Lucy and Casa Ricci

Written by Lucy Chang, who is in charge of Casa Ricci's correspondence in Spanish.

1 – Why did you come to Casa Ricci? What motivated you to embrace this work?

Before a friend of mine introduced me to this institution I had never heard of it. After that I was also introduced to a Spanish Jesuit called Fr. Ruiz, that had already been working in Macao and Mainland China for many years, bringing financial help to the poor lepers of many different places in China. Latter those donations were also used to help AIDS affected people.

I am motivated to do this work because I feel I can help other people.

2 – What is for you the most fulfilling aspect of your daily work in Casa Ricci?

What makes me feel more fulfilled is that, not being a native from this lovely place, I can nevertheless be useful in this center.

To give testimony of our faith in the middle of situations of great suffering and poverty. About the works of Fr. Ruiz in Mainland China I am responsible for the correspondence in Spanish, and for all the donations that we receive from Latin and central America. I am very consoled to see that so many people supports us and send money to help.

3 – An aspect that you consider difficult in your work with Casa Ricci. (Something that is a challenge for you)

The fact that I don’t know Chinese. Frankly speaking Chinese language with its dialects its very hard for me. I am not good in languages.

4 – An experience that you had in Casa Ricci and that has impressed you.

One thing that impresses me about Casa Ricci is that, in spite of having people from many different places, cultures and mentalities, we can come together for the sake of a common good and to help other people in need.

Lucy Chang

Our Casa Ricci

This text was written by Diana Leong who works in Casa Ricci’s office in Macau.

It has been already five years since I entered this big family of Casa Ricci. I feel that during these five years our work was always changing and improving, and I believe we are able to bring healthier life conditions and comfort to many people.

The most important part of my work is to keep contact with our benefactors. Every once in a while, I inform our benefactors about Fr. Ruiz’ mission, about the work that the staff of Casa Ricci is developing in China, and about the lives of the people we help. Sometimes I also receive letters from benefactors and friends, who also like to share about their lives with us, or to say hello to Fr. Ruiz and to the patients we help.

For me the most encouraging thing is to see that we receive help and donations from so many kind hearted people. We use this money to help the leprosy rehabilitation centers, to improve the medical assistance to leprosy patients, to build “children’s homes” and give the AIDS affected children a better environment, to help pay the studies and life expenses of children from poor families and allow them to receive education and care, etc…

As the saying goes: “many a little makes a mickle”, every little bit of help we receive from our benefactors is very precious to us. And here I am, as faithful member of this Casa Ricci family, promoting our mission and thanking all of you for your help towards the poor.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10 )

Diana Leong

Story of a life

Written by Sister Teresa, who works in a center for rehabilitation of leprosy afected people in the province of Guangzhou.

A 21 years old girl is should normally be someone full of vitality, dreams, expectations and ideals of youth, but a ruthless leprosy forced Shanshan to live in our rehabilitation center isolated from the rest of the world.

Since 2009, Shanshan and her younger sister live with us at the rehabilitation center and until now I had never asked much about their family background. But now I wanted to share with all of you. I don’t do it  not  to inspire compassion, but hopping that each one of us from our different points of view can reflect about this story and gain something from it.

When Shanshan was six years old, her mother became very sick and because the family was very poor, they couldn’t get treatment for her and she passed away. On the year she turned 13, and also because of their poverty, she, her father and her younger sister were forced to leave their home and went to Shenzhen where they lived as beggars. Less than a year after, her father also got sick and died. With the help of the local police, they buried their father and afterwards were sent to live in an orphanage. One year later Shanshan finally had a chance to go to school. When she saw the other children with their parents she really envied them, and wished she too could have a mommy and a dad to take care of her.

In 2005 she was finally given a chance to go and live with a family. Mr. and Mrs. Chen’s conditions were not bad at all; he is a policeman and she also has a decent salary. Moreover they were good to her. But unfortunately Shanshan didn’t adapt well to this new environment and returned to the orphanage back with her little sister (that had also lived for a while with a different family). In 2009 Shanshan went to study in a technical school and her sister was in middle school. At that time, her sister’s arms and legs slowly began to lose sensibility and finally became numb. This situation worsened to the point that she would began to develop injuries all over her body without feeling pain. One year after the first symptoms, she couldn’t walk normally anymore, and her face was completely disfigured.  Finally she was diagnosed with leper. It was then that the nurse that took care of her, suggested that Shanshan would also be examined by a doctor because she had been together with her younger sister most of the time and had also experienced some of the same symptoms. After the medical exam she found out she also had leper. The news stroke the two sisters like a thunderbolt, and after that, in February of 2009, the director of the orphanage together with some teachers brought them to our center of rehabilitation for leprosy affected people.

In these two years nothing impressed more than to see the two sisters bravely facing all the difficulties and hardships that life has been repeatedly throwing at them. But I worry about them. What disturbs me more is the concern about their future; one day they will have to go back to the big family of society, and I don’t know how they face it. And here we can only rely on their own ability to change and let themselves be changed and continue to grow until the end. Aren’t we all like that?  In our lives, none of us received the promise that things would always be easy and smooth. Sometimes we have to “row upstream”.

April 2011

Sister Teresa

The Source of Joy: Fr. Ruiz and Casa Ricci

Dear friends these are the links to the video with the story of Fr. Ruiz and Casa Ricci's service in Macao and China.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irw7rqtp8HQ

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=900mNT4uxIA&feature=related

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbmFV5wpPnE&feature=related

Hope you enjoy it and that it helps us all to fell greater communion with Fr. Ruiz, and with Casa Ricci's mission.

