"I am a disabled person, and my dreams have been shattered. I vowed to do a career that would do everything I could to accept more people with disabilities and make them live with dignity. ”
Yang Ping proved that disabled people "can also do it", and now wants to help more disabled children realize their dreams and become "useful people".
Her name is Yang Ping, 55 years old, a wheelchair "Qingdao aunt". She has many identities – the owner of a clothing company, the head of an assisted employment center for the disabled, and the "mother" of 39 children with disabilities. For thirty years, she completed the "counterattack" in a wheelchair and realized her dream of being an "international-level pattern maker". Now, she has a bigger dream — to help more children with disabilities realize their dreams and become "useful people".
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Click on the video to see Yang Ping talk about how to support the dreams of 39 children with disabilities
Text | Wang Zongyang Qi Xiang
Give a ladder to go to heaven, and five sets of clothes will win three first prizes
When I first saw Yang Ping, she sat quietly in a wheelchair and smiled, her temperament was very good, and at any time her face was permeated with a gentle and bright light, and she could not see where she was abnormal. "I got polio when I was 6 months old!" Yang Ping smiled and said.
In the Qingdao clothing design industry, Yang Ping is definitely a wrist. Strolling through her exhibition hall, there are many of the world's top clothing brands, such as Hermès, Armani, Burberry, Maxmara and so on. Yang Ping said lightly that all this was "forced out."
In 1981, Yang Ping was 19 years old, the same age as the flower. In order to realize her college dream, she studied harder than anyone else. Among the 1760 high school graduates that year, only the top 106 were eligible to take the college exam, she pre-took the third, just in the final sprint, the school took into account her physical condition, even if she was admitted, she would not be admitted, and after consulting with her parents, the quota was "given" to others.
It was the first major blow of her life. Yang Ping cried for a whole week, locked herself up for three months, and did not have the courage to walk into the sun after her classmates enrolled, saying that she did not want others to see her helplessness.
Seeing that her daughter was so miserable, Yang Ping's mother found her a temporary job at the guomian first factory processing factory at that time. In the words of her family, Yang Ping is a girl who "gives a ladder to go to heaven". Sure enough, Yang Ping has a strong interest in clothing, and after work, she will help the old tailors in the factory to lay hands, although it is some dirty work, but she does it more seriously than anyone.
Opportunities are always left to those who are prepared. In 1984, Qingdao Textile System held the first fashion design competition. Except for her, the contestants are all from the class, she can't draw, can't design, hasn't taken a day of professional classes, and her family also hopes to hit her sharpness. But the following month, with the accumulation of "dirty work and tiring work" in those years, Yang Ping made five sets of clothes in one go and won three first prizes.
Once again, the disaster "flew in", and the family pillar fell down violently
"Since you are so powerful, why doesn't the National Cotton Factory give you a formal job?" Seeing a disabled person win the grand prize, there were old tailors around her mocking her as "a phoenix flying out of the chicken coop". Yang Ping, who has a strong sense of self-esteem, left the factory in a huff and began to look for her own new direction.
In 1986, Yang Ping got married, and her life after marriage was plain and happy. In 1988, her son was born, and she felt that her life began to have hope. From 1986 to 2002, Yang Ping has lived a carefree life in the past 16 years, and she has enough time to do what she likes. Before 1994, she finished painting and fashion design classes in night school, learned human aesthetics, and began to try to make clothes for friends around her.
"Before 2002, I had no idea how important it was to make money!" One ordinary night in 2002, Yang Ping was still immersed in making clothes as usual. Suddenly, the sharp telephone rang, and on the other end of the phone was the voice of the husband, "I was in a car accident, in the hospital." When Yang Ping saw her husband lying on the hospital bed with a crushing fracture of her legs, she was paralyzed. After a full night of surgery, the person was saved, but the recovery was long. Later, Yang Ping's husband was treated in the hospital for three years and lived in a nursing home for another eight years.
The family pillar fell violently, not only making Yang Ping's spirit collapse in an instant, but also a huge economic pressure. On the night of the accident, the operation fee cost 40,000 yuan, plus the later treatment, how much did it cost, Yang Ping said that she did not have the courage to face it until she paid it off in 2008: in addition to the 100,000 yuan of her sister and brother, she borrowed 270,000 yuan from her friends.
