At noon that day, all thirty children woke up from their slumber, but they had not yet woken up, and one by one they came to the small courtyard, and the head of the kindergarten began the afternoon work.
She would distribute afternoon fruits and snacks to the children later in the day.
While waiting, some children sit quietly and some play together.
If you look closely, you will see that they are drooling, their eyes are confused, some of them are babbling but they don't know what to say, some can't express themselves, and some can't control their excretion.
This kind of emergency situation often occurs, and the head of the kindergarten is easy to follow and give the children poop.
The principal and teachers then began to teach the children how to communicate and collaborate.
They build blocks, watch videos, and some are even learning how to use the toilet themselves.
Its director, 49-year-old Huo Juan, is the founder of Daystar's Kindergarten for the Mentally Handicapped.
Since the opening of private kindergartens in April 2000, more than 200 young children have received rehabilitation training. Now she is the youngest child in the class and the best in the class. Most of these children come from rural and remote areas. They all have very good academic performance and good moral character. Some of them are the best. Some of them have mastered basic self-care skills and then returned home to recuperate, some have entered higher-level training schools in Chile, and some of them have been particularly successful in attending regular primary schools.
In order to open a Daystar Kindergarten for mentally handicapped children, Huo Juan actually has a bitter past.
The beautiful teacher opens a kindergarten for the "silly child"
In 1997, the 24-year-old gave birth to her son, Xiaofei.
As parents, they want their children to be smart, healthy, and lively.
Watching their children grow up, watching their daughters grow up, is the wish of all parents in the world.
However, the weather is unpredictable, XiaoFei.
At 9 months, he fell ill.
The husband took the child to the hospital and was told it was just a small cold.
Unexpectedly, the doctor diagnosed Xiaofei with congenital chromosomal variations, also known as Down syndrome.
This symptom is the leading cause of mental retardation in children.
Doctors have warned the couple not to expect a cure and to improve their intelligence only through step-by-step education and training.
This can only be the degree of self-care in life.
This is unbearable for any parent.
Although the doctor said that she did not expect medical treatment, as a mother, Huo Juan still took her son all over the country, went to see famous doctors, consulted a lot of medical skills, and she also met a large number of children similar to Xiaofei.
Faced with high training costs and long hours of work, some parents gave up and took their children home.
At this time, Huo Juan could not find a full-day school for her son Xiaofei, and even if she did, she could not afford to pay such a high fee.
Faced with the current predicament, Huo Juan decided to leave her alma mater for her son and build a full-day kindergarten for children like Xiaofei.
In April 2000, Huo Juan Kindergarten opened Daystar Kindergarten for Daystar Kindergarten for the Mentally Handicapped.
Daystar Kindergarten for the Mentally Handicapped is small but full of sunshine
In Changzhi City, Shanxi Province, Ms. Huo Juan created a suitable environment for her mentally handicapped son Xiaofei.
Here, shelters have also been found for children in the same predicament.
For more than a decade, Huo Juan and her students with intellectual disabilities have moved three times between cities and villages around Changzhi City.
In the end, after Huo Juan's unremitting efforts, after living in a village on Taihang East Road in Changzhi City, Daystar Kindergarten for the Mentally Handicapped found its own foothold.
Daystar Kindergarten for Intellectual Disabilities is also the only kindergarten in and around Changzhi City for rehabilitation training for children with intellectual disabilities of middle and low ages, and such institutions are relatively rare in the province and even in the country.
The kindergarten has more than 30 children and 5-6 teachers.
Although only a few hundred square meters, this two-story building still has training rooms, libraries, dormitories and kitchens.
Teachers, community workers and volunteers painted big smiling faces on the walls of the campus, and even vines in the empty rooms upstairs.
The classroom rooms were spotlessly cleaned by the teachers, and the children's daily necessities were well organized.
But most children with intellectual disabilities here need as much training as possible in all directions.
