Editor's note: Located on the west bank of the Huanhe River in Weifang City, Shandong Province, Yang Shouwei is the vice president here, and the winner of the "National Model Worker", "National May Day Labor Medal", "National March 8th Red Flag Bearer", "China's Most Beautiful Social Worker", "National Outstanding Communist Party Member", and deputy to the 18th and 19th National Congresses of the Communist Party of China.
The bells of the 2022 New Year are ringing. This is the 22nd year that Yang Shouwei, 51-year-old vice president of the Weifang Children's Welfare Institute in Shandong Province, has been nursing orphans and abandoned children without stopping.
22 years, 1029 children, time is not a cold number, it faithfully records the number of children raised by Yang Shouwei, these are special but still thriving life.
The care of orphaned children is not simple, and what urges Yang Shouwei to keep moving forward is the "mother" of the children's voice, and what she has to do is to owe the fate to the child and try her best to make compensation.
"I feel happy to be needed by my children." Looking back on these years, Yang Shouwei said frankly: "I actually stained the light of my children, and I only have such an honor because I am their 'mother'." ”
Every morning at 7 o'clock, Yang Shouwei appeared on time, and after checking the children's situation, she could do other work with peace of mind. In the corridor, her forward figure is like a flame, warming and illuminating the future of orphaned children.
Each finger is held tightly by a small hand
"It's another form of hug"
For Yang Shouwei, whether she is in the lecture hall or facing the interview camera, when talking about the children in the welfare home, she always can't help but cry.
At that moment, missing, was an emotion she couldn't digest.
There was reluctance in these tears, but also mixed with joy. That was the softest part of Yang Shouwei's heart, and whenever she took it out to tell, she relived it. Every child, from the moment she was admitted to the hospital, their voice and appearance are deeply engraved in her memory.
Yang Shouwei entered the Weifang Children's Welfare Institute at the age of 29, and before that, she never thought that she would have the next life experience.
It was March 2000, And Yang Shouwei reported to the welfare home on his first day, "Just to see the children, where can it be difficult?" By then she was already a mother, "maybe those children are as cute as my daughters." ”
But the picture quickly captured by her eyes made her can't help but take a few steps back, this shock and depression, so that she did not return to God at once - the repetition rate of more than 90%, cleft lip and palate, cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus, atresia, congenital heart disease, hand and foot deformities, etc., and even syphilis, hepatitis A, hepatitis B and other infectious diseases.
Without waiting for Yang Shouwei to ease up, she took the child handed over by her colleague with both hands and held it in her arms. Gradually, she learned the stories behind the children, "After all, they are innocent little beings, and I think they are cute." ”
Yang Shouwei explained that she was not out of compassion. After taking the children, she didn't even have time to back off, "Feeding them, changing diapers, bathing, cleaning, has been busy." ”
Once busy, it has been busy for 22 years.
"I feel happy to be needed by them." Yang Shouwei said that children will smile at you every day, they are particularly eager for the love of others, she can continue to work, take care of them, feel that it is a responsibility.
Love is mutual, one sends out and the other receives. In the welfare home, as long as Yang Shouwei appears next to the children, they will rush to the front and call "mother", until each small hand can grasp one of Yang Shouwei's fingers, and the face shows a satisfied expression.
"I have only one embrace, and the children want to be close to me, pulling my fingers, which is another form of hug." 」 Yang Shouwei said that in the family, a child is the heart of adults, grandparents and parents are rushing to hold the child, but the children in the welfare home, is not able to feel so much love, later, in the work, every child is required to be held at least 7 times. "Here, hopefully each of them gets an average amount of love."
For this sound mom
"I don't allow my children to be seen as different"
Yang Shouwei has prayed countless times for these children who have been abandoned by their parents. When she took one small hand after another and held these little "heart meat" and "little cotton jacket" in her arms, her heart immediately softened; no matter how tired the work, as long as she heard the children clinging to her and shouting "Mother", everything was relieved.
From being called "aunt" to "mother", Yang Shouwei feels that this is not only a change in title, but also a change in identity.
"At first, the children called auntie, but around 2006, they became calling their mothers." Yang Shouwei explained, "Because I want to be the closest person to my child, and for my child, the closest person is my mother." ”
It is also for this voice "mother", Yang Shouwei does not allow children to be seen as different, what she has to do is to do her best, is to compensate for the debt of fate. "Let them have the right to live a normal life, live a healthy and dignified life."
Yang Shouwei's work diary records this series of figures: 22 years, 1029 children, of which 467 children returned to their families under the meticulous care of the staff.
