Global Health Engagement 2018 – Team China CDS Update #3
“Ni-Hao” from Lianyungang!
We traveled by bus from Xuzhou and had a quick start by right off the bat attending a show the special needs children put on. It was truly heart warming and such a great welcome to such a lovely city. The children’s performances had many of us in tears, it was so wonderful to see. Then we found a Starbucks. Yes, we found a Starbucks. This little taste of home was a sigh of relief as the weather here is a little hot & humid.
Our second day consisted of a presentation as well as two different two hour therapy sessions at the facility in Lianyungang called “Angels Home.” We were then invited to eat dinner with government officials that night which is a huge compliment & there was an abundance of traditional Chinese food. One government official ran a number of facilities covering OT, prosthetics, and employment for the blind. The latter is accomplished by training those who are blind in message therapy and since it took place across the street from our dinner, he wanted to show off his work and offered some free massages, so a few students and professors went and took advantage of this opportunity! They left feeling rejuvenated and ready for a good nights sleep.
Our third day we continued working with the therapists at the facility and working mainly with children with autism or Down’s syndrome. Our hearts were truly warmed by our experience there and hopefully those therapists can carry on some of the therapy techniques we showed them. We spent our last night “on the town” shopping around beautifully lit streets, finding a Dairy Queen and participating in some jazzercise with Chinese Ladies.
We are currently traveling to Nanjing and the people there are eagerly expecting our arrival! I guess word travels fast! We got to do a little sight seeing before heading out of Lianyungang going to Huaguo Mountain and seeing amazing scenery & Chinese architecture! We also had the privilege to see many monkeys on the mountain and fed them peanuts, which they loved oh so much!
Things we will never forget from Lianyungang:
“Ben, (a 12 year old Chinese boy) ran into our lunch room and said, “My dream has come true. I met you.” —Riley
“Jazzercize in the city square at night with all the Chinese ladies” —Michaela
“The people here are SO hospitable, but be careful finishing something on your plate because once they know you like something, it will keep on coming. If you finish a water, expect to turn around to find 4 more water bottles waiting for you.” —Charlotte
“Once the sun set, the night became alive. The city was filled with beautiful lights, and we were embraced with a warm atmosphere of families and friends roaming through the streets.” —Waffa
“I was able to teach the therapists some exercises that the kids could do that were fun, like passing a ball to each other when they’re back to back. It was also fun to set up an obstacle course and see what the kids did with it.”—Brianna
“Although there was a language barrier throughout therapy, the language of love, care & compassion is universal. In this way, I could communicate with the therapists without words and it was simply understood that even though the goal to be reached for each child was unique, the key was to do all things with love & compassion. This was the biggest lesson for me.” —Flor
“On this trip one of our main goals is to create a foundation for future therapeutic success through proper assessment and treatment plans, but we are rarely able to see significant progress. However, with a young boy nicknamed Ha-Ha it was amazing to witness progress in a boy that was before considered simply unable. God is good.” —Miguel
“This city, Lianyungang, was an absolute treat with an endless amount of liveliness and hospitality. It was such an eye opening experience to watch the therapists use the tactics that we taught them from the day before. Not only were we given an opportunity to work in the lil angels facility, but we also got to tour Huaguo Mountain and sightsee temples and wild monkeys. I’m so blessed to be apart of this journey!” —Linsey
All in all, we loved our stay in Lianyungang. From the successful therapy sessions to exciting night life and hungry monkeys, we all learned many things especially getting used to sleeping on box springs!