In kindergarten, Huo Juan and her teachers teach the children to eat, go to the toilet, get dressed, and guide them through rehabilitation.
Counting Huo Juan herself, the hospital has 7 staff members, and 7 people take turns to take care of the daily life of 30 children every day, but it is still very tense, and the staff is obviously insufficient.
They didn't take any vacations throughout the year, and Huo Juan herself often stayed in the yard with her children and didn't come home for a few days.
Huo Juan nursed her child in the spring
In this little hideaway, everything is the same.
Huo Juan never told the children that you had a problem.
That is to say, in this little paradise, all children think that they are normal and healthy, and feel that they are like people outside.
The children here are only 5 years old and 18 years old.
They are all mentally retarded children like Xiaofei, and most of them are born with brain dysplasia, some falling from heights at a very young age, and some mistakenly taking rat poison.
The biggest common denominator is that they all come from poor families and have an intelligence level of only 1-6 years old.
Caring for children with intellectual disabilities is much more difficult than expected.
When the children first came in, the situation was very bad, they could not sit up in class, some were lying on their desks, some were running with stools, and some were screaming in circles.
For the knowledge that ordinary children naturally grasp, children with intellectual disabilities need multi-faceted inspiration and training.
Many children, when they are seven or eight years old, do not know who their parents are, do not run or jump, do not eat or drink their own food and water, and some even cannot control their bowel movements.
Many children also have epilepsy and are careful not to fall.
On top of that, some children get angry and do all sorts of things about self-harm.
Huo Juan said: Children are usually very timid because their brains are not developing well, and sometimes they are intimidated by the teacher, because the teacher's voice is a little too loud.
There was even a neighbor in the kindergarten who set off firecrackers, scaring the children into running away, and the youngest even slipped into the arms of the teacher and grabbed her hair to comfort himself.
When the firecrackers sounded, he saw the teacher's hair being scratched.
Huo Juan knew that these children were born with insufficient intelligence, and rehabilitation training and education were particularly important.
Huo Juan may not be able to train them to become healthy children, but he can improve on the existing ones, which is the purpose of Huo Juan's training of children.
Huo Juan said that now, the training effect is obvious, through their unremitting efforts, some children have been able to dress themselves, eat, go to the toilet.
Some can even talk, and some can communicate simply.
The children grew up slowly under the careful care of Teacher Huo Juan.
Huo Juan and the teacher regard these children as their own.
Under normal circumstances, Huo Juan would check her son Xiaofei's urine, while another child in the kindergarten could not control his stool well.
When this child first went to kindergarten, he was still very young.
His parents divorced, and his father paid for his living expenses and stayed in kindergarten all year round.
Children need help from their teachers in everything.
His health is very bad, he is afraid of the cold, his body is very cold all year round, and if he does not pay attention to his hands and feet, he will be frostbitten.
The condition was severe, and the hands and feet were always cold at night.
Faced with this situation, Huo Juan slept with him in the bed and warmed his feet.
Later, the child also had chickenpox, and Huo Juan stayed with him in the isolation room for seven or eight days.
These children may not be able to express it, but they feel your love.
Sometimes Huo Juan was sick and hadn't been to kindergarten for several days, but as soon as she returned to kindergarten, the children cheered around her and said, "Mom, you're back!" ”
At first, she was a little uncomfortable, but as time went on, Huo Juan got used to it and felt like their mother.
Huo Juan had a hard time opening a kindergarten.
In fact, Huo Juan is now focused on the busy life of children, and she has her own brilliant life more than twenty years ago.
She is a beautiful woman, but also a radio host, late at night, Huo Juan sat in the recording room of Changzhi City Radio, bringing listeners a series of variety shows such as "Long Night", "Flowing Golden Years", "My Story My Song" and so on.
During the day, she works as a Chinese teacher at Xinhua Primary School in Changzhi City and as a class teacher for more than 70 children.
