China helps disabled find jobs

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Source: CCTV.com | 10-09-2007 13:18

In the past, many disabled Chinese people led very restricted lives. They had little chance to find work or support themselves. But their situation has improved dramatically over recent decades.

In the past five years, the government has been stepping up efforts to help employ disabled people. Huge investments have been made in training, and many disabled people have found jobs and become financially independent.

Wu Zihe is working on a landscape. When she was growing up, Wu was virtually a prisoner in her home. Having a job was something she could only dream about.

But now she is famous for her art. Painting is helping disabled people in Northeast China's Jilin Province earn a living. Wu said, "I can earn 30 or 40 yuan for paintings like this, if they are sold in a batch. If I sell them separately, I can get about 100 yuan. It only takes me one day to finish one painting, so I can earn 1,000 to 2,000 yuan a month."

Wu Zihe practices knife-drawing or Daohua, which originated in her hometown Dunhua. If one has the eyes, the brain, and hands, it takes about a year to learn the basic techniques.

Dunhua Gov't official zhang Chunhua said, "We think it suits disabled people very well. So the government spent 10 million yuan to set up this knife-painting training center for them."

Training in the center is free. Even the materials are provided by the government. Since last year, the center has trained over 200 disabled persons like Wu Zihe. They usually earn 500 to 1,000 yuan per month, or 60 to 125 US dollars. Sometimes they make as much as 5,000 yuan, or more than 600 dollars. That's much higher than average salaries in the area.

This year, the city has set up a center to sell these works. Art fans from more than ten countries and regions have bought paintings.