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The Rose Home girls: Pingping, Zhengzheng, and Jianjie with Cici and her two daughters
To help stop the spread of CV19, in February of 2020 welfare centers were put on lockdown—including ICC’s Hengyang Care Center. All of the youth in ICC’s community-based group homes needed to transition back to the Center—causing a bit of a space crunch.
But Cici, Hengyang Care Center’s project manager, had a unique solution: she offered to host three young women from ICC’s Rose Home. Though she was on maternity leave, Cici and her family, including two young daughters, welcomed Jianjie, Zhengzheng and Pingping into their home with open arms.
Community-based Living & Development
Since 2012, the Rose Home girls have lived together in a tight-knit sisterhood. In the community group setting, their caregivers helped foster life skills development.
While the girls were under her wing, Cici helped them put those skills into practice while further developing independence. Based on their strengths, each girl was assigned an area of responsibility: kitchen cleaning, tidying the flat, and bookkeeping. They even learned to shop for groceries. “Though they felt it was hard, they never gave up,” Cici says.
Dreaming of the Future
For the past year, Cici and her family have provided safety, love, and opportunities for the girls. Cici hopes the experience will enable them to become semi-independent in the future. One of the girls, Zhengzheng, dreams of starting her own online business. “I want to help her achieve her goals,” Cici says.
Interacting with Cici’s young daughters, the girls grew in their ability to communicate. Though it has been a sacrifice, Cici says, “Seeing all five girls having fun together makes it all worth it.”
Blooming where she’s planted
When Yezhen came into ICC’s care in November 2019, she had lived for most of her life at the welfare center. Moving to a new environment from the one she was used to was scary for her.
Wanting her to feel welcomed and comfortable, our caring staff worked to build the trust and security she needed. Shortly after Yezhen arrived, another ICC child approached her to comfort her.
Yezhen loves to sing and play the lute
Since Yezhen came to ICC over a year ago, her sunny personality has emerged! Engaging and happy, she is making good progress with her studies.
Her teacher is pleased with the work she’s doing and praises her. During school holidays, Yezhen enjoys music lessons. She loves to sing and play the lute.
Yezhen, who has a vision impairment, dreams of attending university when she is older. She’s improving the speed of her reading and writing in Braille. What a joy it is to have Yezhen in our care, watching her blossom and grow.