Jinsong was born in 1999, and his grandmother is his primary caregiver. His mother works in a neighbouring province to support the family, visiting him regularly. His grandmother shared freely with us during our Cross Care Team visit. Jinsong can be a bit shy, and it takes him a while to warm up to strangers. His grandmother had major surgery at the end of 2020 and stayed in the hospital for a month. It was a difficult time for the family.

While his grandmother was in hospital, Jinsong’s mother hired a fulltime caregiver to stay with her son. Even though his grandmother is now back at home, she still has to go in for check-ups from time to time. When alone, Jinsong can complete some self-care tasks without assistance, but cooking is difficult for him. Therefore, Jinsong’s mother arranged for him to have takeout food delivered via an app on her phone – while working in another province!

Last year, Miss Chen (one of our social workers) found him a place at a vocational school not too far away from their home, but reliable transportation has been a barrier to his regular attendance. Since our last visit, we have connected Jinsong with Mr Wu, who leads our FPP enrichment programme. Jinsong is interested in computers, and Mr Wu plans to help develop his ability into a way for him to work from home.

“Here is Jinsong getting a little sun during a home visit from Mr Wu. These are some of my favourite times with children and families. It can be stressful and challenging to get out of the house. And once outside, visibility is high while warmth and understanding may be a bit spotty in the surrounding community.

But what an entourage can do for a young man like Jinsong! What normally may have been a somewhat awkward and short-lived excursion becomes a circle of care that bears witness to the neighbourhood. This young man has friends and fans who think the world of him.

And on many occasions, I have seen hearts open before my very eyes and openness and sincerity be re-born. Many times, we find human compassion and kindness are just below the surface. They just need a bit of polishing to be revealed.

— David Bondy, FPP Development Director

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