Chen Canying: From an unskilled poor household to a senior care worker
From an unskilled poor household to a senior care worker
-- Observations from the Luoxiao Mountains contiguous destitute area
NANCHANG, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- "Grandma, I heard your leg joints have been hurting lately. Let me give you a hot compress!" said 53-year-old Chen Canying in a low voice as she walked to the bedside of a trainee.
This was a scene Xinhua reporters witnessed a few days ago at the examination room for the eighth phase of the primary certification for senior care workers under the targeted poverty alleviation project in Ji'an, Jiangxi, where trainees were simulating the scenario of caring for the elderly. Chen Canying, who is illiterate, was taking an exam for the first time in her life, and she was so nervous that her hands kept trembling.
More than 150 other poor households from the Luoxiao Mountains contiguous destitute area took the exam alongside Chen Canying.
At the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs carried out vocational skills training for 1,000 senior care workers and job referral work in phases in Ji'an and Ganzhou of Jiangxi and Chenzhou of Hunan, solving the problem of poverty alleviation by teaching people how to fish.
According to Lin Wen, an on-site assessor and staff member of the Training Center of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, trainees must pass both a theoretical exam and a practical operation exam to obtain a certificate of completion and a nationally recognized vocational qualification certificate. Civil affairs departments will recommend qualified trainees for employment at senior care institutions in Jiangxi, Hunan and surrounding provinces and cities. "More than 30 of the trainees are illiterate. For the first time, we set up a separate small examination room for the theoretical test and helped the trainees answer questions by reading the questions aloud."
"I hope the training can serve as a link, connecting at one end the poverty alleviation targets who long to acquire a professional skill, and at the other end grassroots senior care institutions that lack professional senior care workers," said Feng Yaping, director of the Department of Planning and Finance of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
To minimize the burden on trainees from poor areas, the training courses waive training fees, materials fees, accommodation fees and meal fees for all trainees.
In early 2014, Liang Zhenxiu, a villager from Shuikou Village, Huangkeng Township, Suichuan County, Jiangxi, spent 70,000 to 80,000 yuan on medical expenses because of a serious illness, which made things even worse for a family with little savings. Liang Zhenxiu said: "We have no skills in the countryside and no way to make money. Life is very tight."
In April this year, she heard from township officials that there was a training course for senior care workers, and she signed up immediately. She studied diligently and achieved excellent exam results, and was named an outstanding trainee of that phase.
"Only after the training did I discover that caring for the elderly, from eating to bathing, has its own particular requirements in every aspect," Liang Zhenxiu said.
Now, Liang Zhenxiu works at the Huangkeng Township nursing home, with a monthly income of nearly 3,000 yuan. What makes her even happier is that the ride by electric bike from the nursing home to her home takes only 10 minutes, so she can both take care of her family and earn money without neglecting either.
According to statistics from the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, as of now, 244 of the Jiangxi trainees who participated in the training have successfully connected with senior care institutions in various places.
"I believe that in the near future, there will be more and more 'Liang Zhenxius' embarking on the path out of poverty," said Liu Hefang, Party secretary of Huangkeng Township.