China Tibet Network News "How is your body today?" "Are you running out of oxygen?" "Just call me if you have any questions." Wearing a blue vest, Laba Zhuoma walked into the homes of the people in distress in the Jibanggang community in Chengguan District, Lhasa, and listened to the problems of the people in need.
"The blue vest is the overalls of our Starlight social workers." Laba Dolma is a social worker at the Tibet Xingguang Social Work Service Center in the Jibanggang community, where she is mainly responsible for providing case support and service plans for people in need in the community, and carrying out related implementation work.
The picture shows Deqing Yuzhen, chairman of the Tibet Starlight Social Work Service Center, carrying out the "Starlight Project" self-care education course in Dingri County, Shigatse City
"We will visit the homes from time to time to listen to the needs of the service users, communicate sincerely with the service users, and establish a good relationship of trust with each other, so as to better carry out casework and help the service users solve problems."
During the visit, several mola (grandmothers) who lived alone saw Laba Zhuoma coming, and took the initiative to take Laba Zhuoma's hand to tell them about their recent situation, and the intimate and warm pictures between their gestures were touching.
"If you have any needs or questions, be sure to call me." Every time before leaving, Raba Zhuoma would tell him again, and the old people almost all did the same thing - turning their heads to look at the phone number posted on the wall.
"That's my phone." Laba Dolma explained that there are many empty nesters in the community, most of whom do not know how to use smartphones, so I wrote down my phone number and posted it on the wall to make it easier to contact them.
The picture shows the bilingual social work station of Deqing Town, Duilong Deqing District, Tibet Xingguang Social Work Service Center, carrying out the "Elderly-friendly Community Construction" project "Home Adaptation for the Elderly Transformation into the Village" work provided by the interviewee
When talking about his work, Raba Zhuoma said, I am a child who grew up in the community, and as a social worker, I never feel tired, and I am willing to be a starlight to illuminate the hearts of the service users with my sincerity and sincerity, and I think this job is very meaningful.
At the grassroots level in Tibet, there are more and more social workers like Laba Dolma, who wear blue vests and move from community to community every day, and they will be the first to be there whenever they need it.
Founded in August 2020, the Tibet Xingguang Social Work Service Center, where Laba Zhuoma is located, is the first private non-enterprise in the Tibet Autonomous Region to provide professional social work services, and is directly managed by the Tibet Autonomous Region Department of Civil Affairs.
"The organization named Starlight in the hope that we can empower the little stars that do not shine, to light them up, so that they have the ability to shine themselves." Deqing Yuzhen, chairman of the Tibet Starlight Social Work Service Center, said that the organization adheres to the mission of helping, guiding and empowering vulnerable groups through the illumination of starlight.
At present, the Tibet Starlight Social Work Service Center provides professional social work services; undertaking government procurement of social work services; Engaged in social work-related consulting, training, research, supervision, publicity, evaluation, subject research, academic exchanges, seminars and other businesses.
The picture shows the social workers of the Tibet Xingguang Social Work Service Center carrying out a series of anti-drug and HIV/AIDS training activities for the protection of women's and children's rights and interests in Gurong Town, Duilong Deqing District
"Entering the field of social work is fate, and it is also the impetus of the times." Looking back on my entrepreneurial experience, Deqing Yuzhen said that I applied for education and social policy at New York University during my time at Peking University, and returned to Tibet in 2015 to start my own business and engaged in the education industry, providing a variety of special services to local women, teenagers, children, and the elderly. Among them, the community public welfare education "Sunshine Community" project is an educational service specifically provided for children and adolescents in the community, helping them to correctly understand issues such as "puberty", "gender relations" and "self-protection".
Through the "Sunshine Community" education service project, Deqing Yuzhen's team entered the Enhuiyuan Community of Chengguan District and the Xiangheyuan Community of Dongga Street, Duilong Deqing District, which are the resettlement sites for poverty alleviation and resettlement in Tibet, to carry out community education work, during which they continuously deepened their ties with the community and carried out various professional community social work.
"Tibet Xingguang Social Work Service Center is also the first batch of Chinese-Tibetan bilingual social work service stations officially listed in Enhuiyuan Community, Chengguan District, and Xiangheyuan Community, Dongga Street, Duilong Deqing District." Deqing Yuzhen said.
The picture shows the social worker of the Tibet Xingguang Social Work Service Center conducting blood pressure and pulse tests and basic information registration for the elderly Photo provided by the interviewee
Deqing Yuzhen said that the field of social work services is very broad, and social work can include children, adolescents, women, the elderly and the disabled according to the group of people; According to the field, it can be divided into family, school, community, medical, enterprise and judicial correction social work.
At present, the Tibet Starlight Social Work Service Center has 22 community workstations in Lhasa, Tibet, covering a series of professional social work such as "Sunshine Community" education services for children and adolescents, career planning and guidance services for marginal college students, community talent empowerment, self-care sex education classes, women's marriage and love education, and family education. At the same time, the Tibet Xingguang Social Work Service Center will actively link various social resources, and provide links to relief resources for marginal college students, disabled people who are unable to work, children in distress who are raising children in distress from generation to generation, and families who have established a card in the community. Secondly, it also includes free free clinics for the elderly in the community, drug donation activities, inviting professional law firms to carry out public interest legal lectures for the masses, and inviting professional lecturers from institutions to carry out family education courses.
"After the establishment of the Tibet Starlight Social Work Service Center, we regularly disclose public welfare projects and finances to explore the optimization and construction of grassroots communities." For the future development, Deqing Yuzhen said that our goal is to empower the industry by supporting the industry, but the overall development of social work service institutions in Tibet is weak, and we need to continue to incubate and develop.
Every social worker wearing a "blue vest" is like the brightest "star" around the grassroots people, they uphold the feelings of the people, care for the residents, and serve the grassroots disadvantaged groups with sincerity and sincerity. In the future, the Tibet Starlight Social Work Service Center will continue to improve all kinds of service content, never forget the original intention of social work, empower more marginalized people, link resources, uphold the values of helping people to help themselves and people-oriented, promote the comprehensive development of Tibet's social work and social welfare system, and contribute to the harmony and progress of Tibetan society. (China Tibet Network Reporter/Wang Shu Jia Huajia)