Xu Qin

Children at Wanwan nursing house joins a running activity.[photo/china.org.cn]

Recommended by: Zhejiang Disabled Persons’ Federation

Xu Qin is the manager of a nursing house for children and youth with mental disabilities in Hangzhou. Her facility currently cares for 13 people, including her 23-year-old son Hong Yi.

Wanwan nursing house has a small library.[photo/china.org.cn]

Hong Yi hurt his brain after falling down from his bed in 1991, when he was only 18 months old. Xu Qin did not give up on saving her son, even though she realized that he may never recover to a normal state.

Xu Qin decided to resign from her job and start her own business in order to make more money to raise her son.

Xu became involved in sales, which supported her for two years. She became the agent in Zhejiang province for a glue factory founded in 1996. She didn’t imagine that it would become the best-selling brand in the Chinese glue industry after a decade. Xu was responsible for 10 percent of its sales every year, which brought her considerable revenue.

Children at Wanwan nursing house dress up for performance.[photo/china.org.cn]

Xu has been investing in real estate since 2000, which helped her gain more wealth. “I never risk my money on stocks because I need to save it for Hong Yi”, said Xu.

Hong yi went to Yanglingzi special school in Hangzhou for 11 years. In 2009, Hong finally graduated from the school. But for Xu and other parents of the students at the school, it was a sad moment.

“The kids will become less and less intelligent if they leave school,” said Xu, “once they leave that special environment, they start to lose their abilities”.

In order to help these children improve, Xu Qin decided to start a nursing house on her own. In 2011, the Wanwan nursing house was officially registered.

The nursing house costs 30,000 to 45,000 dollars every year, all of which Xu Qin pays. There are now five teachers, one caretaker, and 13 children at Wanwan nursing house.

There are 16,000 people with mental disabilities in Hangzhou, 10 percent of the city’s total. About 900 of them are receiving education at school.

“The nursing house can take 30 children at most. I hope parents will start their own nursing houses and help more children with mental disabilities.”