Brick 8 - 60 Beds for Xintai Home
To donate via bank transfer, you can find more information HERE
A bed costs 1,500 RMB (about €150) and while they are by no means fancy, they are easy for the staff to use and have no high maintenance electrical parts to worry about. Add enough linens to keep the beds constantly fresh and the cost of a bed in full use comes to €200.
Chen Yi Fong is over 70 and has lived at XingTai Home for the Elderly for 6 years now. She moved there when she found getting around in her own home was just too much for her and the sisters made her welcome even though she could not pay very much for her keep. She likes the life here, even if conditions are basic because the atmosphere is homely and the Sisters provide well for Mrs Chen and the other 60 residents of the home.
Mrs Chen is typical of the people that Church-run Residential Homes are trying address in China’s rapidly graying society. The population of the elderly (60 or older) in China is about 128 million or one in every ten people, the largest in the world. It is estimated that China could have some 400 million people over 60 years of age by 2050.Meanwhile, China’s median age is set to advance substantially from about 30 in 2000 to around 39 by 2025, which will be higher than that in the United States, according to United Nations Population Division projections. The on-going tempo of aging in China is far faster than what was witnessed in more developed regions during the past three decades. In this situation, the services that the sisters provide will become more urgently needed. However they face a double burden. Costs are increasing all the time, (the commodity price increases of 2008 are a sudden and unexpected burden) and there are ever rising expectations of care in rapidly developing China. However, the Mrs. Chen’s of this part of China are unable to offer more, (in some cases nothing at all) for their keep. So the Sisters have to peddle very hard just to see themselves stand still in a fast evolving world of elderly care.
A typical example is the bed on which Mrs. Chen sleeps. It was bought when the home opened, frankly, because it was cheap. It is a standard wooden bed such as one might find in any home in rural china, and from the perspective of Mrs. Wang, is adequate for her needs now. But making up the bed is time-consuming and because it is quite low, demands lots of stooping for the staff. As Mrs. Chen ages and spends more time in bed during the day, it becomes totally unsuited for her care. Without any safety supports, and no wheels, the bed is next to useless in ensuring that Mrs. Wang has the quality of life that the Sisters wish to provide for her.
The sisters realize that they need provide better beds, both because providing quality care for the residents demand it and also creating a good work environment for the staff demands it also. Without donors, the beds must remain a pipe dream. In China the tradition of fund raising is non-existent and the donations received by the Sister’s tend to be in kind. I have been working with the Sister’s for two years now and they are becoming more thick skinned and able to approach donors for what they need. Recently they have successfully raised the funds necessary to pay for one bed, and soon hope to have enough for a second. In rural China though, cash donations are rare, and if the sisters are to get the beds they need they need your help.
A bed costs 1,500 RMB (about €150) and while they are by no means fancy, they are easy for the staff to use and have no high maintenance electrical parts to worry about. Add enough linens to keep the beds constantly fresh and the cost of a bed in full use comes to €200. It will cost €12,000 to ensure that every resident rest comfortably at night and that staff does not get bad backs ensuring they do so.
This year a few of us are running the Marathon (in my case the half) to raise money for this project, (link here to the Beijing Marathon posts). This sponsored run aims to raise 60,000 RMB or €6,000 towards the cost of this project. If you would like to help, please donate by following the link below. Your act of kindness will allow you to sleep as comfortably in your existing bed as Mrs Wang will do in her new one. Thank you.
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