Chiayi County RuoZhuEr Educational Foundation’s RuoZhuEr Intellectual Development Center (RIDC) specifically serves holders of Handbook for the People with Disabilities aged 18 or above with intellectual development disabilities and other combined disabilities by providing them with education and training. RuoZhuEr is a made-up word to mean “people with weak intelligence”, as well as signifying hope for them to stand firm like bamboo. The RIDC provides comprehensive training services for their residents to take care of themselves and adapt to society so that they and their family can live in harmony and reduce their burden to society while fulfilling their maximum potential and living their life with dignity and quality.

The RIDC currently houses about 30 people with intellectual developmental disabilities and other combined disabilities from rural areas in Chiayi County. This year, they received very little donation owing to the pandemic. The Chang Yung-Fa Charity Foundation thus paid them another visit and donated NT$200,000 towards their operation expenses. In the year before last, the Foundation donated a treadmill with suspension harness for the RIDC residents’ muscle strength training and rehabilitation. According to a RIDC educare giver, this treadmill could reduce the impact on the knees during a rehabilitation session and its suspension harness can effectively prevent injuries caused by a fall on the treadmill. It’s an excellent device with which to delay degeneration and strengthen fitness as well as significantly cutting down on potential medical costs for the RIDC. Chang Yung-Fa Charity Foundation was very pleased that this treadmill has delivered its maximum rehabilitation performance.

During the visit, we saw the educare givers’ patience with the RIDC residents who have all grown and improved since last year. We helped out with packaging in the bakery and saw their blissful smile. Sponsorship from all sectors of society shall bring them sunshine and warmth and gradually make them more and more confident and competitive. RIDC chairman Lin Peng-Hui even had the sports towel hung on the wall, a towel that the Foundation gave him last year. Lin expressed deep gratitude for the Foundation’s long-standing sponsorship for RIDC, and so did all the RIDC staff.

p.s. Papa Lin’s story of love

RIDC chairman Lin Peng-Hui adopted one baby boy 38 years ago and named him Dong-Yi who later was diagnosed with cerebral palsy with severe intellectual development and physical disabilities. However, he and his wife, Tsai Mei-Hua did not give up on the child but instead set up the foundation together with respected local gentlemen and other parents with children like Dong-Yi. There he started to take care of 10 plus children with intellectual development disabilities and was referred to as Papa Lin. Lin was originally in the plumbing and electromechanical business. He recalled that he was over the moon when he brought Dong-Yi home. Unexpectedly Dong-Yi began to have endless health issues and remained confined to a wheelchair. Over the years, Lin and his wife took care of Dong-Yi in person who constantly threw a tantrum, prone to violent explosive bouts of temper resulting in head banging and finger biting. Lin and his wife often got injured. But they carried on caring for this adopted son with no regret. Their love eventually moved more people to join in on their cause.

Source: https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/breakingnews/3009815