BEIJING (UCAN) -- A mainland Catholic laywoman who founded a nationwide NGO serving mentally challenged people thinks Chinese society has empathy for its disabled members but still needs to recognize their rights officially.

Meng Weina, principal founder and director of Huiling Community Services, told UCA News on Sept. 16 that while Chinese society is showing less discrimination against the mentally challenged overall, this is mainly "out of empathy, seeing them as vulnerable."

Society still "lacks a higher level" that would recognize the basic legal rights of these people, she claimed. The mindset is to "give and to help," but not to allow them to participate in society in an active way, said Meng, who is based in Beijing.

However, she cited improvements since preparations got underway a few years ago for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, held Sept. 6-17. Since last year, she noted, some bigger cities have started to provide a 300 yuan (US$44) monthly living allowance to disabled people over 18.

This move "recognizes the disabled persons as individuals," she said, contrasting it with the previous practice of extending financial support to disabled persons only after their parents or guardian died.

Another new measure is an employment fund for mentally challenged people, said Meng, who was baptized a Catholic in the mid-1990s, though she had been in contact with Church people for a long time.

She pointed out, however, that some fund recipients get registered with a company but do not actually work there, "so the meaning of encouraging the mentally challenged to work and participate in society is lost." Nonetheless, she described the fund as a positive move on the whole.

On Sept. 9, Meng was one of four social-work leaders invited to reflect with Timothy Shriver on the condition of disabled people. Shriver, who was visiting Beijing, chairs the Special Olympics, an international nonprofit organization that empowers individuals with intellectual disabilities to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition. His organization's 2007 Special Olympics World Games was held in Shanghai in October 2007, a separate event from the Paralympic Games.

According to a report on Huiling's website (www.huiling.org.cn), Meng told Shriver that improvements for mentally challenged mainlanders during the past three decades were mainly at the material and not the spiritual level.

They are seldom given the right to make decisions or asked their opinions, she was quoted as saying, maintaining that even parents and service organizations are not aware of the need to offer full respect to these people.

The same website also reported 70 students from Huiling's Beijing and Tianjin communities attended the Paralympic Games with tickets donated by sponsors.

Accompanied by Huiling workers, some watched tennis matches on Sept. 8 and cheered for the players from various countries, while others watched soccer matches the next day at the National Stadium, nicknamed the "Bird's Nest."

According to Meng, Huiling holds a games day for its students every other year as an opportunity to show society what they are capable of.

Established in the 1990s in the form of a simple shelter in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, which borders Hong Kong, Huiling now operates in 10 cities nationwide including Beijing, Chongqing, Tianjin and Xi'an. Its centers, some of which collaborate closely with the local Catholic Church, provide education, vocational training and boarding services.

Huiling advocates for people with learning disabilities to have the same rights as others, enjoying equal opportunities. It also aims to create an environment in which mentally challenged people have the right to ask for and receive help from society.

With support from some Catholic priests and laypeople in Hong Kong, it opened an office in the Hong Kong special administrative region on Aug. 23. The office is expected to accept donations for Huiling's mainland centers, to promote collaboration with similar organizations in the territory, and to educate the public to accept mentally challenged people and give them a chance to contribute to society.

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from:http://www.ucanews.com/2008/09/18/disabled-persons-rights-not-recognized-catholic-social-worker-says/