I'm Dreaming Big!

It was a big day for us in 2012 when Xining Children's Home was designated by the China Central Government as the childcare worker training centre in Qinghai Province. In December, management, staff, and childcare workers from Haixi, Huangnan, Yushu, and Guoluo Prefectures came to Xining Children's Home for an intensive 10 day training course in professional child care.

Xining Children’s Home had already been recognized by the central government in 2008, as one of the top ten children's homes in China, and a model of best practice. After the training course in December I received this letter from Madam Wang Li, the Director of Xining Children's Home:

I would like to express my sincere thanks to you for the collaborative relationship that has existed between Christian Action and Xining Children’s home since 1998. Looking back I can only marvel that we started out with practically nothing, and built a children’s home that is now recognized as one of the best children’s homes in China. Not only is this a great honour, but it also attracted a lot of recognition and interest among multiple government departments at varying levels in the government hierarchy. And, it just keeps getting bigger and better! Our success can largely be attributed to the devotion and assistance we have received from Christian Action.

In addition, Xining Children’s Home has also been recognized as a vocational training centre for all health care professionals [childcare workers] with a focus on disabled orphans and abandoned children in Qinghai. This follows the publication of a paper in 2011 [No.30] by the Civil Affairs Bureau expressing their concerns regarding professional training qualifications for health care professionals [childcare workers]. Xining Children’s Home is now the official training centre in Qinghai.

Thanks to Christian Action’s professional consultants, financial support, and a lot of hard work, we have completed the first round of elementary training for health care professionals [childcare workers] focusing on abandoned and orphaned children with disabilities. More importantly, participating students and provincial government leaders have highly praised the training. I would like to express my appreciation for Christian Action’s commitment throughout the training project. Last but not least, your support and love for children with disabilities has counted for a lot. In the future we will strive to maintain our position as a training centre for health care professionals [childcare workers] focused on children with disabilities. With professional training, we are committed to promoting holistic childcare for disabled children.

Madam Wang Li's expression of support, recognition and thankfulness is another confirmation of the need for our services in Qinghai. I am so thankful that God has made it possible for orphaned and abandoned children to have the care they deserve through our service, and I’m excited that through us, high quality care is becoming the standard across Qinghai, which is still one of China's poorest and most undeveloped provinces.

My (big) dream is that we will be training childcare workers from all over China in the not too distant future, with your continued encouragement, prayers and financial gifts!