More than 40 volunteers coming with the charity group named A Heart for China visited the Shenzhen Huayang Special Children Rehabilitation Center in Guanlan, Longhua New Area on July 20. This time, the group brought an array of dancers from the Xixiang Artist Group to perform for the first time as well as a lady from Ukraine teaching the kids about finger painting.
A Heart for China was founded this past May by Ronny Verdoodt, a Belgian who has been living in China for 11 years and is currently based in Shenzhen.
A child at the center enjoys finger painting.
“What the children in the center need the most is love and affection and our simplest acts can make them happy,” Verdoodt said. “We are not giving professional training like the special education teachers at the center, but what we can offer is our friendly smiles and hugs. It’s as simple as that.”
Verdoodt’s idea of organizing the charity group started after the deadly Nepal earthquake when a great number of people all around the world sprang to action and raised funds to aid the victims.
Every one or two weeks, the group organizes a charity event at the rehabilitation center but this was the first time they brought dancing and painting to the school. (One day before their visit to the rehabilitation center, they lent a hand to another charity group called IRNGO.)
In Verdoodt’s eyes, charity does not need to be complicated and everything we do with the best intentions towards people in need can be called charity. “We are holding an open attitude to all the volunteers who wish to bring any forms of entertainment for the children, but, of course, under the strict rules and requirement of the center,” said Verdoodt. His group has three large WeChat groups with over 700 people around China since it was set up.
A young Indian woman, Tina Arora, who brought five friends to the event, said that her encounter with the autistic children was “awesome” while playing with one of the children in the activity room of the center.
It was Arora’s first time coming to the Huayang center, but she has visited some other organizations during her five years in Shenzhen. “I think the city has a lot of volunteers who wish to help others and we should keep on doing this,” said Arora.
Lana, originally from Ukraine, brought paper and paint for the children. Lana taught a few children how to distinguish simple colors and try finger painting.
Lana, the finger painting teacher
Besides dancing, a volunteer named Wu Yingyi played songs on her Ukulele for the children, saying, “I think the music might bring joy and peace to the children.”
A Heart for China was founded to do good things for poor people, autistic children, elderly people and mentally disabled in China by simply giving out love and care to them.
Verdoodt and his group are looking for schools like the Huayang center to organize more charity events to benefit disabled children and orphans.
A group picture of the volunteers joined on the day.
Source: Shenzhen Daily
https://thenanfang.com/charity-group-brings-dancing-painting-visit-shenzhen-rehabilitation-center-first-time/
