Empathy drives blind man to help other disabled people
In several months, 59-year-old Qi Weiguang will retire from his job. Though visually impaired, he has been a professional aide to the disabled in Changqiao Subdistrict, Shanghai’s Xuhui District, for 17 years.
Retirement is often synonymous with relaxation, but Qi doesn’t feel particularly relieved or eager to start a new and more relaxed life. He knows there are still many people who need his help.
Having been blind for around four decades with only little light sensation left, Qi knows more than most how challenging it is for visually impaired people to step out of their homes and have a social life. He has adapted well to a life “in the dark.” In fact, he doesn’t even need a walking stick when going to familiar places.
At his neighborhood committee office, he’s often buried in mobile phone alerts and messages, which keep him updated on his work. His phone number is posted on the door so people can contact him whenever necessary.
The problems Qi helps to solve may sound a little trivial — a person needs some legal help; another needs extra medical care; a blind person needs to learn how to use a walking stick more safely and efficiently — but they are vital to the daily lives of more than 100 disabled people in the neighborhood.
Qi’s latest project is to distribute a new type of thermometer that provides blind people in the community with voice broadcasts, and informs disabled people when and where to catch a neighborhood bus to take them for COVID-19 vaccinations.
“Sometimes you have to visit disabled people to see what they need rather than waiting for them to call for help,” he said. “So before coming to the office to start my daily work, I often detour to call on some people.”
A thank-you banner on a wall in Qi’s office tells a typical story of his work. The banner, sent by the family of a disabled man, praises Qi as “dedicated, kind and caring.”
“This is a difficult case I dealt with,” he said. “It involved a senior with a leg disability who needed to go to hospital to get his situation evaluated, but he was so heavy that none of his family members could move him around, so they turned to me.”
Qi contacted professionals to set up a temporary lifter on the staircases in the man’s apartment building, who managed to move him from his apartment.
And that’s not the end. Two years later, the man fell over at home and was no longer able to take care of himself. His family wanted to send him to a seniors’ home but couldn’t find one available. They again turned to Qi, who contacted several institutes, and finally found one that had spare beds and wasn’t far from the man’s home.
“The family believed the issue wouldn’t have been settled were it not for my help, so they sent me a banner,” Qi said. “That warmed my heart.”
His empathy toward disabled people primarily comes from his own experiences. In 1979, during a physical examination before college entrance exam, Qi was found to have an incurable retina disease called retinal pigment degeneration.
“Before I was diagnosed, I thought I just had nearsightedness, but somehow wearing glasses didn’t work for me,” he said.
The disease gradually deprives people of their eyesight, from night blindness to vision-field defects and eventually complete blindness.
Because of the disease, Qi was declined by his dream university and had to enter a vocational school instead. After graduation, he worked as a bench worker in a factory and later a warehouse keeper.
In 1996, he joined the Communist Party of China.
“I joined the Party because I believed I could get in touch with more outstanding people and improve myself,” he said. “And in fact, I’ve learned from many Party members over the years. They never complain about troubles and hardships at work, and always put others before themselves. This is what I think the most precious spirit of being a CPC member.”
Seventeen years ago, Qi’s employer moved to the suburbs, and out of safety concerns he left his post and joined the
Changqiao Subdistrict neighborhood committee.
Before long, Qi met Han Ying, a young woman who lost her eyesight to disease and had to give up her college education, just like he did when he was young.
“I met Han during a computer training session for blind people,” he said. “She told me she very much wanted to finish her education, but there was no precedent for blind people to be admitted to a college in Shanghai.”
Qi decided to help her. He tried various channels, but every reply he received said that admitting a blind student to college was highly improbable. One day, the mayor at the time was being interviewed on the radio, so Qi called the station.
His call was put through and Qi told the mayor about Han’s situation, which concerned the mayor. Eventually, Han became the first blind student to attend college in Shanghai through self-study examinations.
Han has become director of the Shanghai Voice of Light Audio Description Culture Development Center, an institution that makes barrier-free movies for visually impaired people. She still remembers how much Qi helped her.
“I can never compliment Qi enough,” she said. “Anyone receiving his help knows how caring he is. For one thing,
he pays a lot of attention to details. When he calls on disabled people, he always takes out their trash on his way out. You can see what a good person he is from this random act of kindness.”
Qi says his greatest happiness in life is to learn something new that can help others. It’s never easy for visually impaired people to study, as they can learn only from listening to the television, radio and the screens of their smartphones.
“Of course it’s difficult for me as a visually impaired person to do all this work, because I can’t read,” he said. “I have to remember everything I hear, but I still feel happy that I can do something for others. Also, maybe not many people care but there are actually many hotlines still running in the city, and I actually get a lot of information from them.”
Qi will continue his work as a volunteer after retirement, as there are still many obstacles for disabled people, especially the visually impaired.
“For instance, a bus stop usually serves several different routes, but there’s no broadcast at the stop and blind people don’t know if the upcoming bus is the one they need to take,” he said. “There’s still a lot of misunderstanding about guide dogs, and the footpaths for the blind are often occupied.”