Our Work In Qinghai

Qinghai is one of China's poorest provinces - ranked 27th out of 34 on the Human Development Index. Its geographic location, harsh weather conditions, high altitude and poor infrastructure are hindrances to further development.

Christian Action began working in Qinghai because we found orphaned and abandoned children were living in Welfare Centres, sharing quarters with the elderly and psychiatric patients, with no childcare facilities or therapeutic stimulation. Disabled children received no special care.

Qinghai Civil Administration Bureau recognized the need, and asked us to set up and co-manage with them the first ever dedicated Children's Home in Qinghai. We opened Xining Children's Home in 1998.

In Qinghai, an unusually high number of newborns suffer from birth defects. Yet there were no resources to help parents deal with their child's disabilities. This lack of help to parents of disabled children, coupled with the stigma attached to disability, was the reason why so many of the disabled children in our care had been found abandoned by their birth parents.

In 2007 Christian Action opened the first ever children's Rehabilitation Centre in Qinghai to serve children from the local community as well as those in the Home. At the same time we work hard to find foster placements for the children, helping them become better accepted in society.