Wu Miaochun: A “community heroine”
In Lianhuabei Community, Futian District, Shenzhen Municipality, Wu Miaochun is hailed as a wheelchair-based community leader. Although she is confined to a wheelchair, she leads community residents to do morning exercises every day. Wu Miaochun has two titles. One is head of the community rehabilitation centre, and the other is leader of the disabled volunteer team. Led by her principle of “the disabled helping the disabled”, everyone works together to build a welcoming environment for the 60 plus disabled friends and their families in the community. In the meantime, they also serve the community and extend their thanks to society.
In 1980,Wuhad just passed the college entrance examination and was freshly enrolled in medical school. However, she became paralyzed after suffering a sudden high fever and was diagnosed with “polyradiculitis”. Tortured by disease and deprived of schooling, she slowly regained her confidence after medical treatment.
In 2001,the OUC Disabled School of Shenzhen RTVU cooperated with Shenzhen Disabled Persons’ Federation and took the lead in offering a new distance education junior college class. Wu Miaochun couldn’t help but feel excited when she heard the news. She enthusiastically applied and was lucky enough to be one of the first students in the e-commerce class, which made it possible for her to fulfill her dream of attending university. Over the course of three years of distance learning, she studied hard. She passed the examinations for all 16 courses and was honored with the titles of “excellent graduate” and “excellent graduation thesis award”.
Wu regards the centre as her home, and the disabled friends as her relatives. For 18 years, she has never asked for a day of leave.She has been visited by more than 10,000 disabled people and solved over 200 problems of varying degrees of severity.She has also hosted round-table meetings and get-togethers by motivating the enterprises and individuals to assist the disabled, and held birthday parties for the disabled in the centre, on more than 200 occasions.She has organized over 50 visits to scenic spots all over Shenzhen for the disabled community.Finally, she has provided assistance and guidance on rehabilitation exercises and functional improvements for the disabled, the results of which can be seen in more than 100 people.
Lianhuabei Community Rehabilitation Centre, which Wu Miaochun has carefully nurtured, was honored with the titles“Shenzhen Demonstration Community Rehabilitation Centre” and “Home for the Disabled” by the Disabled Work Coordination Commission of Shenzhen People’s Government from 1999 to 2002. It was also named“National Advanced Community of Work for Disabled People” in 2005. Wu herself was honored as an “Advanced Worker” and “Self-Improvement Model” by Shenzhen and Futian Disabled Person’s Federations between 1998 and 2012. She was selected as one of the “Top 10 Outstanding Youths” in Futian District in 2001 and in 2004 she was named a“Civilized Citizen”Role Model. She also joined the Communist Party of China in the same year.In 2013, she participated in CCTV’s “Community Hero”project and won RMB 250,000 of public welfare funds to purchase barrier free buses for friends with disabilities, and was awarded the title “Top 10 Self-Improvement Disabled Star” in Futian District.