Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Hong Kong (Agenzia Fides) - All together to serve the most vulnerable members of society: thus Fr. Fernando Cagnin, a PIME missionary, urged the participants in the celebration for the 4 years of the establishment of the Hong Kong Huiling, an NGO non-profit organization founded in mainland China in 1990 in close collaboration with the Catholic community in Hong Kong, especially with the PIME missionaries. According to reports from the Kung Kao Po, the weekly newsletter of the Diocese of Hong Kong, the celebration took place on November 24 in Hong Kong with encouraging news: Huiling is much appreciated by the local authorities and will soon open a new service center in Hong Zhou, in mainland China. Fr. Franco Cumbo, PIME regional Superior, invited everyone to put into practice the spirit of Christ to transform the world with love.
According to information collected by Fides Agency, up to almost twenty years ago in China there was no organized service of assistance to the mentally handicapped. In 1985, a group of people from Canton (Guangzhou), guided by Mrs. Meng Weina, thought to organize some kind of help to meet the heavy demands of the families of the disabled. A special school was born in 1985, thanks to the cooperation of Caritas in Hong Kong, called Zhiling, one of the first organizations for people with disabilities and mental disabilities in China. Mrs. Meng, in February 1990, gave rise to a new organization to accompany the disabled for their entire lives. Thus Huiling was born, that slowly spread to other parts of China. Huiling is a non-profit (NPO), and a non-governmental organization (NGO) that engages in many ways to start development projects for mentally handicapped. It is currently present in 11 cities in China. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 11/12/2012)
