What they say

Editor's Note: Ahead of this year’s National Disability Day, which fell on Sunday, the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee invited four Party members with disabilities to share their stories at a news conference in Beijing on Friday.

If the poor wish to escape poverty, they must first become strong psychologically. When my sheep-raising cooperative was launched, I encouraged my fellow villagers to follow suit. At first, they refused, saying it was even hard for able-bodied people to keep livestock alive, let alone a disabled farmer like me. They said I could not even look after myself well. But because I’m a Party member, I didn’t give up.

Liu Ruyuan, head of a rural cooperative in Bobai county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, who lost his right hand at age 16 In 2008, I quit my job and set up a clinic. The technicians on my team were all blind. Many blind people came to me for jobs, and I accepted as many as I could. I taught them the techniques for free and offered them free accommodation. I asked them to practice on my body, which usually causes bruises. But that is the only way for me to quickly detect errors. Zhu Lihua, a blind massage technician who owns a massage parlor in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province

At the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, I received a phone call from a local hospital asking if I was willing to work as a volunteer barber in its quarantined wards. I immediately agreed. I led a team of volunteers giving haircuts to elderly patients, some of whom were bedridden. After his hair was done, one old man pointed to a cabinet loaded with gifts sent by his children, and asked us to take some away. It then dawned on me that what they needed at the time was care and company, rather than gifts.

Song Zhongqiao, a volunteer from Wuhan, Hubei province, who has a deformed right leg I can calmly tell you that my father is physically disabled, my mother has a burned face, my wife is intellectually disabled, and I am an amputee. But it hurts to tell that my son has autism. He was diagnosed when he was 2 years old, and that has plunged me into a deep sense of pain and guilt. But I cannot be defeated by fate. I know I have to stand up to support this family. I have worked four shifts a day, repairing home appliances during the day and working as a Didi driver at night.

Tang Junjie, a community volunteer in Changsha, Hunan province, who uses prosthetic legs