China Children

We catch up with Elissa Dunstan to hear about her short-term mission to China at the beginning of the year...

Where in China were you?

HengYang - City about 900km north of Guangzhou.

Who with?

I went with a team of 11 other people, mostly from Australia but also UK, US, Canada - mostly teachers or students, one Occupational Therapist, two Physios, and an engineer.

What to do?

I was in a centre for children who were abandoned or orphaned, run by International China Concern. The medical system in China works differently to Australia - you must pay for your service before you receive treatment. So babies born with disabilities, have families with limited resources to pay for treatment. The families can't provide for the baby and so they abandon it. Even sick children - babies who aren't feeding well or growing well, will be abandoned. Yet they just need a little special care to get them on the right track. Parents are given no hope unless their baby is perfectly 'normal' and people with a disability are given no value - they are seen as adding nothing to society.

Why did you go?

Mostly because I have never done any sort of short-term mission as a physio before. I wanted to see whether overseas mission work would be something I would consider doing long-term in the future. Also, it was a good opportunity to go with another physio and do physio work with kids.

What did you do at the centre?

My work looked more like play. I worked alongside the permanent staff to provide developmental therapy for some of the younger kids (ages 0-4years). This involved playing with them in such a way that I encourage them to develop new skills. So, 6 days a week, we would take one of the kids to the 'therapy room' where I would either do an assessment of where they're up to compared to typical babies/kids their age, or we would play - looks like fun but can be hard work for the babies.

I also spent time reviewing orthoses (foot splints), and looking at the equipment being used such as wheelchairs (including trying to make some of them work), chairs, standing frames, and walking frames.

Some thoughts about your trip?

The best thing was the kids! Here were babies and children, abandoned by people who were meant to love them, and yet there was still so much love and joy in the centre. The kids loved having short-term teams come out, because they loved to play with us, even just simple activities like chasing, having cuddles, or popping bubbles. They loved you just because you were there.
The impact on the kids after only two weeks of therapy was amazing - there were changes because of the daily therapy sessions, like a little baby with spina bifida finally realising that he had hands and putting them into his mouth.

I realised what an impact we could make, in such a short time. We reviewed so many bits of equipment, splints, and kids, and provided some specialist input that's making a significant change for them. I ran some training for the therapy staff there and it was just so rewarding to provide some simple information where there are such limited resources. The people there loved the kids they worked with, and the kids were just the same, with a desire to be loved.