Introduction

CARITAS Shanghai support and ensures that the orphans of Duan Min Orphanage, Shanxi and House of Love – Lanzhou Orphanage, Gansu receive the medical attention they need.

Critical cases are transported to Shanghai, where CARITAS volunteers stay with them through the entire treatment process to act as their advocates. Medical assistance ranges from reconstructive surgery for cleft palates to life-saving emergency procedures.

Click here to volunteer your support.

Duan Min Orphanage (DMO)

The Duan Min Orphanage (DMO) is a private charity organization that began in 1995.

It is located in one of the poorest counties of the province of Shanxi, a place with a high record of birth defects.

Disabled children are often abandoned soon after they were born, and many were found at the doorsteps of the orphanage, some on the highways, and a few, even, in garbage dump.

These children are found with birth defects like cleft pallet, orthopaedic deformities, heart defects, spinal bifida and some are suffering from severe cerebral palsy.

DMO respects all life, no matter how weak. They aim to give these children a better quality of life by providing a home, teaching self-care skills and help them discover their own talents.

They also placed them in foster care or arrange for their adoption into loving families, and provide onsite care for the severely brain damaged children.

Over the years, the orphanage had made significant improvements to their facility and the way they care for the children.

They established a rehabilitation programs for the cerebral palsy children, and provide colorful and stimulating activities for the kids. However in such a remote place, they are constantly facing challenges when come to seeking out urgent medical treatment for the children.

Gansu, Lanzhou Orphanage

“A House of Love” orphanage in Lanzhou, Gansu Province was established in 1994. Its main purpose is to provide a dignified and worthwhile place for abandoned children to live.

To date, A House of Love has adopted over 200 children. Of these, about 20 have passed away because of various diseases.

Approximately 170 of the orphans were successfully treated and have since been adopted by foster parents in Hebei, Henan, Shanxi and Gansu.

The remaining 17 orphans have varying levels of mental disabilities, blindness, paralysis, and dementia. The youngest child is 4 years old and the oldest being cared for is 24 years old.

In recent years, the home has also taken in a few elderly people – 3 men and 2 women – who have different levels of disability and are only able to perform light work. These elderly folk have no way to make a living and are fully dependent on the home to provide and care for them.

Want to be part of the Disabled Orphans Project? Click Here.

ARE YOU READY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Join the Circle of Love

Caritas Shanghai – Circle of Love provides love and care to the orphans who are in Shanghai for treatments and surgeries. This circle is formed by loving and passionate individuals who offer their love and time to the less fortunate children and making a difference in their lives.

These are the volunteer opportunities that you can participate in and you too can touch and make a diifference to a child’s life.

1. MEET AND ASSIST SERVICE

Whenever an orphan comes to Shanghai to seek medical care, we need volunteers to chaperone the orphan and caregiver.

*To meet and pick them from the airport or train station.
*To bring them to consult the doctors in the hospital.
*To send them back to the airport or train station when surgical treatment is done

2. HOSPITAL CARE SUPPORT

To provide support by giving your time to sit with the children when they are in the hospital. The Support Schedule is for 2 hours per session. During the 2 hours, you can read a book to them or play a game to cheer and delight the sick child.

3. PROVIDE PRE OR POST HOSPITAL STAY

Before and after the surgeries, we need families to host and attend to their pre- post hospital needs. You are expected to accompany the child to the hospital for medical check up/physio treatment. The pre and post hospital stay will be about 3 days and about a month respectively.

Please contact us if you are interested to offer your time for any of the above.