Changing Your Mind–Interview with Weina Meng on Working Problems of Intellectually Disabled People
Speaking of their employment situation, there are always loopholes in the system. Though the policy stipulates that at 1.5% of positions in a state-owned company should be given to disabled people, few companies are, if any, willing to take in the mentally disabled. A covert agreement is reached between companies and parents of the mentally disabled that their kids can be registered as an employee but cannot work there. So the parents get a promised welfare for their children while the company gets off a policy burden.
31, Da Shizuo Hutong
Driving along a maze of zigzagging lanes, the 810 Bus led its passengers into Da Shizuo Hutong, a tranquil pathway stitching Beihai Park to the west with Jingshan Park to the east. The Hutong, now a place of interest, was packed with visitors, and brand-new scarlet manpower three-wheeled carts, thanks to the Olympic Games.
Deep into the Hutong sits Beijing Huiling Community Centre for Mentally Disabled (shortly as Beijing Huiling). It was a traditional courtyard with a taste of simplicity and antiquity. A middle-aged man chatting around something was obviously expecting us. Wei Zhang, as he called himself, told us that he was a volunteer at Huiling and that Ms Weina Meng was arriving soon. A couple of minutes later Ms Meng showed up. “I’m not late, am I?” she mocked with a charming beam. One of her disabled friends served us some tea.
Back to 1986 Guangzhou Zhiling Special School, Beijing Huiling’s predecessor, was founded as the first private school of its kind in China. Then in April 2000 Beijing Huiling was officially registered. For the past 22 years, Ms Meng has been struggling to form a correct public understanding of mental disability, and to earn equal chances for this group of people in social life. Job opportunity is such a chance to fight for in the first place.
Quota is Not the Answer to the Question
NPOmedia: As far as you know, how many intellectually disabled people are there in China? And how about their employment situation?
Meng: There are official statistics to track. Even in a most conservative estimate, the mentally disabled people amount to 1% of our population. That is over ten million.
Speaking of their employment situation, there are always loopholes in the system. Though the policy stipulates that at 1.5% of positions in a state-owned company should be given to disabled people, few companies are, if any, willing to take in the mentally disabled. A covert agreement is reached between companies and parents of the mentally disabled that their kids can be registered as an employee but cannot work there. So the parents get a promised welfare for their children while the company gets off a policy burden.
However, this seemingly concord may backfire, which undermines the efforts to encourage the kids back into society.
Change Your Mind before Changing Their Life
NPOmedia: What are the factors that keep down the employment of mentally disabled people?
Meng: The government’s working standard for mentally disabled people is to a large degree flawed. Its definition of employment narrowed down to working in factories looks pale and off the mark given the unique condition of mentally disabled people. With that, the policies tend to channel major resources to NGOs registered under the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, the overly highlighted focus on hardware condition to gauge an NGO is hampering the effort to boost working rate of the mentally disabled. For NGOs like Huiling, which play a none-the-less significant role in gathering and helping mentally disabled people, government funding is all but an illusion. In this sense, a reshuffle of resource distribution is in demand to balance towards private NGOs.
Another deterrence is the parents’ favour of social welfare but indifference to the kids’ mental demands. Look at the kids in our courtyard. They are happy about what they are doing. They fulfil themselves by doing something, rather than being boxed in an alien world.
The third factor that plays a negative role is their difference from ordinary people and inadequate communication with the public. The consequence is their image broadly held as a group of people highly dependent, unsociable, and incomprehensible. A public image like this is awful enough to freak out any company.
Open Community is the Key
NPOmedia: What is your experience in increasing the employment of mentally disabled people?
Meng: First, we hope the government, the parents and the whole society could have a new look at mentally disabled people, respecting their needs as human existence.
Specifically in practice, Huiling turned to a community model. The courtyard we rent charges high. But considering its facility and functionality, it’s worth the money. The kids learn English, drawing, handicraft, cooking ,performing and any other skill they may pick up. More important than the skill they learn is the pride they take in being themselves.
Location is the priority factor in choosing our workplace. For example, Beijing Huiling and Xi’an Huiling are both located in tourist spot. We choose this courtyard because it provides a platform for the kids to understand Beijing’s food and folk culture, and to serve tourists with what they learn here. Our service such as reception and performance is faring well. We had several groups of visitors just a couple of days ago.
At the close of the interview, Wei Zhang showed us around their painting room, handicraft room and office room. The paintings and handiwork out of the kids’ hands look as pure and simple as their creators. “All the works are for sale. Half of the income will go to our kids as a reward for their hard work,” explained Zhang.
