Volunteers brings Christmas joy to special learning center

Photos by Liu Xudong

The children at Tiantian Rehabilitation Center, a learning center in Longgang District for kids with special needs, enjoyed an early Christmas celebration with local charity group A Heart for China (the AHFC) yesterday.

More than 40 volunteers, including eight from foreign countries, attended yesterday’s event. They brought donations such as rice and oil to the center, and sang Christmas songs and played games with the children at the center.

“We have raised a total of 4,508 yuan (US$690) for the center, and have bought 300 kilograms of rice, 100 liters of oil, 100 cookies and 200 salty duck eggs for the kids. Also, a friend of mine donated 20 liters of flaxseed oil, and others also bring some cookies, milk, oranges, cakes, and others,” said Ronny Verdoodt, the founder of the AHFC.

According to Zhou Benli, the director of the center, currently there are 65 students aged 3 to 8 at the center, half of whom have hearing disabilities, some suffer from intellectual disabilities, and some are special children with autism.

The AHFC has been offering volunteer services for the children since 2015 when the center was established. Now its volunteers visit the center on a monthly basis.

Earlier this month, a charity workout program was held to raise money for the children, and that’s where part of the donations came from. The program was initiated by Polish national Karolina Mika, one of the AHFC’s volunteers, and held at F45, a local gym that Mika works for.

This was the first time for Mika and F45 to hold a charity event, but Mika said that she wants to continue and make the charity workout program a regular activity on a monthly basis.

“For me, charity and every event I go with the AHFC are experiences that move me from the inside. It shows me how privileged we are and how we should be grateful for what we have,” said Mika.