Thank You, Lydia!

What started out as a mistake turned out to be the beginning of Lydia’s lifelong devotion to our Qinghai programme.

In 2001, Lydia prepared to set off for Nanning to support women with AIDS. However, she confused Nanning with Xining, so she ended up in Xining. She was welcomed with enthusiasm and hospitality. So began her incredible new journey!

That same year, Lydia joined Christian Action as the first social worker sent to Xining. She started working to improve the livelihood and services of our Xining Children’s Home (XNCH) where she served as the assistant director from 2001 to 2004. She oversaw adoption, fostering, treatment and rehabilitation work. On behalf of Christian Action, Lydia initiated family projects, youth services, and cross-sector rehabilitation intervention. XNCH benefitted from the training she obtained from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where she graduated with a Master of Arts in Social Work (Family-centered Practice and Family Therapy).

Lydia brought severely disabled children to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing for medical consultations and treatments. Carrying out the mission of Christian Action, Lydia introduced new management models and trained employees to improve the quality of their services. She set up a comprehensive database and filing system, and in her second stint of service in Qinghai, Lydia assisted in advancing the services at XNCH to be more scalable as a trainer and speaker.

During her time in the Northwest, she battled altitude sickness, which was exacerbated by high blood pressure and diabetes in 2017. Undeterred by her difficulties Lydia said, “Despite the challenges here, I see the children in the Homes as my own, and I want to see them grow and blossom.”

Lydia is truly a trusted member of Christian Action. She commits every ounce of her energy to improve the lives of the children.

Lydia, we thank you for all that you have done.

Lydia says Qinghai is the only place
she needs to travel to in China