In the past 22 years, the one who has made her most distressed by these children is Fang Xiaoyu.
It was a dozen years ago, a –10°C winter, and there was a biting cold in the air.
When he first saw Xiaoyu, Yang Shouwei's heart was like being pulled: the child's eyelids were turned outward, the eyeballs were red, and almost every inch of skin on the whole body was cracked up, one by one, like fish scales, and there was blood everywhere underneath, densely packed, and many of them were also pus, and the blood and pus were mixed together, emitting a choking smell.
The staff of the welfare home judged that Xiaoyu was two or three years old at that time. But she never spoke, and the dander on her body fell off so badly that she even stretched out her arms and legs, and even the flesh of the belt made the child miserable. The doctor said that Xiaoyu had a rare ichthyosis that could not be cured, but could be alleviated through careful care.
Checking the information, but did not find a specific nursing method, but looking at such Xiaoyu, Yang Shouwei could not bear it, she began to grope on her own: diligently give Xiaoyu a bath, holding warm water, sprinkling on the body little by little, so that the skin gradually adapts to the stimulation brought by warm water; apply medicine 3 times a day, all cracked skin, must be gently applied to; in order to avoid floating "scales" pulling the skin, it must be cut off as soon as possible...
After more than a year of meticulous care, the wounds on Xiaoyu's body began to heal, the fish-scaled skin gradually fell off, and many parts of the body had a normal skin color.
One day, Yang Shouwei was giving Xiaoyu a bath, when she suddenly looked up and shouted, "Mom! Yang Shouwei was suddenly stunned, it turned out that this child could speak, and this "mother" made Yang Shouwei feel that the previous efforts were not in vain.
Yang Shouwei has contacted Jinan, Beijing and other hospitals for Xiaoyu treatment, with the improvement of physical condition, Xiaoyu learned to sing and dance, the personality became cheerful, after living in a welfare home for 8 years, was adopted by a loving family.
Touching the photos sent by Xiaoyu's adoptive parents, Yang Shouwei could not suppress the tears of missing, and later because he missed his children too much, he forced himself not to look at the photos anymore.
Hang up the phone of her feverish daughter
"The children of the welfare home are only me"
Encountering difficulties, facing difficulties head-on, and finding solutions - this is the nursing challenge that Yang Shouwei and his colleagues have faced for many years. And when the child's physical condition improves and can be adopted, the "mothers" will face separation.
This "separation" was "looped" during Yang Shouwei's 22 years of work.
When he took the baby girl sent by the 110 police, the note on the small quilt made Yang Shouwei also can't help but take a few steps back: positive for AIDS antibodies. This is the fifth day of the first lunar month in 2010, it is the Spring Festival holiday, Yang Shouwei was called back to the welfare home by a phone call from a colleague. "She is a life, as long as she is sent to a welfare home, she is my child." Yang Shouwei took the initiative to take on the "burden" of nursing her.
In order to reassure other colleagues, but also to better care. Yang Shouwei sent an e-mail to Ma Lang, MD of the United Nations Children's Fund for Help. Ma Lang replied that the girl is positive for antibodies caused by mother-to-child transmission, unlike real AIDS patients, as long as they are well protected, there will be no risk of infection, and if carefully cared for and treated, it is possible to turn negative.
Under the meticulous care of Yang Shouwei, a miracle really happened! When the girl was 8 months old, the results of the physical examination showed that the antibodies turned negative; subsequently, 4 consecutive physical examinations, all of which were negative. At the age of 3, she was successfully adopted.
Over the years, there have been a number of antibody-positive children such as syphilis and AIDS in the welfare home, and the vast majority of them have returned to normal under the careful care of the nursing staff mothers.
In fact, for these children with congenital diseases, the effect of surgical treatment is the best. But before the operation, the child must have a good physique. "The better you raise your child, the greater the probability of successful surgery." Yang Shouwei remembered the doctor's words.
After care, a child who meets the surgical standards can have surgery. The bench across the wall from the surgical gate records Yang Shouwei's torturous waiting. She prayed for the children. "Get well, when you're ready, you'll find your mother... Every time she thought of this, her tears "broke the embankment" again.
Sometimes, some children cry after surgery, in order to comfort the child, Yang Shouwei once held a child for three days and three nights, while at the same time, her daughter at home was also feverish, crying and calling her mother.
Yang Shouwei was fierce and hung up his daughter's phone. "I am relieved that my daughter has other adults at home to take care of me, but these children, they are only me."
