the signs of our presence in Mainland China.

I think this is even more valuable since it’s done under the supervision of the government, in a hidden but official presence. I hope this can contribute to kick off some prejudices towards the Catholic church, we are collaborating with the Chinese officials for the same good: the well being of the sick and marginalised people in China.

 

 

Learning in caring of the terminal patients

In September 2009, I began providing care for AIDS patients and their families.  Initially, I was not involved with terminal patients, until three years later, when I was requested to care for AIDS patients who are in their last stages in life.  Worried as to whether I was up to the task, I sought out an experienced care worker.  She reassured me, “ As long as you approach your work diligently, I am sure you will do a good job.”

I started working at the AIDS Loving Care Centre of the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Yunnan Province on 27^th March, 2013.  Our supervisor advised us to  “take small steps”, i.e. start by attending to the regular patients, and then gradually move to caring for the terminally ill.  As such, I learnt to be an understanding companion to the patients, to be perceptive to their inner issues, queries, and needs.  There were times when I would be able calm their anxieties with a few well-chosen words.

Whenever I am able to put a patient at ease, I found my spirits being lifted; and my happiness with this type of work increased.

Mrs Chen was 63 and came from Jianshui county of Honghe Perfecture of Yunnan Province.  Seven years ago, she contracted AIDS from her husband.  Despite continuous medication, the disease stayed with her.  Once, alarmed at the yellowish tinge of her skin, her children took her to the local hospital; but after a fortnight of unsuccessful treatment, she was transferred to our hospital.  On 13^th May 2013, Mrs. Chen made a request to return home, but our Director Wang refused.  That night she had diarrhoea and became unconscious by the morning of the 14^th, with a temperature of 40C plus.  Director Wang led the team of medical personnel to respond to this emergency.  I went to see Mrs. Chen the following morning.  The room had a strong smell of excrement; and the patient was in an agitated state of mind.  She was strapped to the bed with an oxygen mask on, and was inserted with glucose bottle and a catheter.  The monitors showed irregular readings, indicating an unstable condition.  The head nurse, with our help, proceeded to have Mrs. Chen cleaned up.  She washed her, changed the diapers, brushed her teeth, and even combed her hair.  I sat with Mrs. Chen whilst her son went out to buy some necessities.  At around 2pm, the patient’s temperature was still at 39.8C.  The doctor recommended using physical means to reduce the temperature.  At his direction, I prepared a pan of warm water and bathed the lower parts of her body.  I also assisted the family in disposing the urine, and noting the volume passed, etc.  On the 16^th, when Mrs. Chen’s family was ready to take her home, I helped them gather her belongings for the journey.  The daughter thanked me saying, “Miss Wang, You are just like a member of the family.”  Two days later, I received a message from the daughter informing me that her mother passed away 4pm that day.  I texted back, “Do not grieve.  You have done all that you could.  Your mother was a gentle and kind lady, and God/Heaven will be watching over her now.  Take care of yourself, and live a happy life.”  She responded, “Thank you Miss Wang.  Your words give me comfort, and I will follow your advice.”

In this world, all our lives have a beginning and an end.  It is just that we don’t know the time of that end.  Take the case of Mrs. Chen.  She came to our hospital without realizing she had so little time left.  I feel that our supervisor’s advice was correct – begin by looking after the regular patients; and later on, by working closely with the medical staff in tending to these patients and their loved ones, we will then be able to handle the more difficult cases - care giving to raise the quality of life for the terminally ill.  This way we can help them travel the final leg of their life’s journey with a prefect closing, with no pain and in peace, comfort and dignity.  At the same time, it is important that we should see to the physical and emotional well-being of the patients’ families.  I am especially grateful to Casa Ricci Social Services for giving me the opportunity to work with terminal patients and their families.  The work allowed me to value the passing of love, caring and respect between human beings as part of social interaction that are essential to maintaining one’s physical and mental health.

By Sr. Wang Xia 

“Sunshine will always be here after the storm”, and, we have already seen the rainbow.

"Written by Monica, a Sister who has worked in one of our Children homes"

“Happiness and sadness that are in our life, I will share with you ……no matter here are rain and wind….”, every time when I hear this song, my heart will go to where that group of strong and lovely children – a group of little children who are standing in the edge of the society, they are being rejected and abandoned, they are being discriminated and abused by their family and the society.

By the will of God, I knew these extraordinary children through “Casa Ricci”, and then my life has been changed ever since.

These children cannot go back home, some even don’t have home. They don’t have families to look after them. Every time when I see the sadness in their eyes of waiting in vain for a visit from families, every time when I hear their crying from their broken heart for have been rejected and abandoned, every time when I see their innocent look for waiting to be accepted…….I have been touched deeply.      

