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LO WEI

The room was full of small children, but the only sound was that of a fly buzzing.
That is an image from a mainland orphanage that Carmen Lau Ka-man will never forget.
Instead of running around, playing and shouting, the children lay silently in their cots.
She especially remembers a boy of about six who, despite his age, was still in a cot. "I felt very sad being a mother myself to see such a big child being left alone in a crib all day," said Lau, director of development in Asia for Half the Sky Foundation.
"Children should be running around playing and exploring the world. I was sad to see such emptiness in his eyes."
She picked up a toy and tried to play with the boy, but he would not look at her.
"He finally started to look at me only after I had spent 15 minutes with him. There was no eye contact in the beginning," she said. "Due to a lack of attentive care for a long time, a lot of children living in institutions have developmental delays. It becomes a poverty trap for them."
The orphanage became one of 51 government centres on the mainland for which the foundation provides trained local nannies to bring motherly care to children from newborns to two-year-olds. It has helped more than 100,000 children since 2000.
The children in the orphanages have mostly been abandoned in the streets, in hospitals or elsewhere.
About 95 per cent have special needs, such as heart or brain diseases, limb deformities or other disabilities.
With a ratio of one staff member to 15 or 20 children, the orphanages' own carers can do little more than clean and feed the children then put them back to bed, Lau said.
Each of the foundation's nannies is responsible for three to four children. They design activities based on their needs and have to submit progress reports to their supervisors.
"For example, for children who lack a sense of security, our nannies would try to hug them more," said Lau.
The nannies go to the institutions six days a week, staying from morning till afternoon, interacting with the children and giving them stimulation.
They look after the children until they reach three, when they enter the foundation's school programme and come under the care of teachers, or until they are adopted.
Operation Santa Claus, a charity campaign jointly organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK, is raising funds to employ and train 38 nannies for three institutions in Huangshi in Hubei province , Luoyang in Henan province and Qingyuan in Guangdong.
They will look after 118 babies. The three sites are remote and have no designated funding.
 

How you can give


		Donate online by credit card at osc.scmp.com
		 

		Donate at an ATM or at any HSBC branch (account number 502-676299-001 for SCMP Charities Ltd - Operation Santa Claus)
		 

		You can donate with a cheque payable to "SCMP Charities Ltd - Operation Santa Claus" and mail it to: Operation Santa Claus, Morning Post Centre, 22 Dai Fat Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate, New Territories
		 

		Donations of HK$100 or more are tax-deductible. If you would like a tax receipt, please send the completed donation form and original bank receipt, with your name, address and phone number, to the above address.

Please call 2680 8159 or e-mail osc@scmp.com with any inquiries, or visit us online at osc.scmp.com


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At an orphanage in Luoyang, little Hechuan, who has albinism, plays with Chen Baomei, a nanny trained and employed by Half the Sky Foundation. Photo: SCMP

News

Hong Kong

Children, many with special needs, thrive with attention - and some hugs - from trained nannies


The room was full of small children, but the only sound was that of a fly buzzing. That is an image from a mainland orphanage that Carmen Lau Ka-man will never forget. Instead of running around, playing and shouting, the children lay silently in their cots.