However, the life of her son Xiaofei in front of Huo Juan, people's energy is limited, Huo Juan has to go to school during the day, with more than 70 children, back at night to train her children, and even rotate life, making her very tired.
One night, he was training Xiaofei, and he was still carefully stacking the wood, when Huo Juan was tired and fell asleep.
She was well aware that this time was not an option either.
If Huo Juan wants to improve her child's intelligence, he must undergo comprehensive training.
Faced with the current situation, Huo Juan resolutely dropped out of school.
For the sake of her son, but also for other children like Xiaofei, Huo Juan gritted her teeth and worked hard to build a kindergarten for children with intellectual disabilities, an idea that was approved and understood by her parents and husband.
In April 2000, with the strong wind and waves, Huo Juan ran all over the streets of Changzhi City and finally found a quiet courtyard.
Huo Juan borrowed money to buy office and teaching.
The industrious Huo Juan immediately began to decorate the garden, renovate the courtyard, and install equipment.
After more than two months of preparation, the opening ceremony was finally held on April 28, 2000.
The kindergarten became the only kindergarten early education institution for the mentally handicapped in and around Changzhi City.
At first, there were only two children in the park, and after half a year, it grew to 9, but after so many years, there were more than 30 children in the park, mainly from Changzhi City and surrounding counties.
The children spend most of their time in the garden, and some even go home once until the Spring Festival.
Her friends around her always advised huo Juan not to do such thankless things, not to treat good students as teachers, but to teach those "fools", are you crazy?
Say you won't stick around for half a year to run this school.
It was the worst thing her friend had ever said to her.
In the face of her friends' conclusions, Huo Juan also knew that the road ahead was indeed very difficult.
The first is the economic problem, which is limited to herself.
Kindergartens can only choose to be in Changzhi City Village around the city.
Huo Juan and her children moved three times, even to the village.
For safety reasons, kindergartens are generally closed, and children can only exercise and play in a small yard.
Huo Juan also said that she hopes to find a bigger house in the city, and there is a lawn in front of the house where children can run.
But the money really didn't let her.
The 30 children in the garden each charge more than $500 per month.
The cost of food per child per month has reached $400.
In addition to the salaries of teachers and the overhead costs of schools, rent becomes a huge financial burden.
Many people advised Huo Juan to raise the price of her children, but she refused.
She said the children came from poor families, most of whom would be turned away if the tuition fees were too high, and what I wanted was not an aristocratic school, but a place where these children could grow up healthy.
The road ahead is still very long, and only by not forgetting the original intention can we always be.
In order to solve the financial problem, Huo Juan asked all departments, units and non-governmental organizations in Changzhi City to get their help.
At first, people didn't believe her, they just thought she was a liar.
To this day, all Huo Juan wants is a $1,200 personal donation.
In the face of huge expenditures, this kind of support is simply a drop in the bucket.
Huo Juan's wish is very simple, that is, she hopes that the children will have food, clothing and clothing, and can live in peace.
Perhaps Huo Juan's actions have touched more and more people, and she and the kindergarten have begun to be understood and helped by more and more people.
Local businesses regularly provide free vegetables, fruits, meat and eggs to schools, and many social volunteers regularly come to help with teaching and donations.
"God is fair, He gave us the body and soul, and the ability to care for and help these children." This is a true story that reporters heard in interviews. "You are living a very happy life!" A parent told reporters, "Now your children are in the third grade of elementary school!" They are very obedient and their grades are good! Hu Juan said.
For more than 20 years, because Huo Juan helped the children adhere to the original support and adhere to the belief in running a school, she has received support from all walks of life.
Today, the State pays for the entire cost of rehabilitation training for children with intellectual disabilities under the age of 6.
Today, in 2022, Huo Juan still cares about her children, and her original intention remains unchanged, guarding her pure land.
Daystar Kindergarten helps these children thrive and hopes they can integrate into society as soon as possible.