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guestHelping Hands Volunteer Association (HHVA) has been operating for approximately 9 months. HHVA is registered under Chinese law as an NGO with the Bureau of Civil Affairs in Guilin. The original legal entity; Helping Hands Charity commenced in 2004 was closed in 2006 and replaced by HHVA whose constitution is better suited to meet the needs of the work that has evolved
HHVA is managed by a committee of 6. These positions are voluntary.
The Goals of HHVA are:-
To assist orphans in the flowing ways:-
1. Medical assistance or equipment.
It is a priority to help those children that require medical procedures that are beyond the capacity of their carers.
2. To supply funds for special assistance for children with special needs e.g.: physically or mentally impaired.
3. To help with education and vocational training for disadvantaged young people.
4. To assist in training of local teachers/staff who teach/care for children with disabilities.
To facilitate contact between foreign medical professionals and local medical professionals to enable the transfer of the latest technology and skills.
To encourage compassion and a spirit of generosity towards young people who are in need.
Current projects:-
These programs are:-
1. The House of Love (HoL) residential care facility for children with cerebral palsy at the Guilin Social Welfare Institute. HoL employs 10 carers, I supervisor, I teacher and 1 administrator. The unit currently houses thirteen children but we are able to add to this number as children with CP present at the SWI. The children receive a basic education depending on their ability. The children receive physical therapy from Iris Lohan, a German therapist who volunteers with our organization. The existence of the HoL, together with therapy that the children have received, has made a significant difference to their quality of life.
2. Ponseti Clubfoot Program. Two seminars were held in Guilin to introduce the Ponseti Method of Clubfoot Management, to China in May 2004. During these seminars, we were able to train more that 40 Health Care professionals from several provinces, in this method.
Clubfoot is the largest single occurring limb deformity in the world today, with 1 in 1000 children worldwide, being born with this problem. The occurrence of clubfoot is not limited to developing countries. The sheer size of the population in China will ensure that the occurrence of clubfoot is significant.
The reasons for the success of this method of treatment are:-
The technique can be taught to a variety of health workers, not just doctors.
The technique can be successfully taught in a short time.
The treatment is inexpensive, and therefore accessible to almost everybody.
It has a very high success rate.
Children affected by clubfoot, travel to Guilin from other parts of China to be treated. The children are placed in a foster care program administered by HHVA during the treatment process, which can take up to six months.
The children are treated by health workers from the Guilin SWI, under the supervision of physical therapist Iris Lohan, who has had has extensive training in the Ponseti Method treatment.
HHVA wishes to provide training to as many local health care professionals as possible, to enable the spread of this technique as quickly as possible, while maintaining the integrity of the training.
3. Other training. Staff and volunteers from HHVA regular hold training courses for foster parents and staff,
