日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
China
Home / China / Society

Shedding light on life after leprosy

By Feng Zhiwei in Changsha and Liang Shuang in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-02-07 07:54

Shedding light on life after leprosy

Tao Ruqin gives a paper crown to a senior resident at the "leprosy recovery village" in Zhuzhou, Hunan province. [Photo/China Daily]


Volunteers provide solace to former patients, work to reduce stigma associated with disease

Leprosy, though curable using modern medication, has cast a long shadow over China. Thousands of former patients have been left disfigured by the disease, while enduring social stigma means hundreds still live in colonies, isolated from the rest of society.

Tao Ruqin, a student at the Hunan University of Commerce in Changsha, Hunan province, has spent much of her spare time over the past two years volunteering in these colonies.

She began as a freshman in July 2014, after being inspired by a presentation given by a volunteer association called "Home Working Camp".

The association took her and her fellow volunteers to Longjing Hill in Zhuzhou, Hunan - a designated "leprosy recovery village" that is six hours away from Changsha by train and bus, followed by a 40-minute hike through the mountains.

The village consists of three buildings, housing more than 20 people afflicted with leprosy. They are all age 60 or older and are no longer contagious, yet most live with some sort of disfigurement.

Aside from the nurses who care for them, they have no one else for company.

"I felt like the village was very quiet and lacked vitality. Some of the sufferers, such as those who are paralyzed, rely entirely on the village head," Tao said.

"I was concerned that because we are able-bodied we might upset them, but it turned out that they were actually afraid of scaring us. They would quickly pull their deformed hands away after we shook them, but eventually we became acquainted and any unpleasantness went away."

Working with her fellow volunteers, Tao laid cement to make the village's road less slippery on rainy days. The villagers were thankful, but did not believe her when she said she would return to volunteer again during Spring Festival.

"One grandmother surnamed Zeng was very doubtful, she assumed we were another bunch of college students just looking for life experiences," Tao said.

"She found it hard to believe that anyone would voluntarily spend time with them, because they have suffered so much discrimination and misunderstanding in the past."

Some of the villagers even wept when she spoke with them, overwhelmed at the unfairness of their predicament. "We felt for them and are working with neighboring villages to reduce the stigma associated with the disease," Tao said.

According to the China Leprosy Association, there are about 210,000 people in China who have recovered from leprosy, but nearly half are disabled due to the disease.

New cases are still being reported, though at a rate that is only 2 percent of the peak 60 years ago. Those who contract the disease are no longer sent to colonies and the majority are now treated at home.

"These 'recovery villages' will eventually disappear, but until then we are trying to eliminate the discrimination," said Tao, who has risen through the ranks of the association over the years.

"Volunteering with the association has shown me how little I know about the world. My New Year's resolution is to internalize these experiences - graduation from university certainly won't be the end of my volunteering days."

Contact the writers at [email protected]

"These 'recovery villages' will eventually disappear, but until then we are trying to eliminate the discrimination," said Tao, who has risen through the ranks of the association over the years.

"Volunteering with the association has shown me how little I know about the world. My New Year's resolution is to internalize these experiences - graduation from university certainly won't be the end of my volunteering days."

Contact the writers at [email protected]

Editor's picks
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
 
主站蜘蛛池模板: 五月网婷婷 | 久久穴| 国产一区二区三区久久 | 国产成年网站v片在线观看 中文字幕在线免费视频 | 国内精品玖玖玖玖电影院 | 亚洲精品久久久久一区二区三区 | 欧美日韩在线免费 | 午夜国产亚洲精品一区 | 久久精品一 | 猛h辣h高h文湿快穿np | 91在线播放视频 | a级毛片免费高清视频 | 国产精品久久婷婷六月丁香 | 黄色免费在线观看网址 | 国外成人直播 | 日韩在线观看免费 | 欧美日韩国产在线 | 国产资源在线看 | 猫咪人成免费网站在线观看 | 亚洲精品乱码久久久久久花季 | 久草在钱 | 高清国产一区二区三区四区五区 | 91视频免费观看高清观看完整 | 久久国产精品久久久久久久久久 | 国产免费小视频 | 欧美精品3atv一区二区三区 | 久久机热综合久久国产 | 欧美精品片 | 黄色网址入口 | 夜本色 | 欧美精品播放 | 国产一二三四区中 | 欧美一级毛片免费播放器 | www.精品| 精品欧美亚洲韩国日本久久 | 欧美毛片aaa激情 | 草逼com | 久久综合九色综合欧洲 | 欧美高清不卡午夜精品免费视频 | 久久久99精品免费观看 | av一级毛片|