[:en]MCF aspires to reach out to as many people who need us as possible. Whether we can help through offering a child an eye check, or a student benefits from resources provided in classrooms, we hope that we can make a difference to migrant families by helping them access better education and healthcare. Sometimes, however, MCF finds a family who are suffering particular hardship and our help is required on a more long term basis, offering support and our resources to enable the family to overcome their difficulty.
Below, we look at several case studies of families MCF has worked closely with due to financial hardship, death or serious health concerns.
Fan Fan
In April, this five year old who suffers from cerebral palsy caught the attention of the founder of MCF, Helen Boyle, while she was visiting one of the MCF sponsored schools. Helen first noticed the young boy was being carried by his mother. Upon finding out that Hu Yi Fan had an ailment, Helen organised a consultation at the Beijing United Hospital and Hu Yi Fan underwent preliminary tests to determine the extent of his illness on May 13th. After a small amount of playful attention while waiting to be seen by the doctor, little Hu Yi Fan came out of his shell and into mirthful laughter and delight, captivating the hearts of all concerned.
On May 20th, he returned to the hospital to undergo an MRI brain scan. After these checks the extent of Fan Fan’s cerebral palsy was determined as well as a further diagnosis of epilepsy. On May 21st, he took part in his first ever therapy session. Thanks to the generosity of Beijing United Hospital and Beijing United Foundaiton, Fan Fan will receive one and a half hours of speech and physical therapy twice a week, for as long as improvement in his condition continues. A magnificent response of commitment and generosity by those that organised these sessions.
Fan Fan has continued to improve on his journey of rehabilitation through physiotherapy. On June 30th, a smiling and excited Fan Fan exhibited signs of significant improvement in enhanced range and scale of movement. His mother, Yanyun, is also receiving counselling on how she can help her son improve by doing daily exercises between physiotherapy visits. Speech therapy has also worked some magic as his communication skills continue to improve.
These therapies havecombined to offer Fan Fan a greater quality of life. When MCF first met the five-year old, he was being carried by his mother, who was his only mode of transport. Now, he can stand on his own and is excitingly trying to walk with the aid of specially created walking shoes that provide his body support.
“I just don’t know what I would have done without MCF.”
– Hu Yanyun
In December, Fan Fan’s mother brought him to school to visit Helen and the difference in him was amazing! From being unable to walk, meaning his mother needed to carry him everywhere, and not being able to talk, Fan Fan was now walking by himself with just one hand holding onto his mother’s. Not only this, but he was also able to say simple words like ‘baba’ and ‘mama’. We are so pleased with the progress he has made and we hope with the continued support of MCF he will continue to improve.
Zhang’s Children
Only days before the start of school in September, MCF made it possible, through funding and influence, for the children of embattled and disabled father, Zhang, to send all three of his children to school. Zhang had been having difficulties supporting and caring for his four children since his wife left the family some time before, with Zhang’s eldest, fourteen year old Xiuli, stepping in to help his father care for his younger siblings alongside attending school. However, his brother and sisters were still in need of an education themselves. The school fees for his son, aged 7, and daughter, aged 9, were fully paid thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Beijing’s Girl Guides, and the third child was financially sponsored by MCF.
Tao Song
During one of our regular health checks with 100 children, doctors identified an irregularity with the heart of one of the boys, a nine-year old called Tao Song. His parents believed him to be lethargic and a little lazy but on further examination, the doctors discovered two holes in his heart. Following a successful operation they diagnosed further problems with his arteries that needed urgent, life saving surgery. Through the work of MCF, this little boy received the care he needed and now lives a full and active life.
“If it wasn’t for the MCF project, I would have lost my son.”
– Tao Song’s mother
Read more about Tao Song here.
Zanta
We met Zanta earlier, as MCF held a fundraising event to raise money to get her son the extra tuition he needs to help him keep up at school. Zanta is well-known to us at MCF as we have worked closely with her, ensuring her son gets the help he needs, and her extraordinary story of triumph over hardship is worth sharing as an example of the problems that push the migrant workers to leave their homes in the first place and come to the big city in the hope of a better life for themselves and their children.