I have asked myself “why”? But I understood then that the importance is not to answer “why”. What’s important is what I can do.  So I did my best to take care and help them, but I realized soon that what I had been doing was just an expression of my selfishness.

So I joined their activities...we studied, played, worked and shared altogether. I went into their world to read and feel their inner hearts so I understood what they really needed. After some times, they became part of my life.

Life itself is a sharing and bearing process, I do know it deeply now. These children share my efforts and bear my insufficiencies. I share their strong will and bear their hopeless. Certainly, I cannot bear their past, but what I can do is to accept their invitation to walk together with them through every doubt and every difficulty in their life. When they know they are not alone, when they know there are someones still love them besides their family members who no longer remember them, they will show their happiness and affection for life through their daily livings. The children’s happiness is my happiness.               

From all the creatures of God, only human being can perceive, possess will power, is emotional and spiritual. No matter the age, only love can cure, renew, and release, no matter if you are “sick” or not. What is true love? I don’t know exactly, I only know, in the moment when I am feeling down, that a child come to me and says “Auntie, are you unhappy? Please listen to the music as this is what I will do when I am not happy.” This touches me deeply.

Also, when they tell me that they are unhappy with their innocent language that cannot express themselves fully, I will hug them strongly. When they sometimes cry with a seemingly “naughtiness”, a challenge to me that I will still accept and love them, I always look up for kindness from God.

“Sunshine will always be here after the storm”, and we have already seen the rainbow. Be sure that there are always solutions for problems in this world. “True love” is the key to open the lock of discrimination that human has on HIV+ people. No matter what ways we use to help them, a “true love” intention will always puts us and others in a happy and free life forever.  

                                                                                                                          23/6/2012

Reflections of Christmas visit to Bailu Leprosarium

This past Christmas, I chose to go with Ricci Social Services staff (Fr. Howard Lui S.J., staff Teresa Chou, and the driver “Siu Kwan”) to Huizhou, Guangdong to visit the rehab people in the Bailu Leprosarium there.

This is one of Fr. Luis Ruiz’s most concerned communities in his lifetime. At the same time, this was the first time I personally involved after I got to know the services of Fr. Ruiz in his later years. Leprosy-affected people are a community that I never touch before and I can take this opportunity to understand them.

The date of visit was December 24 and 25. Activities included Mass celebration, sharing dinner, and group games.

In the preparation meeting, we come to agreement quickly to implement the planned activities. When talking about the activity expenses, we do not worry too much, as we can adjust according to the funding available, and will not affect our decision of our visit. Of course, we really are thankful to all those who have donated, as we can quickly raised enough money in a very short period of time so that a wealth of activities were possible for these rehab people. These included a delicious Chinese style Christmas meal, a Christmas present and a red pocket for everyone as well as to participate in the game and feel the joy of the lucky draw.

From the start of the driving journey, our staff continued to receive SMS inquiries from the sisters in the leprosarium about the traffic condition and looked forwards to our visit. I learned later on that our visit to the leprosarium is the first time since its establishment that there are people outside to come on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas with the rehab people. They feel such a major religious event and are excited at the priest’s special arrival to celebrate Mass for them. In addition to those from Bailu Leprosarium, there was another group of rehab people living 60 kilometers away, as well as more than a dozen Catholic villagers, came specially to participate in the Christmas Eve mass.

The atmosphere of dining with the rehab people at the Christmas dinner was good. They seemed to really enjoy the food and were well fed, with the leftovers packed back to their room so there was no wastage. It was found that they are usually doing their own cooking, with few opportunities to sit in a table to eat together.

Although behind every rehab person has a different story, but they are not unhappy with a straight face in their life. From simple chatting to playing games with them, they are very active and responsive. We introduced Macao's traditional group games ─ “Bingo”, and played with them. Because of incompleteness of their limbs, they cannot play this game with the usual speed, but the level of excitement created through their active participation was the same or even greater. We were glad that they liked this game!

Among the rehab people, the ones that most caught my attention are two young sisters ─ the younger one was less than 20-year-old while her sister was 20-year plus age. The challenges that the One above gave them in fact are true and many: has experienced poverty as well as mom and dad passed away at a young age; was found to be infected with leprosy within a short period of orphanage life, cannot continue their studies and were being sent to Bailu Leprosarium for treatment. Although their conditions were under control after a period of time, but their appearance has been slightly affected. Will they have the confidence to return to community and live independently, or have to stay for rest of their life in the leprosarium? This is my greatest concern. I hope that the staff of Ricci Social Services to help these two sisters to overcome these tests, and hope they can have a great life in the future after experiencing these challenges.

Participating in this event, I can feel Fr. Ruiz’s dictum: "Nothing happier than to make people happy!"

Thank you rehab people! I wish you a happy life! Good health!

Francisa Vong,

Friends of CRSS, January, Macau