Site tools

• home
• contact
• site map
• basket

The tea-tray boy

Mong Chen is 15 years old. He spends most of his time outdoors. Unlike most 15 year old urban Chinese, he is not at school. He has a job. This does not pay well – indeed, most of his money is handed over to his employer. Although he works mostly with people, he does not enjoy the interaction, and is certain that they do not. As a perk of his job, he has been provided with wheels. These sit on the bottom of a tea tray-sized board which he scoots around on from place to place.

You may have worked out that Chen is a beggar. He lost use of his legs when he was seven and contracted polio. It was at this point that he was contracted to work for Mr Yu. He was assigned a particular street. He gets most success from foreigners, and plenty of abuse from the Chinese.

Last week he met a kind foreign lady. Amazingly she spoke fluent Chinese. She invited him to come and live in a training facility where he could learn skills that would enable him to start and partner in a small business. He is afraid of running away from Mr Yu, and not quite sure how he would run anyway. Incredibly, the foreign lady has said she is willing to talk to Mr Yu and see if she could provide a way out.

Unfortunately, the training centre only has a limited number of places for people like Chen. The foreign lady spoke to Chen about the need for an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist, whatever one of those is. She says that the Chinese authorities are only slowly learning the need for post-operative and rehabilitative care so she probably needs to recruit a foreign volunteer.

She said she is praying for the right person or people to come. She needs someone who can speak Chinese and bring their skills and their emotions to help teenage boys and girls like Chen. She says that the Chinese authorities are only slowly learning the need for post-operative and rehabilitative care.

If you think this could be you, please contact china@omf.org.uk Or if you can think of a friend, tell them and get them to use the email address.