They arrived in this world with nothing, were discarded by their parents and have no future. Now, even their present may soon be gone too. The orphans living under palliative care at Nanjing’s Rainbow Centre need our help now more than ever before.
COVID has shuttered many a business, but for charities it’s as if the sky fell in. To protect the very sick children, Rainbow needed to shut down all voluntary activities and visits. With it going on 2 years, there is now only an empty pot of gold at the end of the Rainbow.
According to a 2018 article by Sixth Tone, Rainbow is one of just a handful of such centres in China, providing palliative care to orphans and other critically-ill children.
Tragically, part of the reason thereto lies in a prevalent attitude which questions the wisdom of providing such time consuming and expensive care to children whose short lives are all too soon to be snuffed out.
Unless things turn around fast, Rainbow itself faces a similar fate.
Set up in 2014 and registered with the proper Chinese authorities, Rainbow provides palliative care and hospice care for critically-ill children, to make a bit of difference in the quality of their lives. Some children have afflictions that are simply incurable, others perhaps only months to live.
Rainbow works with local orphanages to help such abandoned children. Doctors and nurses provide professional treatment, while caregivers give them warm love, care and opportunities to experience a bit of real life; celebrating birthdays, taking a little trip, drawing, singing, etc. That which other children of the same age get to do, Rainbow tries to help them experience too.
Between the two Rainbow Centres in Nanjing and Xiamen, approximately 150 children have been assisted. Nearly half have passed away peacefully.
Rainbow also works with local hospitals to help families with dying children, setting up a child hospice ward in Nanjing Children’s Hospital in 2020. Doctors, nurses, social workers and psychological consultants work together to help children and families, supporting them through such a traumatic time. At present, there are only three beds, but more are needed. The little, warm place should really only be seen as a start.
Rainbow believes what the children need most in the remaining days of their lives is probably not to be isolated in the intensive care unit of a hospital.
- In December 2017, Rainbow Center was awarded the first Nanjing Charity Award by the Nanjing Civil Affairs Bureau.
- In March 2019, Rainbow Center was rated as an AAAA social organisation by the Nanjing Civil Affairs Bureau.
- In December 2021, Rainbow Center was awarded in The Top 10 Projects of Action League 2021 Charity by IFENG.COM
The irony is that prior to COVID, the Rainbow was growing wider, stronger and more vibrant. Emerging attitudes among the young in China painted a picture of a better future for palliative care; Rainbow was seeing regular groups of university students volunteering to read stories to the children and play games with them. That was until now.
Linda Huang, Director of the Rainbow Centre, spoke today with The Nanjinger. She said, “We don’t know how far we can go, but we do know we will do our best”.
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Receipts are available for any donation. Simply leave a message on Alipay after donating. For information as to corporate donations, email linda@rainbowcenter-nj.org
