Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing took a group photo with the elderly in the newly-built nursing home.
Have you ever heard of filial children who take good care of their parents? But have you ever heard of ordinary employees who take in widowed elders, treating them like parents, providing free support?
Huang Xiaoqing is a billing clerk at the Qingliu County Power Supply Company in Sanming City, as well as the director of Yupeng Township's Happy Nursing Home. Her husband, Chen Chengwen, is a meter reader at the same company. Since founding the Happy Nursing Home in 1991, the couple has successively provided free support to 17 widowed elders and seen 13 of them through their final days. No matter how hard or tired they were themselves, they never let the widowed elders under their care feel any sense of neglect. The only thought in Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing’s minds was, "Elders are like parents; they cannot be abandoned."
"Taking in" widowed elders
For them, establishing a happy nursing home
In the winter of 1991, while handling affairs at the Yupeng Township government office, Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing encountered two elders dressed in shabby clothes, hobbling slowly, hoping to receive some poverty alleviation subsidies from the township government.
Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing thought to themselves, both having jobs and also doing some side businesses, with no major burdens at home, why not help these widowed elders so they can spend their twilight years in peace? Thus, they proposed to the township government that they would like to provide free support for some widowed elders in the township.
Not long after, they collaborated with the township government to renovate an idle old building, establishing the Yupeng Township Happy Nursing Home. On the day the nursing home opened, Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing, together with the township civil affairs office staff, brought three other widowed elders from the town into the nursing home. And thus, the Happy Nursing Home was officially established in 1991.
The story of Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing providing free support to widowed elders quickly spread throughout the township, and many five-guarantee (a social welfare system) elders wanted to move into the nursing home. However, Huang Xiaoqing accepted all the widowed elders around her without refusal, bringing them into the nursing home whenever conditions allowed.
Business losses leading to financial difficulties
Always treating the elders as parents
Since the establishment of the nursing home in 1991, more and more elders have requested to move in. It is reported that up to now, they have accommodated a total of 19 elders, with a maximum of 7 at one time.
According to Huang Xiaoqing, during the twenty years since the founding of the nursing home, her family has encountered multiple misfortunes, but she has always treated the elders in the nursing home like her own children, never letting them feel neglected.
From 1993 to 2002, due to various reasons, her husband Chen Chengwen's business suffered losses, plunging the entire family into financial difficulties. Those were the toughest times for Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing, as the burden of their family life and the expenses of the nursing home weighed heavily on them. Some relatives and friends, seeing the hardships faced by Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing, advised them, "Your own lives are already problematic, how can you still take care of others?"
Upon hearing these words, Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing just smiled and ignored them.
Huang Xiaoqing said, "Since we've taken in these elders and lived together for so long, some even for ten years, they have become like our own parents. How could we abandon them?" To ensure the elders did not suffer, the Huang family tried to save every penny possible. When there was no money left, they borrowed from relatives and friends. For the elders' medical expenses, Huang Xiaoqing often had to run up bills at the township health center, paying them back when funds became available. Over the years, no matter what hardships they faced, Huang Xiaoqing just smiled it off, continuing to care for these elders without interruption, never stopping their living allowances, ensuring they did not feel any neglect.
"Old people are like parents; they cannot be abandoned." This notion has never left the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing since the establishment of the Happy Nursing Home.
Thinking about widowed elders everywhere
Raising 350,000 yuan to build a new nursing home
The old idle house provided by the Yupeng Township government in 1991 was where the widowed elders accepted by Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing stayed for 20 years.
Recently, reporters saw that the old house is a mud structure covering about 100 square meters, with five bedrooms inside. One room's wall already shows a crack about 3 centimeters wide, with signs of soil falling off. The roof relies on stone tiles to keep out the wind and rain. "Twenty years have passed, the old house is no longer usable. If it rains continuously for a few days, the whole house leaks water, and there is even a risk of collapse," Huang Xiaoqing pointed at the tilted old house and told the reporter.
Thus, starting from the end of last year, they began looking for a new residence for the elders.
"Since we're building anew, we need to find a location with good air quality, convenient transportation, and close to our home," Huang Xiaoqing said. Good air helps the elders' health. Convenient transportation makes it easier for elders to shop and go to the hospital for check-ups. Being close to home allows them to care for the elders' daily routines anytime.
After nearly a year of preparation, the new nursing home was finally completed. The construction cost was approximately 350,000 yuan, with about 200,000 yuan donated by some local entrepreneurs and employees of the provincial power company and the Qingliu Power Supply Company.
They raised money themselves to buy a piece of sloping land. Currently, the main project of the new nursing home is complete, and the current five elders have moved into their new home.
"With the new house built and the elders moved in, if there's more funding, we will establish an activity room for the nursing home, enriching the elders' lives and allowing the village elders to come and participate in activities." For the future of the nursing home, Huang Xiaoqing already has a blueprint.
Anecdote
Seventy-one-year-old Jin Shaode from Anhui Province is one of the elders at the Happy Nursing Home.
Jin Shaode, a retired English teacher from a vocational school in Anhui, divorced because his wife couldn't bear children, leading him to live alone for nearly 20 years. After retirement, he sent himself to a senior care facility costing around 600 yuan per month.
On May 3rd this year, he learned through a TV news segment that there was a kind couple far away in Fujian who specialized in freely taking in widowed elders. So, with a trial mindset, he sat on a train for three days and nights, eventually finding Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing.
"Huang Xiaoqing immediately agreed to take me in after learning my situation. She arranged accommodation for me that very day," Jin Shaode recalled, saying that at the time, the burden on Mr. and Mrs. Huang Xiaoqing was already quite heavy, and he worried they might not be able to handle it. However, after moving into the Happy Nursing Home and experiencing the relocation, each day passed pleasantly. Jin Shaode decided to stay here long-term.