Zanta’s adventure started with a love story. She fell in love with a young man from a neighbouring village – already a no-no in Tibet, where marrying outside your own circle is frowned upon, greatly. A son was born, and then some years later, tragedy stuck and Zanta’s life was shattered. Her husband passed away, and in Tibet, the son is generally returned to the husband’s family, who are all shepherds with no education. Zanta wanted a better life for her son so, after much soul-searching, she journeyed to Beijing. At first, life was very difficult, but she eventually found friends in the MCF community who helped her and her son. She made Tibetan jewellery to support herself, and now she lives in a small home with her son, who is attending school and he loves it but he needs remedial tutoring to keep up with his peers and ensure his continued success and enjoyment at school.
“I’m so grateful that my son has the chance to learn from the volunteers, be a better person and pass his exams.”
Zanta is one of thousands who have made the long journey from villages and towns all over China to Beijing, and her story of hardship is just one among so many. The decision to travel so far is never taken lightly and we hope that by highlighting her story we can encourage greater understanding of the plight of the migrant workers here in Beijing and, perhaps more importantly, their children, who can so easily escape notice in a city of 25 million people, but who desperately need our help.
Li Xiaoqing
Helen first met Li Xiaoqing in December 2017, when she became aware of the little girl’s illness and how her family was struggling to cope with the financial burden of healthcare on top of the emotional strain of their child’s battle for life.
Read more about Li Xiaoqing here.
[:zh]MCF 旨在帮助那些需要帮助的打工子弟孩子们。旡论是视力检测还是班上的扶助，我们只希望这些孩子们能够得到更多更好的教育和医疗保健。偶尔MCF也会遇上一些家境特别贫困的孩子需要一些特殊的帮助使到他们可以找到长远的解决方案。
以下是最近的两个例子，因为这兩户人家有许多种种不同的困难，所以MCF为他们提供了更深的帮助。
胡一帆
2016 春天时五㱑的帆帆在一家MCF赞助的学校里吸引了Helen的注意力。帆帆患上了脑瘫所以上课时也需要他妈妈抱着。五月十三日，Helen立刻安排帆帆去北京和睦家医院检查。一周后，帆帆又回去做了脑部磁共振成像。两次检查证明了YF帆帆患有脑瘫和羊痫风。测试后一天, 帆帆就开始了他第一次的物理治疗。非常感谢北京和睦家医院和北京联合基金会的赞助支持，只要帆帆有进展，他就会一直上一周两次，90分钟的语言矯治以及物理冶疗。这个安排完全展现出来和睦家医院和北京联合基金会的大心大爱。
冶疗后一个月帆帆的状态就很明显改善了。六月三十日我们见到的他无论是举动还是情感表达方式，都超过了他之前能做的。现在他的语言能力也大有进步！胡妈妈也同时接受扶导以便她在家里帮助帆帆。
这些治疗不只是帮助了帆帆，也減少了他完全依靠胡妈妈的需求。自从MCF第一次认识妈妈抱着的帆帆，今天他巳经能够自己站立，也特别喜欢自己穿着特别功能的鞋子学走路。
胡妈妈很感激MCF 和好心集团的帮助，经常说”我们真不知道没有了MCF会怎样？”
占她
MCF 认识占她也有一段日子了。从第一次在筹款会上为她孩子爭取奖学金后，我们都一直很欣赏占她刻苦耐劳的精神。她也是一位出众的榜样让我们敬佩这些离开了他们遥远老家来京的打工子弟们。
占她的故事要从她恋爱说起。她当时爱上了隔壁村的一个小伙子。在西藏风俗来说，这也不是一般的事，因为藏族娶嫁在同一个圈里内。她婚后幸福快乐，不久后也生了一位小男孩。但她的好日子不长，因为她丈夫没多久就去世了。因为她不想她儿子杨青必须回去叔叔伯伯放牛的生活，她下定决心把孩子带到北京来。刚开始生活確实很苦，一直到她们找到了MCF。今天她靠卖自己手工制作的藏族手饰过活，和她儿子相依为命住在一个她俩称家的小房里。她儿子上着学但至今还需要课外辅导来帮他趕上与他同年的孩子。
占她 说，”我非常感谢MCF给我孩子从志愿者那学习考试和人生上的更多的成功机会。”
Zant占她a只不过是其中一位从遙远老乡来到北京打工的中国人。每一天都有成千上万位打工子弟们过着像占她一样艰苦的生活。他们决定来此打拼不是一时冲动，每天的挣扎也不是每个人可以承受的。我们希望通过我们的报道，可以增强我们对这些打工子弟们的认识了解。更重要的是他们的孩子也有机会得到我们的帮助。[:]
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