Expats call for donation, kindness for cancer-stricken domestic helper

Love knows no bounds. After hearing about Liu Ping, a 47-year-old single mom who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and bone metastasis, the city’s expat community decided to jump in and raise money and call for donations.

Liu has been a domestic helper for many expat families in Shenzhen. She is affectionately called “Ping” by the expats and is considered a part of them.

Maya Strzempka from the U.S., who teaches at Shekou International School (SIS), was among the first expats to support Ping with monetary donations and calls for kindness. “We felt distraught and helpless. Cancer is always scary. As a foreigner, I don’t know how to help, so our community is trying to do what we can to support Ping,” Strzempka told Shenzhen Daily in an interview Saturday morning.

Strzempka added that she will also help organize a fundraising event at SIS’s Prince Bay campus Dec. 10 to raise more money. “We are hosting a winter bazaar, and we will have booths with food from different countries. The American booth pledges to donate all proceeds to Ping’s treatment. I hope people can come to the bazaar and buy goods from our booth,” she said.

Strzempka’s family moved to Shenzhen from the U.S. in 2015 and hired Ping to clean their house and take care of their dogs from 2015 to 2018. Ping’s elder sister, Liu Changmei, took over full time when Strzempka’s first child August was born in 2018, and has been working for the family ever since.

Liu Ping (R) and her elder sister Liu Changmei pose for a photo with Maya Strzempka’s son August on the day he was born in 2018. Courtesy of Maya Strzempka

“Ping has been a big part of our family settling and making China home. She is warm and friendly, and treated my son like her own grandson. This bond has been so important because we don’t have any family in China,” Strzempka said emotionally.

In Strzempka’s eyes, Ping is a very cheery and happy person who is always giggling and making funny jokes. “She enjoys life, and her full laughter shows just how much,” she said.

Strzempka respects Ping and thinks of her as a “Salt of the Earth” person who is hardworking and grounded. “She worked hard to learn English and because of that, she has made strong connections with the people she works for. We depend on her for everything like ordering water, negotiating rent and talking to our deliverymen. My first year in China would have been impossible without her translating and helping,” Strzempka recalled.

Calling for kindness from strangers, Strzempka said, “Ping is fighting cancer and faces tremendous medical bills. I hope people can donate to her treatment in any way that they can to alleviate some stress.”

Ping worked for Brazilian soccer coach Isaías Praxedes de Luna and his family for four years, and de Luna also reached out to donate and spread the unfortunate news for more awareness. Aside from monetary donations, de Luna’s wife Maria João Costa e Príncipe, a Portuguese artist, will be participating in a raffle organized by other expats to donate some pillows from the previous printout of her paintings in hopes of raising more funds.

“We never thought Ping as a cleaning lady. She is like family to us. Our family was very shocked and sad when hearing the bad news from Ping’s daughter,” the couple told Shenzhen Daily in an interview Friday night.

The couple thinks that Ping is a strong and hardworking woman who never complains about work. “Ping speaks English very well; she knows how to work with foreigners. She likes to be busy all the time because she needs work to support her daughter,” the couple said.

“I hope Ping’s family can stay strong. We believe that everything is gonna be well with her. Everyone is praying for her to recover, she deserves that,” de Luna said.

Juliano da Silva, de Luna’s compatriot and friend, who is also a soccer coach working in Longgang District, is also extending Ping a helping hand. Da Silva donated 888 yuan (US$125) as soon as he received a WeChat message from Ping’s daughter about her mother’s situation.

According to da Silva, Ping had worked for his family to take care of his baby and clean their house for around a year and a half, during which she proved to be trustworthy and respectable.

Ping is a native of Xionghe County, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province. She is currently being treated at Jingzhou Central Hospital. Ping put her 20-year-old daughter, a fresh graduate, through college on her own.

According to the information posted on Shuidichou, an online crowdfunding platform in China, Ping was diagnosed with lung cancer and bone metastasis Nov. 6. Her treatment cost is as high as 300,000 yuan (US$42,210), and as of press time yesterday, 20,924 yuan had been raised for her.