Skills training helps put disabled people on the road to higher living standards

Li Ronghua used to stay indoors all day because she uses a wheelchair, and she was worried that people would stare at her.

The 38-year-old, from the southwestern province of Sichuan, said she has very high self-esteem, so she refused to be the subject of curiosity or pity. That self-esteem proved useful, though, because it drove her to overcome difficulties and start a career in knitting.

She earns about 2,000 yuan ($315) a month thanks to the skills she learned at a knitting training center in Hongshan, Langzhong City, Sichuan. Although the center was 8 kilometers from Li's home, she insisted on traveling there every day to gain new skills.

It was established by the city's disabled persons' federation in 2018 to train disabled people, especially those on low incomes. The center also helps to sell their goods, both online and offline.

After mastering many skills at the center, Li started working for a handicraft company run by local disabled people. It distributes knitting materials to more than 100 disabled people, who work at home, and then sells their products online.

Li now teaches knitting skills via the company's live broadcast platform. "My fans call me 'Teacher Li', which makes me feel a special sense of achievement," she said.

Her life was dismal before she became a teacher. She said her farmer parents were sick of their poverty-stricken lives, so they named her Ronghua — "wealth and prosperity" — to express their wish for a better lifestyle.

"However, fate played a big joke on them. I did not bring them wealth — instead, I ended up sitting in a wheelchair in my 30s," Li said.

After graduating from middle school, she went to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, to work odd jobs like other girls from her hometown.

During that time, she felt that something was wrong with the muscles in her legs, which gradually became atrophied. She was diagnosed with meningocele, a condition that affects the spine, and other ailments that caused problems in her legs. "The doctor told me that a bulge in my spinal cord had compressed a nerve, which affected my legs," she said.

In 2004, she had three spinal surgeries but remained paralyzed because she had missed the optimum time for treatment.

"I couldn't accept that I would never be able to stand up again. I was enveloped by disappointment and never left the house all year round. I refused to apply for a disability certificate because I always hoped I would recover one day," she said.

"Years later, my gloomy mood disappeared after people from the city's disabled persons' federation consoled me. They told me that I should focus on what I had and ignore what I didn't have, and that a little sapling can grow into a big tree with just a little sunshine. I took those words to heart and began to raise chickens for a living," she said.

In 2007, Li married and had a son. Her husband worked odd jobs to support the family, and Li also looked for a stable source of income to lend a hand.

When the training center opened in 2018, the federation's staff members immediately pressed her to enroll.

"Despite my inability to walk and my fear of being laughed at, I decided to give it a try," Li said. "I have always been competitive, so I believed I could master the skills, despite a few difficulties."

She got up at 6 am every day, and after preparing breakfast and sending her son to school, she traveled to the center.

"Learning made me happy as I saw my skills improve. My teacher, who is disabled, was patient and considerate in the way she explained things and showed me how to knit. I admired her ingenuity, and wanted to be like her — someone who contributes something valuable to society," she said.

After a little more than a month, Li had mastered many knitting techniques and was able to teach them to other people.

Last year, she rented a room in Langzhong for herself and her son, who attends middle school in the city.

"I want my son to study at the city's school, so I need to fight for my family. Having a job teaching knitting makes me feel more secure than ever," she said.

According to the federation, more than 300 low-income disabled people from the city have learned how to knit at such bases, and they use their skills to make a living.

By knitting pendants, dolls and woolen shoes for babies, they have each seen their monthly incomes rise by more than 1,000 yuan, it added.

(Source: China Daily)