There is the joy of rebirth, there is also the haze of death, together with 1029 smiles, which constitute yang Shouwei's life scale for 22 years.
In 2010, the Weifang Children's Welfare Institute moved, a round umbrella-shaped building that embodies the deep love of the builders. The whole hospital was immersed in excitement, and so was Yang Shouwei. But in the dead of night, she remembered that no matter how hard she tried, she still couldn't keep her little life, and those children couldn't wait for such good medical conditions...
Innovative approach to care
"Make them live more comfortably"
In addition to guarding life and health, more often, Yang Shouwei told everyone in an almost stubborn way: these mutilated small bodies are also dignified.
"There are more special children at work, and each child's condition is different and requires specific nursing methods." Yang Shouwei said. She not only demanded herself in this way, but also influenced the people around her by example.
"Take care of the children's food and drink, so that they can live more comfortably." Under the infection of Yang Shouwei, other "mothers" in the welfare home also quickly entered the state. Kneel to apply medicine to the child, crouch down to take pictures of the child, feed the child to have eye contact, hug each child at least 7 times a day... Not only that, Yang Shouwei also put forward the concept of "getting out of bed", taking these children who can't walk, can't sit or even turn over, get off the bed, touch the floor mat, and take them outside to feel the warm sun.
In Yang Shouwei's eyes, every child is special, and she is more willing to make changes for children than to admit their "flaws". For example, she and her colleagues designed bathing vehicles to facilitate the bathing of children with cerebral palsy, designed straw bottles for children with cleft lip and palate, sewed suitable shoes and socks for children after foot surgery...
"We pay more attention to the psychological situation of the children, they are very lively." Yang Shouwei said that the clothes worn by the children here are not repeated, "I don't want them to look like they are carved out of a mold, I hope they have their own personalities." "In the activity room, a child who was doing handicrafts saw the reporter taking pictures in the corridor and ran over to open the window to wave to everyone. Just as Yang Shouwei expected, the children are cheerful and smiley.
From the blank basic knowledge of professional nursing, to the current qualifications of orphaned child nurses, senior nursery teachers, rehabilitation nurses, etc., Yang Shouwei's learning ability has set a benchmark for young nursing mothers, and Yang Shouwei has always firmly believed that as long as there is innovation, children will benefit.
A "Yang Shouwei" is not enough
"The only thing that can define me is my mother"
The Weifang Children's Welfare Institute has an unwritten rule: after the child is adopted, in addition to visiting the parents, try not to contact the child.
It is happy to find a home for the child, but every time he sends the child away, Yang Shouwei is always unwilling. A few days ago, the welfare home found a new home for a child. Yang Shouwei sent the child to the door of the welfare home, and the child happily shook hands with his mother. "At that time, I thought it would be okay for this kid to go, and he certainly wouldn't give up on us." However, when the child was carried to the car, he turned back to Yang Shouwei and said, "Mother Yang hugged me." "Speaking of this, Yang Shouwei's eyes are red." There are many times a year when this scene is very tangled. But we want every child to return to the family and have a complete home. ”
Yang Shouwei said that some of the children she raised have already gone to college and will often send her WeChat chats. "He'll tell me I'm going to graduate school this year." Yang Shouwei was happy for him and sent him a red envelope, "He doesn't want it, saying that the living expenses are enough, and he is particularly sensible." ”
The children returned to the welfare home to see Yang Shouwei after school, and they all hugged him. "They're going to be so happy, they're going to be spoiled, let me give it a hug." Yang Shouwei believes that children feel enough love to express love, "They are all very kind." ”
In the past 22 years, more "Yang Shouwei" has grown up in welfare homes. A young team of 34 nursing mothers practiced their skills, and they were "Yang Shouwei" one by one, passing on the care for orphaned children bit by bit. And Yang Shouwei's family has not dragged her hind legs, especially when she was a child, she cried and shouted at her mother' daughter, as she grew up, she began to understand her mother, and now often hangs "my younger brothers and sisters" on her lips, and has time to come to the welfare home to do volunteer work.
Over the years, Yang Shouwei has often been asked such words. "In the face of sick and disabled children for many years, are you depressed?" "You owe your family too much, do you regret it?" Faced with these questions, Yang Shouwei never answered or explained.
"In the welfare home, I am surrounded by happiness every day." Yang Shouwei said that his belief is to be a good "mother" of these children.
"No matter where I go, no matter when, the only thing that can define me is the word 'mother'."
New Yellow River Reporter: Xue Dong Editor: Zhao Shanshan