Wenchuan: Mission over, but volunteer chooses to stick around

Cai Sheng's time working with people disabled in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake was meant to end last year, but he was not ready to leave. So he refused.

The Hunan province native became a volunteer and then a project manager for the NGO Handicap International in Sichuan province's Mianzhu city after the disaster five years ago. He worked with the county hospital to develop rehabilitation services that were desperately needed by people disabled in the quake. He focused on paralyzed survivors.

Handicap International ended its project in Mianzhu last year. But instead of returning home, Cai stayed and registered his own NGO — You and Me Community — at the end of 2012.

"I want to stay with the disabled because they still need support, and they give me strength," the 30-year-old says. "They're strong and smart, and ready to help one another. We're good friends."

Those friendships have taken time to cultivate.

"It takes more patience to become friends with them," Cai says. "And it takes a disabled person months or years to accept they're disabled. So we continued to visit them to show our concern and respect. We help them escape the shadow of disability."

The beneficiaries, in turn, often contact Cai to ask about his personal life. "They encourage me to find a good girlfriend," he says, laughing.

Cai's work involves listening to people's problems and finding solutions. This requires everything from home modifications to advocacy.

The secret of success, Cai says, is that they not only work together face to face but also "heart to heart". Much of Cai's work is to nudge people to empower themselves.

"We believe they can help themselves, and some can lead others to enjoy development in new areas," he says. "We've confronted old and new challenges and frustrations but are inspired and encouraged by every little improvement."

One of the most stirring moments came when a group of people paralyzed in the quake prevented one of their members from killing his unfaithful wife.

"They talked him out of it," Cai recalls.

"He's happy now."

Helping people disabled in the temblor to overcome their challenges has also helped Cai overcome his own.

"I've learned to control my emotions," he says. "I used to cry when talking to people paralyzed by the quake. I've learned to focus on how to solve their problems, instead of the tragedy of their situations."

That has been made easier by seeing so many find joy in their lives over time. A recent survey by the hospital Cai works with found those paralyzed in the quake score about the same as able-bodied people on the happiness index.

Much of this has come from the rehabilitation offered by the hospital and NGOs.

"One woman in her 60s skipped her son's wedding to attend a group activity we organized," Cai recalls. "She said our event did more to boost her happiness and self-esteem. She brought two hens for everyone to eat."

Cai's involvement with the people disabled in the quake marked a sudden and unexpected departure from his career path. He became a volunteer a year before finishing his post-graduate degree in ecology and became a project manager a year later.

"My career choice has nothing to do with my major and pays much less," he says. "But it's worth it. I've learned more from this experience than I could in school."

This ranges from NGO administration and medical rehabilitation to becoming fluent in English.

He says he has learned from many mistakes. "When I'd just started, some of the paralyzed people would ask me if I thought they might walk again, and I couldn't tell them no," he says. "I quickly learned to instead help them accept reality and adapt to it."

And he has been overjoyed to see the people he has worked with adjust, he says.

"I cherish the progress they've made over the past five years," he says.

"I believe we can do more for people with disabilities and expand the social inclusion model. So I'm staying with these people."