The "international pattern designer" in the wheelchair, the pattern sample is passed over once
In the face of huge loans, Yang Ping, who wants to be strong, began to work day and night. She recalled that those six years were crazy, and she suddenly switched from the previous comfortable life to a desperate situation, and this huge gap she experienced more than anyone. That is, from then on, no matter what dirty work she was willing to take. She would come to all the foreign trade companies to call, one by one, begging people to hand over the order to her, and sometimes even willing to do it for free. In those years, she had never slept before 2 a.m., and sleeping 4 hours a day was a luxury.
Recalling the hardships of that year, Yang Ping's face appeared like a little girl's playful look: "At that time, there was a Polish customer who said that he would never find someone who did not understand English to do it. I moved a stack of English books, one letter at a time, one word by one, word by word, and I had to chew down this bone. Later, I confessed to my client that I didn't know English, but they were moved. He told me that as long as he did it in Qingdao, the order would be handed over to me. ”
At that time, there were very few excellent pattern makers in China, and well-known foreign clothing brands had always distrusted Chinese. When a Qingdao foreign trade enterprise was doing veromoda orders, many times the version could not satisfy the other party, and then the trustee found Yang Ping, and after simple communication, she unexpectedly passed at one time. In the eyes of everyone, she said the real reason: it is not how smart I am, but I am willing to learn, I have suffered from this new version of the past, and I have gnawed this bone very early, so now it will be so easy.
Over the years, Yang Ping has successively "turned" the design drawings of International brands such as Armani, Zara and H&M into sample clothes for Italian, Spanish, Swedish and other international brands. Today, Yang Ping's "tailor shop" has exceeded 6 million in annual business volume. "I use haute couture to make foreign trade clothes. From the perspective of foreigners, what they most recognize me is that seriousness. ”
Be the "mother" of 39 children with disabilities, let the children with disabilities live with dignity
In 2008, Yang Ping finally paid off all the loans she had borrowed to treat her husband's illness. In recent years, she has introduced orders to many factories run by disabled people, but she found that their technology and consciousness simply could not meet the requirements of foreign countries, and the economic losses were heavy. She saw it in her eyes, she was anxious in her heart, and as part of this special group, she had to do something.
In 2014, the leaders of the Qingdao Disabled Persons' Federation approached Yang Ping, hoping that she could serve as the head of the Tongmu Sunshine Auxiliary Employment Center for the Disabled in Shibei District, Qingdao City, leading children with disabilities to learn crafts and regain hope in life.
"This idea deeply touched me. I am a disabled person, and once my dreams were shattered one by one. I've vowed to do a career all these years, and I need such a platform. I want to accept more people with disabilities and let them live with dignity. I have been wronged and cannot be allowed to bear it any longer! ”
An autistic child took Yang Ping's hand and sang "Grateful Heart" to her.
In the three years since, Yang Ping has only slept four or five hours a day, leading children with disabilities to study and live. Now, there are 39 disabled children in the Tongmu Sunshine Assisted Employment Center for the Disabled, and when they see Yang Ping, they like to call her "Yang Mama". Speaking of these children, Yang Ping is like a number of family treasures, who is what personality, who will play a little clever, who likes to play pranks, and who has a particularly strong stage expression... When it comes to emotion, Yang Ping's eyes are full of tenderness. She said that getting along with these children is a mutual cultivation.
Children of the Tongmu Sunshine Assisted Employment Center for the Disabled
Many children with disabilities are skillful and good at handmade.
"I once had a deaf-mute little girl here, and her mother didn't want her anymore. Coming here, we encouraged her to learn her craft. When she bought gifts to go home to see her mom after making money, her mom burst into tears. I will never forget that moment. In fact, what these disabled children need is our ability to give them 'hematopoietic', so that they can master the ability to be a person who can support themselves, so that what is saved is a family. ”
The picture scroll embroidered by an autistic child is amazing
Speaking, Yang Ping can't help but outline the future: "We also need to train more social workers, seek government support, enterprise support, and do some projects that can be done by the disabled for a long time, such as handicrafts and pension products." I would also be in a wheelchair and take more disabled children out to climb mountains and see the sea. At first, they were scared when they saw the mountain, but the teachers accompanied them and could 'climb' to the top little by little. They can climb mountains on their own, and they can cross the 'hills' of life. ”
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