CHILD SPONSORSHIP | New Children, A Year On
Yezhen, Who Loves Music
Community-based Group Home for Girls
Arriving at ICC
When Yezhen first moved to ICC’s community-based group home from the government welfare centre in November last year, she bowed her head and was withdrawn. Yezhen who is visually-impaired, previously lived at the government welfare centre for many years, and moving into a new environment can be very scary. Our caring staff worked to help the new children feel comfortable and welcomed. We were inspired to see HuaHua, who also lives in the community home, quickly come to comfort Yezhen. Huahua hugged her to help her feel safe.
Loving Home
Over the following weeks, Yezhen’s caregivers spent a lot of time chatting with her, engaging her in play as well as cooking delicious meals for her to enjoy. These activities helped establish a foundation for trust and security to begin to grow.
A lot of progress has been made in the past 12 months since she has been with ICC. Yezhen is often seen smiling and happily spending time with her new family at Senyu Home. She is always polite and is willing to help others. She still loves to cuddle up to her big sister Huahua.
Yezhen’s Talents
Yezhen is speaking up more and is making good progress with her studies. Her teacher often praises her. This year in mathematics she learnt to add and subtract within a thousand.
Her hobbies include singing and playing the lute. She is in the school choir and participates in lute recitals, both at school and also externally. Yezhen’s caregivers are all very supportive of her and even took her to music lessons during the school holidays so that she could continue to develop her talent.
Yezhen dreams that she will be able to attend university when she is older. For now, she wants to improve the speed of her reading and writing in braille. Her goal is to be able to read 70 syllables in one minute and write 90 squares in 3 minutes!
Bright Young Star: Lu
Community-based Group Home for Boys
Arriving at ICC
When Lu arrived at ICC’s Community Group Homes last year, it took a bit of time for him to adjust to his new environment. He had been living at the government welfare centre for many years, and moving to a new home can be very stressful for a child who has experienced abandonment. But after a lot of patience and guidance from his caregivers, who would make every effort to interact with him, Lu slowly opened up to his new ICC family.
“We saw many changes in him since his arrival last year. He’s no longer quarrelling with his brothers and sisters. He now does his house chores on time and keeps his room tidy. Lu has also made significant progress with his studies.” says one of his caregivers.
Lu’s Achievements
As the 14-year-old settles in with his new family, he is now doing very well at school. In the 2019-2020 academic year, Lu was commended by his school as an outstanding student leader! Lu hopes to graduate elementary school with honours. Like most young men his age, Lu enjoys playing computer games. He also loves painting and sports.
He recently won the gold medal for his drawing of “Girl Magician” in the 18th Youth Calligraphy Competition for Young Artists. At the Changsha Special Education School’s Sports Culture Festival, Lu finished first in the men’s 25-metre dash! He also came first in the men’s juvenile softball competition.
Lu wants to be a painting teacher. We hope to provide Lu with more opportunities to visit exhibitions and broaden his horizons as he continues to develop his painting skills.
We are thankful for our friends around the world who have been providing constant support to ICC’s young people so they can achieve their God-given potential.
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