Being touched

Written by Theresa Chou, who is responsible for Casa Ricci’s leper rehabilitation programs.

Wangdu is located in the district of Baoding, Province of Hebei. It is a small city and not very developed. Without having any special natural resources, it is respected for its ability to preserve the traditional rustic flavor of old Chinese towns. The day we arrived there to pay a visit, was exactly the last day of the Chinese Spring Festival, and the streets were crowded with people running up and down to buy the traditional paper lanterns for their celebration. We took a taxi, and headed for the center of rehabilitation for leprosy affected people, where the 3 sisters who live there where already waiting for us.

The first thing that came to my mind was to go see our friend, which I like to call “Jesus’ loved one”. He is a leprosy patient that was blessed by God with a beautiful singing voice. I am not sure when was it that he lost his eye sight and became completely blind, but the deep impression he caused in me the first time we met is still very alive in my memory. On that occasion he was asked to offer us a song. While he was singing his blind eyes where suddenly filled with tears that rolled down his face. Then he turned around and wiped his face with the coat’s sleeve. Was he moved by the beauty of the moment, or simply embarrassed to find himself – a Chinese Man – crying in public? I will never know for sure, but I could sense in him a deep touch of melancholy that quickly spread to all of us and made us feel an indescribable sadness. I am sure that none of them wanted to leave their homes and “be forced” to live isolated with a group of strangers.

One day, the sisters told me that he often says how much he misses his parents. He begged the sisters to accompany him to his home in the northeast but, not without great sadness, they had to tell him that it would be very difficult for them to take him there because for a blind man, even the most basic actions such as going to the toilet would be very hard, especially if he has to be on a train that takes several nights and days to get to the destination. When he sang for us, he chose a song that is precisely about how “there is nothing like mother’s love under heaven”. Can you imagine what he was feeling at that moment? Completely heartbroken. Even if he tried to smile at the end of the song, there was no way he could hide such a strong feeling. Many years ago he still had a sister that came to visit him, but afterwards his family ceased to contact with him. One of the problems is that, if people discover he has leper, they will start rejecting his whole family. How would his parents be able to live then? The simple thought of this was enough to make him doubt his idea of visiting his family.

When was the last time we made someone cry of happiness? When we touch someone in this way, especially those who are lonely and suffer the most, we give them the strength they need to continue hoping that their lives are still worth living.

March, 2011

Forty Days in the Love and Care Center

In 2010 I visited the Love and Care Center in Hunan Province, not long after my year-long chemo treatment in Taiwan and before going back to my teaching career.

I went there with a grateful and zealous heart and at the same time a weak and wearied body, I felt myself in a quest for inner healing. I remembered several years ago I have browsed the newsletter of Casa Ricci Social Services and was deeply struck by their multiple projects in Mainland China. After I received the permission of my community, Teresian Association, I volunteered to give some language lessons to the Sisters who work in the Love and Care Center. Fr. Fernando discussed with the Sisters and informed me they were glad of having language lessons. In God’s Providence, I spent forty days in the Love and Care Center. 

            In July 2010, was the first time I visited the Love and Care Center. We had individual classes from morning till evening in those ten days. All the Sisters learned with great enthusiasm, in spite of the hectic schedule amid their heavy working load. We had countless moments of fun and joy in teaching and learning. I was much moved by the Sisters eagerness to empower themselves in one way or another. Although I did not have much contact with the patients, from the sharing of the Sisters I found their mission was so attractive. The life stories of patients revealed a world not only filled with discrimination and marginalization, but also with dignity, love and care. The Sisters’ selfless generosity and profound happiness attracted me to know more about the mission of Love and Care Center.

            After a month, I paid another visit to the Love and Care Center. This time I stayed a bit longer. Aside from teaching the Sisters, I had classes with an adult patient as well. We became friends soon and he shared with me many of his opinions about life. I would always remember how excited and delighted he was when we revised those English phrases he was familiar with. Regarding the children patients, we played English games three times a week. During day time, they always asked to have English games in the evening. Their cheerful laughter will be forever on my memory. Through the fun of learning, life became different. I was happy that I could contribute in my small way.

            Apart from teaching, I was also invited to almost all the activities of the Center, such as visiting  a senior citizens compound in Mid-Autumn Festival, fruit harvesting with all the patients, making calendars in manual workshop, annual evaluation and planning workshop, etc. The Love and Care Center is an AIDS medical center which admits the seriously ill patients, it is amazing that because of the loving care of the Sisters many patients get better and better.
            From time to time we talked about many of the aspect of life in the Center, and there I discovered more of the generous self-giving spirit of the Sistes. This rekindled my heart.

Regardless of all the bitterness in life and all the bodily pains, the patients always wear friendly smiles. When I worked with them in the manual workshop, they were fond of making jokes. The atmosphere in the Center is so welcoming. Like a family, the Sisters, the adult patients, the children patients and the volunteers live together in harmony and share different responsibilities cooperatively. No one treated me as a stranger, but as a menber of the family, and I am very grateful to them all. Meeting them and having their friendship, gave me a lot strengh and even now that I am far awayI can still "drink" from so much good that I have received at the Love and Care Center.

                                                                                                            Katherine, Feb 2011

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